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

Our first stop is the Manos de la Comunidad, which has a variety of Camelids that are indigenous to Peru, including the llama, alpaca, guanacos and the Vicuna that produces very fine wool and can only be shorn every three years. At the farm you get to pet, feed and take pictures with these adorable animals. Additionally, we find local women dressed in traditional clothing, demonstrating the weaving process using the wool from the camelids. As you exit, you will pass through a museum and souvenir shop. The workers are always around to answer any questions, but you never feel pressurized to buy anything.

Then, we stop at the Mirador of Taray to enjoy a beautiful overhead view of the Urubamba valley, which accents the surrounding mountains. Next, we head to the Pisac archaeological site, where you can see the biggest Inca cemetery with more than 2,000 tombs lining the mountain side. We learn more about the value of this site in terms of Agriculture. Explore the many inca farming terraces, food storage warehouses at the top of the hill and the water channels for irrigation purposes.

Then, we start driving towards Urubamba for lunch, passing small farming towns like Coya and Calca before stopping at the foot of Urubamba for a delectable buffet lunch. The restaurant has an impressive spread of different foods and is vegan and vegetarian friendly. There is a variety of fresh vegetables, salads, protein dishes, desserts and tea and coffee.

After lunch, we continue towards the colonial town of Maras, to reach the Pre-Inca salt mines. Enjoy this historical site, that has been mined pre-Inca and continues to be the bread and butter for this small community. The salt stream above feeds the thousands of salt pans and once the water has evaporated the salt is collected and sold. The salt mines are one of the few left in the world that produce a naturally 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. It still supplies Peru with over 90% of its salt. A great place to grab another souvenir.

Next, we visit Moray, which was an experimental farming site built in the form of an amphitheater. Each level naturally has a different micro climate and helped optimize the growth of different crops. These levels of terraces were carved before the Incas took control of the Sacred Valley and was subsequently used by the Incas to research optimal growing conditions for their crops. They brought in different soil samples from other regions, to optimize their research. The locals were still using it for growing their crops, until the 1970s when it was preserved and protected for tourism.

Then, we drive to Ollantaytambo to explore this quaint Inca village and the amazing Inca Ruins on the hilltop above. These ruins are 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. There is 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.

Finally, at around 5:30pm we head to our hotel to spend the night and prepare for the early historical, once in a lifetime hike we are about to embark on.

• Hotel in Ollantaytambo: Tunupa Lodge or similar
• Meals: Lunch
• Boleto Turistico *Allows you entry to many archeological sites along the Sacred Valley of the Incas