SACRED VALLEY + ATV TOUR (Pisac + Moray + Maras + Ollantaytambo)

We will pick you up from your hotel at 7:30am and head to the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

Our first stop will be Manos de la Comunidad, which has a variety of Camelids that are native to Peru, including the llamas and alpacas.

At the farm you will get to pet, feed and take pictures with these adorable animals. Additionally, we will find local women dressed in traditional clothing, demonstrating the weaving process using the wool from the animals.

As we leave, we will pass through a museum and a souvenir shop. Where the staff is always around to answer any questions, but don’t feel pressured to buy anything.

The next stop will be the Mirador of Taray. Stretching out in front of you, as far as the eye can see, is a beautiful panoramic view of the Urubamba valley, made up of the surrounding mountains and the gushing Urubamba river.

Next up, the Pisac archaeological site. Location to the biggest Inca cemetery with more than 2,000 tombs lining the mountain side. Explore the many Inca farming terraces, food storage warehouses, and the water channels built for irrigation purposes before heading back to the van.

We will head to Urubamba for lunch, passing small farming towns like Coya and Calca before stopping at the outskirts of Urubamba for a delicious and varied buffet lunch. The restaurant has an impressive spread and is vegan and vegetarian friendly.

On our way to the ATV camp, the guide will run a quick lesson on the correct use of the ATVs so we are ready and raring to get going as soon as we arrive. We will take our ATVs through secluded indigenous villages to the Salt Mines.

Once at this incredible historical site. We will learn about how this mines work since pre-Inca settlements, and how it continues to be the bread and butter for this small community.

The salt is produced in the saltpans, which are irrigated by the stream coming from up the ravine. The salt mines are one of the few left in the world that produce a natural pink salt and have not adopted any modern techniques for mass salt mining.

The locals have full mining rights and all the salt sold on site belongs to the locals. These saltpans still supply Peru with over 90% of its salt. A great place to grab another souvenir.

We will jump back on our ATVs and head over to the archaeological site of Moray, which was an agricultural laboratory from before the Inca time. It works by creating various micro-climates for growing food.

These levels of terraces were carved before the Incas took control of the Sacred Valley. Later they continued using them, in order to research optimal growing conditions for their crops.

The Incas upped the ante, by bringing in different soil samples from other regions to optimize their research. The locals used Moray for growing their crops until the 1970s. Then the government decided to preserve and protect it for tourism.

After our guided tour of this incredibly unique site, we will head back to the ATV camp. There we will leave them behind and head to Ollantaytambo, our last stop of the day.

We will take a little time to explore this quaint Inca village and the amazing Inca Ruins on the hilltop above. This place is where the Incas fought their last battle with the Spanish conquerors, before they had to retreat and flee into the dense jungle.

Most of the structures were unfortunately incomplete. We will find a section with a number of boulders, that were carved, but didn’t make it to their destination. Another possibility is that the battle was so intense, it caused a lot of damage to this massive Inca site

After our tour ends in Ollantaytambo, we will drive you back to Cusco, arriving at around 6:30pm.

• Please note : It is possible to end your tour in Ollantaytambo if you wish

Places you visit with ORANGE Nation Peru on the Sacred Valley + ATV Tour

• Camelid Farm: get up close to alpacas, llamas and vicunas
• The spectacular viewpoint of the Sacred Valley (Mirador of Taray)
• The extensive Pisac Inca ruins, which has many impressive examples of Inca architecture
• A quick stop in Urubamba for lunch (not included in price)
• The Moray Archeological site where you can learn about Incan agricultural experimentation
• The famous Pre-Inca Salt Mines of Maras where naturally salty spring water is gathered in the same way it has been for hundreds of years
• The magnificent archeological site of Ollantaytambo and amazing views of the valley

No other travel agency except Orange Nation visits all of these sites in their Sacred Valley Tour with ATV tour included!