Short Inca Trail

Short inca trail hike to Machu Picchu

Short Inca Trail: The Incas, a culture that was established in Cusco around the beginning of the 13th century, did not have horses, or cars to cover all the huge territory that covered 3 countries in South America. Along this land they created a network system of trails, that used to connect at the most towns, holly mountain, lakes, shrines, villages, farming spots, this trails are known as Qhapac Ñan (Qhapac = Rich, Milenary, Related to Inca; Ñan = Trail.

The short inca trail, is the famous trail that leads to Machu Picchu form Chachabamba, or the km 104. 12 kilometers distance which is done in about 6 hours.

The short Inca trail, is a path recommended for people who wants to reach machu picchu, by foot, but does have enough time to do the traditional 4 days inca trail, want to hike and does not want to spend the night in tents, with the short inca trail, you get the aguas calientes town and spend the night in a comfort of a hotel.

What to expect On the Inca Trail?

This part of the inca trail, is in the middle of the cloud forest, and gives you the opportunity to enjoy a green lush forest, where there are so many varieties of plants, 5 types of plants in an square meter, about 1500 varieties of orchids, varieties of ferns, ornamental trees, medicinal plants like the muña, rosemary, fruits, and a wide symbiosis.

There are as well a large variety of fauna; a rich area for biologists who are taking advantage of the location which easy to get there. There has being reported some kind of monkeys, over 420 species of birds, tree frogs, lizards, rodents, coatis, torrent ducks, hummingbirds, Andean guan, pumas, spectacle bears, tucans, thrush birds, tanagers, and many others, which is also a nice opportunity for bird watchers.

Archaeological sites; along the Peruvian territory, there are several inca archaeological sites, the 1^st to see and visit is named Chachabamba, a religious site that has water fountains, and dwellings, near by the Urubamba river at 2100 m, the other archaeological site which is at the river is named Choquesuysuy, and this is rarely visited because is located at another point through which the trails does not pass.

The most interesting inca site is named Wiñay huayna 2650 m; 8,694.22 ft “forever young”, an inca sites that has being discovered around 1950, by a Peruvian explorer, then small sites along the trail named tambos of resting places, then from the sungate, is a nice view point, from where you can be able to see machu picchu, and finally 2 more small inca sites and of of course, Machu picchu.