Waqrapukara Hike: Q´eswachaca Inca Dridge

Explore with us these hidden ancestral routes of the Incas, Waqrapukara, Ancient Inca Bridge and Rainbow Mountain!

During this outstanding and unique experience, you will have the opportunity to share a traditional breakfast with a local family in one of the communities we have one the way, then we will hike to the Andean Avatar of Waqrapukara, after spending the night in T´umi community in family house, the second day we will continue to the last ancient Inca Bridge (Q´eswachaca) in Apurimac Canyon, crossing the bridge made by Andean straw, you will see how resistant they were. Finally, day 3 we will be impressed by the natural colors of the Rainbow Mountain.

Itinerary:

Day1 - Waqrapukara hike – Overnight in local Family house part of our project
Early Pick up from you Hotel at 05:00 am, then we will continue by our private van to Cusipata village, where we will organize the breakfast in local restaurant, then we will continue our journey by car 1 hour and 20 more minutes till the hike start point, from here we will hike for around 2 hour and 30 minutes more or less to reach this impressive place of Waqrapukara. Far away from the top of the mountain you will have the first pictures of Waqrapukara, then you will be getting closer little by little with a spectacular view of the canyon and you will barely trust your eyes, for the incredible landscape that you have in front of your eyes. That looks like the backdrop of a science fiction movie! this archaeological site is real and exists since Inca times, over 3,700 meters in an unreally beautiful landscape, along the trail you will have the privilege of being able to see vicuñas in their natural habitat, with a bit more luck we can see some condors flying over the sky, picnic lunch with an attuning view to Waqrapukara, we still have a 1 hour hike to the road end of Santa Lucia town, here our private transport will be waiting for us, take us to T’umi Community, place where we will spend the night with a local family.

On this hike, you will cross a 4,400-meter-high pass, wandering along Andean lagoons, past lush Ichu grass.
Overnight: In T´umi community - Homestay
Meals Included: Brakfast, Box-Lunch, Dinner
Difficulty / Physical Activity: Moderate - Challenging - 6-7 hours of challenging physical activity
Highest point: 4400 meters
Day2 - Q´eswachaca (Inca Bridge) – Lunch with local family – Homestay in T´umi community
Breakfast with the family, at around 09 am, departure by our private van to Q´eswachaca (ancient Inca Bridge). After 1 hour driving through beautiful scenery, with a variety of flora, we will arrive to Q´eswachaca, as we approach, we will be impressed by the imposing Apurimac Canyon, finally we will reach the Inca Bridge. We were pleasantly impressed by the high degree of engineering our ancestors achieved. This ancient Inca Bridge is a suspension bridge made of vegetable fiber call (ichu), here we will see how our ancestors achieved to use the perfectly engineering and technique to build bridges that connect towns and regions. Then our private van will take as back to T´umi community, where we will share an organic lunch with the local family, free time to relax in this peaceful place, surrounded by an amazing lagoon, at around 4 pm, you will participate in the daily activities of the family, you may help to feed guinea pigs, or pick up and take at home the donkey and cows, after dinner, overnight at the Homestay.
Overnight: In T´umi community - Homestay
Meals Included: Brakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Difficulty / Physical Activity: Easy - nothing more than normal walking while sight-seeing
Day3 - Rainbow Mountain Hike – Cusco (we do not go by the classic trail to avoid the crowd)
At 07:00am after Breakfast with the family, we will continue our journey to Rainbow Mountain, after 2 hours driving accompanied by a spectacular panoramic view with canyons, native villages, alpacas and llamas grazing in the mountains we will arrive at the starting point of our hike which is over 4500 meters and the top of the Rainbow mountain is 5020 meters. We will prepare our day backpacks and snacks, then we need only 1-hour hike to reach this famous mountain, on the top of the mountain it is quite cold because it runs icy winds, so I recommend bring a warm jacket, wool hat and gloves if you want to appreciate the beauty of the mountain without any discomfort.

We have around 40 minutes to enjoy the beauty of this stunning place. You have two highlights in front of you. A panoramic view towards the Vinicunca mountain with its natural spectacular colors, then when turning 180 degrees, you will have the sight of the prominent snowy mountain of Ausangate, you will simply fall in love with this place. After taking photos, we will hike downhill to the point we started. As soon as we arrive at the foot of the mountain we relax a few minutes before our car will bring us to the local restaurant for our lunch, then back to Cusco.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Difficulty / Physical Activity: Moderate - Challenging - 3-4 hours of challenging physical activity
Highest point: 5030 meters

Whats included

Excursions

Visit Oropesa bakery town

Hike to Waqrapukara

Visit Last Inca Bridge

Hike to Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain + Red Valley

Visit a local community
Transportation and Others

Comfortable Private Transportation during these 3 days

Entry Ticket to Waqrapukara

Entry Tickets to Inca Bridge

Entry Ticket to Rainbow Mountain

Meals according to mentioned in the itinerary

Local top quality English-speaking guides to accompany visits and excursions

24-hour support by our local staff