Vilcabamba cordillera (Peru) - August 2007

In search of the temple of the sun

Again, a wonderful trek! You will start from high mountains (near Mt Salcantay, 6264m) and you will end into an Amazon-like jungle. Don't start thinking that the trek is a long descent: you will have to climb 13000 accumulated meters along its path. The reason for this paradox is that the relief is a long succession of steep climbs and descents. But you will not suffer in vain: the amazing beauty of the landscapes, a diversified flora (once you are in the jungle), inca trails, and above all, lost inca cities! Well, not quite lost but, compared to the Machu Picchu, almost deserted (when you know what it takes to come there, you will understand why). The highlights were then : Choquequirao and Vitcos, a city and an outpost, restaured as the Machu Picchu and most of all: Vilcabamba, last refuge of Tupac Amaru, the last Inca, still in the jungle. A true adventure.

Photo gallery

Check out the photos of the trek on Flickr, to download the images in their original size and see on a map the places where they were taken.

Map

The trek map in Google Maps.