Ultimate Lares Trek & Inca Trail 5 days

Malgré un changement nécessaire suite au mal de montagne, notre expérience a été très enrichissante. Notre guide Miguel nous a concocté un programme B : unr marche pour visiter les Marasal, nuit camping au Média Luna et BBQ au lieu du Trek. Sinon, tous les activités ont été maintenues. Et que dire de notre chef Zenin et son aide César. Excellent ce qu ils ont concocté: des vrais Masterchef. Sans oublier Toribio qui transportait tout le matériel avec ces chevaux et montait les tentes dans des temps records. Malgré la déception de ne pas pu finaliser le Trek , ces 4 jours ont été très enrichissants. Merci l'équipe!

On the Lares Trek you’ll experience a great hike in a great landscape. The best thing about this trek & trail is that you get to see Machu Picchu twice: in the afternoon and in the morning on the next day. Miguel was THE best guide and treated us like family. He taught us a lot about Inka culture, local plants and history. Thanks to Martín (Chef) & Cecilio (Sous Chef) we ate like (Inka) Kings. Jean-Fino (porter) and his mules/horses made sure that everything was ready and in place when we arrived at the camp side. THANKS to the whole team/family, we had a very great time!

We had an outstanding experience on the 5-day Lares to Short Inca trail with Juvenal as our guide, Lorenzo as our chef, Joao as assistant chef, and Toribio as our porter. We were a small group (3) and the entire crew took incredible care of us to share the magical culture and scenery in the Sacred Valley. Please see the end of the review for a note on preparing for the altitude and general hike difficulty. First and foremost, we thank our amazing guide, Juvenal, for bringing his in-depth knowledge for and love of the culture and people in the highlands of Lares. By communicating with local people (in Quechua), Juvenal was able to deliver an unparalleled experience of the incredible lifestyle, culture, and practices of the native people here. We were extremely moved and honored to share beautiful moments with the wonderful people of the highlands. Juvenal also shared in-depth knowledge of the Inca and pre-Inca civilizations throughout the trek, and especially on the way to the stunningly beautiful and jaw-dropping ruins at Machu Picchu. The short Inca trail was an excellent way to reach Machu Picchu through the Sun gate (stunning view from here) in a single day’s hike. We are so grateful for all of Juvenal’s knowledge and warm spirit. He makes a point to treat all people (not just us, but local people, the rest of the crew etc.) with kindness and respect. We couldn’t ask for a better guide for our experience. Thank you Juvenal! Our head chef, Lorenzo, and his assistant Joao were absolutely incredible as well. Lorenzo blew our minds with how delicious (and even aesthetically pleasing) he could prepare meals while camping at 13,000 feet. My partner is vegetarian and he prepared an elaborate collection of nutritious and tailored meals for her along the way. He even prepared special meals when we both were struggling a bit with the altitude. Thank you Lorenzo and Joao! Finally, our porter, Toribio, never ceased to impress with how quickly and safely he transported the our and the crew’s gear with his team of mules. It is astonishing how well he and his mules move through such a difficult landscape. Thank you Toribio! We could never have anticipated how incredible and enriching this experience would be for all three of us. Not only did we see some the most incredible views of our lives, but we also learned and experienced an extremely rare and beautiful way of life that the native people of the highlands carry on. Their strength and kindness will stay with us for our entire lives. A quick note on the demands of the trek itself. The three of us (ages 29-32, active and relatively experienced hikers) found the Lares portion very challenging due to it being at an altitude that none of us had hiked in before. We also made the mistake of not giving ourselves ample time to acclimate to the altitude in Cusco before starting the trek (and also tried to do it without altitude medication etc.). The coca tea/leaves helped to an extent but we absolutely recommend taking time (2-3 days) to acclimate in Cusco and taking altitude medication if you (like us) are not used to hiking at altitude. That way, nothing (besides the usual challenges of a difficult hike) gets in the way of your experience. Even besides the altitude, this is a very challenging trek, so make sure you are comfortable with steep inclines/declines and heights in general before hiking the Andes. If you are up for the challenge, it is absolutely incredible! Thank you Juvenal, Lorenzo, Joao, Toribio, and all of the beautiful people we met along the way for an unforgettable experience!!