Llama Trail with Domes 2D/1N

Your adventure begins with pickup from your hotel in Cusco. From there, we'll travel to the trailhead, typically located near Tambomachay, Patabamba, or another nearby starting point, depending on the At 6:30 a. m. we pick you up at your hotel and, instead of getting into a van, you start walking. That is what makes this route unusual: it leaves the centre of Cusco on foot. The first stop is the Qorikancha, the Temple of the Sun, where your guide explains how the ceques radiated out from these walls, the lines that organised Inca territory, and why the path you are about to follow exists.
The city falls away slowly: cobbled streets, the Twelve-Angled Stone, the Sapantiana aqueduct and, at the top of the climb, Sacsayhuamán. In an hour and a half you have gone from the historic centre to the mountains without taking a single vehicle.
At the Balcón del Diablo, a rock ledge with the whole valley below, lunch is waiting: our own chefs cook it and serve it there, hot. It is the best dining room you will have in a long time.
The afternoon follows the northern slopes between eucalyptus trees and ancient walls. Ñustapakana is an outcrop the Incas turned into steps, niches and seats; the Piedra Resbalosa, the Inca slide, is a sheet of polished rock cut through with channels. They are an hour from the Plaza de Armas and almost nobody knows them.
We walk slowly on purpose, because your body is still adjusting to the altitude. Late in the afternoon the Andean Sky Dome appears. Check-in, an optional rock-climbing session if you still have the energy, and a hot dinner at 3,850 m. At night, without a single light around, the transparent roof of the dome does the rest.

Meals: Lunch cooked by our chefs, and dinner.
Accommodation: Andean Sky Dome, with a bed, warm bedding and shared facilities.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Distance: Approximately 9 km / 5.6 mi.
Maximum altitude: 3,850 m / 12,631 ft.
Sites visited: Qorikancha, Sacsayhuamán, Ñustapakana and Piedra Resbalosa.
Weather: Mild during the day and cold at night.
 

The second day is pure mountain. After breakfast you leave the dome and the path climbs without a break for about two hours up to Ruyaq Corralniyoc, at 4,100 m (13,451 ft). The trees run out, tussock grass covers everything and birds of prey appear above the ravines.
Up here you climb with short steps and steady breathing; if you need to stop, it is better to stand for a few seconds than to sit down every so often. The guide sets the pace and nobody is in a hurry.
Then come the Sihua lagoons, six of them, one after another. Andean geese and wild ducks nest on the first, llamas usually graze by the second, and the third is the largest. You watch from the path and at a distance: puna vegetation takes years to recover from a single step off the trail.
Before moving on, our chefs serve lunch out on the puna, with the lagoons beside you. Then the Pukamarca pass, at 4,200 m (13,779 ft), marks the high point and the end of the climb. From there on it is all downhill through a canyon that warms up bend by bend, until the tussock grass turns to shrubs and cacti and the Sacred Valley appears below. Down there is Huchuy Qosqo, with its double-jamb doorway, the kallanka, the terraces, the water channel and the storehouses of the administrative centre attributed to the Inca Wiracocha.
The walk ends in Lamay, in the heart of the Sacred Valley, where our transport will be waiting to take you back to Cusco. In two days, on foot, you will have crossed the range that separates the city from the valley.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch cooked by our chefs.
Accommodation: Not applicable; return to Cusco.
Difficulty: Moderate to demanding.
Distance: Approximately 15 km / 9.3 mi.
Maximum altitude: Abra Pukamarca, 4,200 m / 13,779 ft.
Finishing altitude: Lamay, approximately 2,950 m / 9,678 ft.
Sites visited: Ruyaq Corralniyoc, the Sihua lagoons, Abra Pukamarca and Huchuy Qosqo.
Weather: Cold on the puna and mild on the descent to the valley.