Early in the morning you will be met by their guide at the lobby of your hotel at the arranged time to take the private vehicle that will transfer you to Km 82 of the Rail Road to Machu Picchu, from where you will be met by your field stuff (Porters and Cooks) with all our equipment. From here we will start our hike to km 88, using a little visited portion of the Inca Trail following the right margin of the Urubamba River to then reach the bridge that will take us to Q’ente, located at Km 88 of the railroad to Machu Picchu. We will cross the bridge and hike for about 30 minutes to the first camp in Q’ente. Lunch will be served at campsite. After lunch, we will visit Machu Q’ente (one ½ hour hike) and Patallacta ruins,Patallacta Inca site. After time to enjoy landscape, we will pass Cusichaka river then we will arrive at Patallacta to camp. Camp.

Today is another relatively easy day. Most groups would be powering ahead along the Inca Trail today and would be heading over Dead Woman’s Pass, the highest point on the trek and one of the hardest and longest climbs on the Inca Trail. We’re going to take things at a more leisurely pace and our goal for today is a campsite just before the pass, Llulluchapampa, this breaks the hardest stretch over two days making the climb significantly easier.

On the way to Llulluchapampa we’ll once again go off the beaten track to visit the least visited of all the sites on the Inca Trail, the Inca fort of Paucarcancha. As we climb to Llulluchapampa we’ll pass through various biozones including the low sierra, cloud forest and the high puna. There are many opportunities to see a variety of plant and birdlife, and if we are lucky, we may also spot White Tailed Deer. Our campsite for the night is at 3800 m / 12460ft. and just like before it is tranquil and quiet with most trekkers either camping in the valley below or on the other side of the pass.

Today is our longest day and crosses two high passes; luckily for us we’re nearly at the first pass and once we’ve passed the second the walking is easy with very little ups and downs to contend with. Today sees some of the best views and scenery of the whole Inca Trail and includes visits to two Inca sites (Runcuraccay and Sayacmarca); with fantastic views of the high snow-capped peaks for most of the day and the cloud forest all around us today is by far the most visually stunning.
Our campsite for tonight is at Phuyupatamarca (3680m / 12073ft) from where we’ll get our first views of Machu Picchu mountain far in the distance (the site itself is hidden from view). The views of the sunset from here are fantastic and once again the campsite is quiet with the majority of trekkers camping closer to Machu Picchu.

Today is all about the Incas; we visit 3 major sites (Phuyupatamarca, Intipata and Wiñay Wayna) before we finally arrive to Machu Picchu itself late in the day. With only a short distance left to cover you’ll really have the opportunity to see these sites in detail and learn more about the Inca culture and Machu Picchu in preparation for your visit tomorrow. The area around these Inca sites is also rich in wildlife and with only a handful of people around on this stretch of trail at this time of day it is the perfect opportunity to try and spot some of the more elusive species.

The final stretch of the Inca Trail is completely deserted this time of day so our arrival to Machu Picchu via the Sun Gate (Inti Punku) is perfect. With good light and very few tourists about we can get some great photos of the citadel from a distance before carrying on down. After we arrive at Macchu Picchu, we’ll head down to Puente Ruinas (the campsite near Aguas Calientes) to be greeted by our porters for our last night camping together. We’ve made it!

Waking up early we’ll take the first bus back up to Machu Picchu to enter the site as it opens. We’ll have a 2-hour guided tour of the site, during which you’ll learn about the Incas and visit all the most important areas of the citadel. After your tour you’ll have leisure time to explore the site by yourself and if you have permits to climb either Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu mountain. In the afternoon you will take the train back to Ollantaytambo from where you will carry on by bus back to Cusco. End of our INCA TRAIL HIKE MACCHU PICCHU | Photo Expedition.