|
 |
|
|
Prices & Reservations 2010 |
|
Method Payment |
|
Photos Gallery |
|
Ask our expert |
|
| Tour Details |
The Pongo de Mainique and Machu picchu Code_ A_11 |
| Duration : |
7 days / 6 nights (standar service) |
| Starting point : |
Cusco Ending point : Cusco |
| Dificult: |
Easy Moderate Moderately Dificult Very Dificult |
| Tour Type : |
Archaeological, cultural, ecological, hiking and camping |
The Pongo de Mainique,is a pongo (canyon) in Peru, being 45 metres (50 yd) wide and 3 kilometres (2 mi) long, with 900 metres (3,000 ft) to 300 metres (1,000 ft) high cliffs. It is the only break in the entire Cordillera Vilcabamba Mountain Range. It also divides the Urubamba River (a headwater of the Amazon River) between Upper Urubamba and Lower Urubamba. It is considered the most dangerous whitewater pass on the Urubamba; however, many boats traverse it, depending on seasonal river conditions. It is crossed by the Inca Bridge, ancient secret entrance to the Machu Picchu.it is a global biodiversity hotspot; six square miles of rainforest around the canyon contains more species of life than any other similar-sized area on Earth.
The rapids of the Pongo de Mainique were used as a filming location for key scenes of Werner Herzog's 1982 film Fitzcarraldo starring Klaus Kinski.In a 2006 survey of "15 of the world's top travel writers" by The Observer, Monty Python actor and BBC travel documentarist Michael Palin named it his "favourite place in the world".
DAY 1: CUSCO - QUILLABAMBA.-
Today we begin our descending into the jungle.
Taking our transport we depart from the valley going north to the province of Quillabamba.
Driving over the Abra de Màlaga at 4300m down into the high jungle with its coffee and banana plantations towards our resting place for the night, near from the small market in this province.
Day 2: QUILLABAMBA - YVOCHOTE.-
After having breakfast we get along further north following the mighty Urubamba River, with its twists and turns.
Our guide will teach us about the area, the spectacular flora and fauna, the birds and the fruit in this vibrant area from Cusco, Peru.
Tonight we'll eat and sleep under the stars.
DAY 3: YVOCHOTE - PONGO OF MAINIQUE.-
Passing through the small jungle towns with their effervescent atmosphere we make our way towards the end of the road, getting at the port of Ivochote.
Here we will aboard our motorized canoe for the last part of our journey through the magical Pongo de Mainique, where we will have the opportunity to admire the beauty of this truly spiritual area.
DAY 4: PONGO DE MAINIQUE – IVOCHOTE - QUILLABAMBA.-
We have a special scenery with an amazing early rising sun during the breakfast, and then we aboard the canoe to the port of Ivochote.
We will be back by bus to Quillabamba.
Overnight here.
DAY 5 : QUILLABAMBA - LUCMA – LLACTAPATA.-
We will leave Quillabamba at 7:00am in our private bus, and we'll drive for three hours towards Santa Teresa and Lucmabamba (1870m.), the starting point of our trek.
We will walk for approximately four hours following an uphill path that will start in a tropical valley with lush vegetation and so we'll arrive to Llactapata (2750m.) We will have an amazing view of Machupicchu.
We will camp here.
DAY 6: LLACTAPATA – AGUAS CALIENTES.-
We'll make an early descent to the Urubamba river, which we'll follow upstream to the town of Aguas Calientes located at the bottom of the Machu Picchu mountain.
You can visit the village of Aguas Calientes in the evening and possibly the hot springs.
Overnight here.
DAY 7: MACHUPICCHU – CUSCO.-
We take one of the early buses up to the ancient city of Machu Picchu.
The visit will be leaded by an official guide for approximately 2 hours.
Then we'll have plenty of time to explore the mysterious site on our own before returning to Aguas Calientes to catch the afternoon train returning to Cusco.
|
