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 indigenous to Peru like the llama, alpaca, guanacos and the Vicuna that produces very fine wool and can only be shorn every three years. Visit the farm to pet, feed and take pictures with these animals. Also, in the center are local women dressed in local garments, weaving items using the wool from these animals. As you exit, encounter a museum and souvenir shop. The workers are always around to answer any questions, but never feel pressurized to buy anything.

The alpaca, guanacos and vicuna are in the top 5 of the finest wool in the world, with the vicuña at number 1. The only thing that seperates them is cashmere and merino wool. If you purchase a vicuna garment, be sure to grab your certification, it is a national protected animal and the weavers need special permission to use the wool.

PISAC

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.

Later, we start driving towards Urubamba for lunch, passing small farming towns like Coya and Calca before stopping at 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, tea and coffee.

SALT MINE

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 since pre-Inca times and continues to be the bread and butter for this small community. The salt stream above feeds the thousands of salt pans, 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 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. It still supplies Peru with over 90% of its salt. A great place to grab a souvenir.

MORAY

Next, we visit Moray, which was an experimental farming site built in the form of an amphitheater, which each level naturally with a different temperature to grow different types of crops. These levels of terraces were carved before the Incas took control of the Sacred Valley and then used by the Incas to research optimal growing conditions for their crops. The Incas 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.

OLLANTAYTAMBO

After Moray, drive to Ollantaytambo and 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, we will return to Cusco, dropping you at your hotel around 6:30 pm.