Moonstone to Sun Temple Trek

Our travelers love this little-known trekking route, Moonstone to Sun Temple, a superb alternative to the traditional Inca Trail to Machu Picchu Trek. Explore the spectacular eastern extension of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We follow the footsteps of the Incas who built a high route from their capital city of Cuzco westward through the rugged cordillera, and filled their empire with amazing temples and royal residences. We camp high, and discover the beauty of tranquil Andean valleys with sublime views toward the 18,000-foot snowpeaks of the Urubamba and Huayanay Ranges. We also explore amazing Inca stoneworks in an enormous 15th century quarry site of Cachiqata. After descending into the Sacred Valley of the Incas we reach the royal Inca town of Ollantaytambo, with its remarkable sun temple. We travel to Machu Picchu by train for a full exploration of the famous city.

Use these Activity Level Ratings as a general guide to help determine which of our adventures is best for you. Your perception of level of difficulty may vary from ours according to your own level of fitness and travel experience. Whether or not you stay in your comfort zone on the trip you select may also be influenced by the pacing we build into the itinerary, and your own preparation for the trip. While relatively high elevations are unavoidable when you're traveling in the Andes Mountains, we may judge a trip as "moderate" so long as passengers have sufficient time for acclimation. Our detailed trip itineraries give much more information about what you can expect. If you are unsure which trip is best for you, please call us. We'll help guide you toward the right fit.

Moderate

These adventures involve fairly easy travel. There is no camping: you sleep in hotels and country inns each evening. Trips may include short hikes and/or walks of two to three hours. Our itineraries include excursions in passenger mini-vans, over roads with many curves and potholes. Elevations rarely exceed 12,600'. At Machu Picchu and other Inca sites, we climb and descend relatively steep stone staircases. Trips to Amazon lodges involve travel by boat and canoe, plus hikes on forest trails at a moderate pace. In the rainforest, you may encounter rain, mud, and pooled water. Trips to the Galapagos include optional hikes on sometimes uneven rocky and/or slippery terrain. Passengers must get into and out of dinghies on beaches and at docks.

Active

These adventures include more hiking than in our moderate trips. You negotiate a variety of terrain, at elevations no more than 15,000'. Some trips include long days of overland travel. You sleep comfortably in hotels each evening.

Strenuous

While we rate all of our treks as strenuous, there is a substantial range of challenge between the easiest and the most demanding of our treks. Expect to hike 6-8 hours each day over steep and rugged terrain. You may hike to elevations of 17,000', with options to hike higher from several camps. Many include camping multiple nights at relatively high elevations. On most treks in the Andes, night-time temperatures can drop below freezing on one or more nights. On our Inn to Inn based treks, you'll spend each evening in a comfortable mountain lodge.

Extreme

Our toughest treks are suitable for those that enjoy a good physical challenge. You trek (and in some cases climb) over steep, rugged terrain at high elevations with substantial altitude gains. Some glacier travel requires knowledge of basic climbing techniques including use of crampons, ice axe, and ropes. These trips are in remote wilderness areas and include camping as high at 17,700'. Successful summit bids top out at 18,871' (Nevado Pisco), 19,347' (Volcan Cotopaxi) and 20,945' (Nevado Ausangate).

2011 & 2012 Departures: every Sunday from Cuzco May through October. 5 Day trek departs at 7.30 AM from Cuzco every Sunday returning to Cuzco on Thursday. The last trek of the year starts Oct 23, 2011; Oct 28, 2012. (Comparable dates for 2013)

2011 & 2012 Rates, per person, double occupancy:

$710 (4-16 passengers)

$810 (3 passengers)

$850 (2 passengers)

Requested single hotel and tent: $90

Machu Picchu citadel fee with Huayna Picchu: $75

Sleeping bag rental: $36

Internal Airfare Lima/Cuzco/Lima $330

Rates are subject to change; 2013 Rates On Request

Group size: 2-16 pas­sengers

We follow the footsteps of the Incas who built a high route from their capital city of Cuzco westward through the rugged cordillera, and filled their empire with amazing temples and royal residences. We camp high, and discover the beauty of tranquil Andean valleys with sublime views toward the 18,000-foot snowpeaks of the Urubamba and Huayanay Ranges. We also explore amazing Inca stoneworks in an enormous 15th century quarry site of Cachiqata. After descending into the Sacred Valley of the Incas we reach the royal Inca town of Ollantaytambo, with its remarkable sun temple. We travel to Machu Picchu by train for a full exploration of the famous city.

 

Day 1 Quillarumiyoq to Chiripahua

We pick you up at your Cuzco hotel and transfer by van west across the high Anta plain, following the route of the royal Inca Road which led from the capital toward the northern quarter of the empire. We stop first at the sacred Inca shrine known as Quillarumi (Moonstone in the Quechua language of the Incas), one of the finest of the carved rock huacas in the vicinity of Cuzco. We continue to our trailhead by the Huaracondo River where it drains the western edge of the plain, and meet our trail crew, who arrive from nearby communities. We commence trekking on a broad trail northward, above the west bank of the Huaracondo River. After an easy two-hour hike, we reach Huatta, a substantial pre-Inca fortress dominating the crest of a ridge at 3,855m/12,645’. Archeologists currently excavating the site are revealing burials and occupation levels from the Formative Period (2,500 years ago) on through the enormous fortifications of the 4th century Regional Development period; a scattering of late-period Inca structures seems like an afterthought on the top of the highest hill. The site is classic: a defensible ridge with dominating three-way views along intersecting valleys. After lunch we continue on our way westward into the range, and camp at 3,750m/12,300’ next to a rural school in the hamlet of Chiripahua. 10.5km/6.5 miles (L,D)

 

Day 2 Chancachuco

We climb gradually through fields and glades of the indigenous Chachacomo tree, in a landscape of pastures and small fields clinging to the steep mountainsides. Wherever there is water, we find an Andean family compound of adobe and straw. But there is little water in this mountain range – we are reminded hour by hour of how precious a commodity water was and is to the Andean people. We climb to a small knoll at 4,400 m/14,432’ for delicious lunch, then continue up to the col. From our location atop Accoccasa Pass (4,625m/15,170’) we enjoy breathtaking views to immense snowpeaks: the Huaynays to our west, the Urubamba range to the north. We enjoy an easy descent, to camp at 4,350 m/14,268’ in the broad valley of Chancachuco, facing the glaciers of the Huaynay Range. 8.8 km/5.5 miles (B,L,D)

 

Day 3 Huayrapunku/Cachiqata Quarry

We trek westward, gradually descending the high valley, to the headworks of a now-abandoned Inca aqueduct which transported water from the Chancachuco valley north to supply the otherwise-arid north-facing slopes above Ollantaytambo. This aqueduct once transported water across a sheer cliff face high above the Silque River. While we descend through a flower-filled notch in the valley wall, on the mountainside above us we can glimpse traces of the original stonework, testimony to the extraordinary engineering in the project. We reach our final pass (3,940m/12,923’) and visit a spectacular ridge-top Inca shrine called Huayrapunku (Gate of the Wind), with an astonishing view towards Nevado Veronica (5,682m/18,637’) directly across the valley. The site offers unsurpassed views to the terraces and temple site of the royal town of Ollantaytambo, over 4,000 feet below us. Constructed in the 15th century by the Inca emperor Pachacutec, the town was an important administrative and religious center. We descend, past the curious Inca administrative site of Llaqtallaqtayoq, to our camp on a broad terrace at 3,525m/11,562’at the edge of the enormous Cachiqata quarry. In the afternoon we explore the intricate quarry workings. From this steep talus slope beneath the sheer face of Cerro Yanaorco, immense red granite building stones were carved onsite and then skidded down to the valley floor, across the river, and then up to the sun temple site on the far side of the valley. We explore the ramps and work platforms around the largest of the stones. Orchids and other flowers are abundant in and around the quarry site, set high on the mountainside above the valley floor. 11.8 km/7.4 miles to camp, plus optional additional walking in the Inca quarry.

 

Day 4 Ollantaytambo/Machu Picchu

We descend on a broad Inca road down through the lower quarry zone, and stop at a key hilltop, from where the worked stones were skidded down the steep slope to the Vilcanota River below us. On the far bank, between the river and the Sun Temple, we can see several of these piedras cansadas (“Tired Stones”), which were abandoned half-way between quarry and temple. Chroniclers tell us that work on the temple site was suddenly halted when the Colla masons fled back toward their homes in the Lake Tiahuanaco area, just prior to the arrival of the Spanish invaders. We continue down, cross the river, and arrive finally at the famous Sun Temple in Ollantaytambo. We have time to explore the temple and the adjacent village, before catching a late afternoon train to Aguas Calientes. We check into a hotel for the night. 8 km./5 miles. B,L are included; dinner in Aguas Calientes is on your own).

 

Day 5 Machu Picchu

We enter the site early in the morn­ing for an in-depth guided tour of the ridge-top citadel of Machu Picchu. We descend to Aguas Calientes for return to Ollan­taytambo, continuing by chartered bus to Cuzco in late af­ter­noon, arriving around 9.30PM. Transfer to your hotel. (B)

 

Included: indicated meals, transport by train and bus, porter­age of up to 10 kg personal gear, com­mu­nal camp gear including tables and camp chairs, dining tent, spacious sleeping tents, Thermarest sleeping pad, water filter and other amenities.

 

Site fees Excluded: Machu Picchu Citadel Site fee. The rate as of Jan 1, 2009 is S/.124, roughly US$45 for the entry to Machu Picchu on the fifth day of our program (current exchange is approximately S/. 3=US$1.) The rate is subject to change without prior notice by order of park authorities. BTG multi-site entrance ticket - most of our passengers purchase this ticket in Cuzco prior to commencing the trek, as it contains site entrances to many of the most popular sites in Cuzco and the Sacred Valley. The full ticket costs US$45 (as of Jan 1, 2009); separate site entrance to just the Ollantaytambo ruins are also available. Passengers who purchase the BTG ticket prior to the trek must bring this along on the trek in order to avoid having to purchase a separate entrance to the Ollantaytambo ruins. Site en­t­rance costs are subject to change.

Other Exclusions:

personal trekking gear and sleeping bag;

tips to guide and trek staff;

city services before and after trek program;

dinner and lunch in Aguas Calientes;

air Lima/Cuzco/Lima (currently $268 and subject to change).

Rental sleeping bag: $35. We provide mummy-style, winter-weight synthetic-fill sleeping bags, with sheet liners. We launder the liners between each trek. Rental sleeping bags should be requested well in advance of your departure. If you are taller than 6 feet, please request an extra-long bag.

 

If you are traveling alone and are willing to share a tent and hotel, we will pair you with another trekker of the same gender and you pay no supplementary charge. If you prefer single occupancy, the surcharge is US$90.

Hostal Presidente

What are your recommendations for acclimatization?

So that you have sufficient time to acclimate prior to starting the trek, we strongly recommend that you arrive in Cuzco or similar elevation a minimum of two days prior to the trek. This is a 45-km/28-mile trek with a maximum elevation close to 4,600m/15,100 feet.

How Do I Meet the Group?

Once we receive your final payment, we will send a Confirmation of Service voucher with your prepaid travel details. Services in Peru are provided by Inca Tours & Travel Adventures (ITTA).

At 10.30AM on the day prior to the trek, there is an important orientation meeting with your guide and other participants in the ITTA office in Cuzco. We review trek arrangements, trail gear and packing strategies, health and dietary matters, tipping and other cash needs, and trail documentation requirements.  We also distribute your trail duffel and sleeping pad. If you’ve rented a sleeping bag from us, we give it to you now so you can pack your duffel, ready for the departure early next morning.

Do I have to bring my own sleeping bag and pad?

You can bring your own sleeping bag, but if you prefer, we have sleeping bags available for rental at $36. We provide Thermarest sleeping pads.

• 5 Days, in/out Cuzco
• 4 days hiking/3 nights camping;  1 day and night at Machu Picchu
• Enjoy unspoiled, uncrowded Inca Trails and tranquil high Andean valleys
• Marvel at sublime views toward 18,000-foot snowpeaks
• Explore rich archeological remains, including an enormous Inca quarry
• Enjoy the wonders of the magnificent ridge-top city of Machu Picchu

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