Cusco & Machu Picchu Extension

This morning, take a spectacular flight over the Andes to Cusco (11,200'). On arrival, you are met by your guide and head out to the beautiful Urubamba Valley, home of the stupendous ruins of Písac, a fortress that is still an enigma to archaeologists. It was a classic Inca pucara, a huge defended area into which the entire population of a wide area could retreat during a military threat, but despite its natural defenses, the Incas made no stand here against the Spaniards. Písac is particularly well known for the Inca-built terracing that sweeps around the mountain spur on which the ruin is perched. The fine Inca terracing of the landscape around Písac reflects a level of engineering ingenuity unrivaled anywhere else in South America. On your tour, you hike past the largest known Inca burial site, explore the temple complex, and visit the village below, which has excellent artisan shops. Overnight in the Urubamba Valley at the Hotel Pakaritampu...BLD

This morning we take a walk through the impressive ruins of Ollantaytambo, which are very close to your hotel. Once we're done, we'll board the van and drive in the direction of Moray and Maras. Moray is an unusual site featuring concentric terraces in natural depressions in the earth, thought by many scholars to have been experimental agricultural stations for crop hybrids. We then continue to the colonial town of Maras and begin our downhill hike through ancient salt mines where a natural saline spring flows into hundreds of terraced pools. This breathtaking site is still the main salt supply for the Cusco area, as it was in pre-Hispanic times. Overnight at Hotel Pakaritampu...BLD

Enjoy a private guided walking tour through central Cusco, once the elegant imperial city of the Incas. The streets of Cusco are lined with massive Inca-built stone walls and the foundations of many colonial and modern buildings are set on Inca stonework. Your walking tour typically includes a visit to the central square called the Plaza de Armas, Cusco's ancient and modern center, and the baroque cathedral, a great repository of colonial art that sits on the foundations of the Inca Wiracocha's palace. You will also visit awe-inspiring Saqsayhuaman, the majestic Inca fortress overlooking Cusco. With its three tiers of outer walls made of massive and perfectly fitted limestone blocks, it is the largest and one of the most impressive Inca sites in existence. The zig-zag configuration of its walls may indicate that it was a temple dedicated to the Inca's important lightning god, although some scholars feel the zig-zags represent the teeth of a puma.

Inhabited by proto-Incas as early as 1100 AD, Cusco was partly rebuilt in the early 15th century by Pachacuteq, the Inca warrior-king. He is credited with creating the Incas' form of worship, system of government, and the distinctive masonry style we still marvel at today. Cusco was laid out in the shape of a puma. The megalithic fortress of Sacsayhuaman formed its head, while palaces, temples, squares, and streets formed the puma's body and legs. Cusco's paved avenues were flanked by temples and rock-hewn palaces with gold- and jewel-encrusted doors, and there were lavish villas for the Inca nobles and their retinues. Cusco's opulent inner sanctum was the Coricancha, or House of the Sun, a glittering temple to the gods, full of golden statues. Today the stonework remnants of this temple form the foundation for the colonial church of Santo Domingo. Overnight at Casa Andina Premium Cusco...BL