Entrancingly off the increasingly trod track, Choquequirao
(“Cradle of Gold” in Quechua—“The Other Machu Picchu,”
a recent article in the New York Times called it) is an amazingly preserved Inca outpost, four times the size of Machu Picchu, dramatically perched on a promontory nearly 6000 feet above the roaring Apurimac River Gorge. Though its existence has been known for some time, Choquequirao has only recently been accessible to nonacademics, and has quickly joined the ranks of the world’s great Lost Cities.
Our strenuous and splendidly rare mule-supported trek, created by our Peru monarch Clark Kotula, takes us over high passes, along perfectly preserved Inca trails lavished with magnificent Andean views, to the newly famous, but still little visited Choquequirao. These wondrous ruins, only 40 percent excavated, get a few hundred visitors in a year, as opposed to Machu Picchu’s 2,500 daily visitors, in large part because it takes some effort to get there—about 20 miles on foot across a 10,000-foot deep gorge from the nearest trailhead, to be precise.
After dallying in the ruins—“Twenty-five years ago Machu Picchu must have looked much like this,” the Times said—we cross the Vilcabamba Range from Choquequirao to Machu Picchu in five days, passing through remote indigenous villages and over a 15,900-foot pass between glaciated peaks to finally descend into the lush, orchid-profuse cloud forest that surrounds Machu Picchu, where we will wander extensively before heading to the Incan capital of Cusco (see Machu Picchu and the Urubamba), and on to Lima and home.
Our strenuous and splendidly rare mule-supported trek, created by our Peru monarch Clark Kotula, takes us over high passes, along perfectly preserved Inca trails lavished with magnificent Andean views, to the newly famous, but still little visited Choquequirao. These wondrous ruins, only 40 percent excavated, get a few hundred visitors in a year, as opposed to Machu Picchu’s 2,500 daily visitors, in large part because it takes some effort to get there—about 20 miles on foot across a 10,000-foot deep gorge from the nearest trailhead, to be precise.
After dallying in the ruins—“Twenty-five years ago Machu Picchu must have looked much like this,” the Times said—we cross the Vilcabamba Range from Choquequirao to Machu Picchu in five days, passing through remote indigenous villages and over a 15,900-foot pass between glaciated peaks to finally descend into the lush, orchid-profuse cloud forest that surrounds Machu Picchu, where we will wander extensively before heading to the Incan capital of Cusco (see Machu Picchu and the Urubamba), and on to Lima and home.
Day 1: arrive Lima •
Day 2: explore Cusco •
Day 3: Pisac market and the Sacred
Valley •
Day 4: to Cachora •
Days 5 & 6: trekking across Apurimac Gorge to Choquequirao
•
Day 7: full-day exploration of Choquequirao •
Days 8–12: trekking from Choquequirao to Machu Picchu •
Day 13: Machu Picchu •
Day 14: to Cusco •
Day 15: fly to Lima, day tour of city, depart.
Choquequirao: Trek to a Lost World
Trip Details
2012 Departures:
15 days
Activity Type:
Touring,
Trekking
Trip Price:From $5530
Be one of the first 4 people to sign up on any departure and receive a $600 early booking incentive! Please call for details.
- July 6 - July 20
- August 10 - August 24
- September 7 - September 21
15 daysActivity Type:
Touring,
Trekking
Trip Price:
From $5530Be one of the first 4 people to sign up on any departure and receive a $600 early booking incentive! Please call for details.
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