CAMINOS DEL INCA

Caminos del Inca This high altitude trek through the Ecuadorian Andes follows part of the old
Royal Inca Road ( Camino Real, Caminos del Inca ) which connected Quito with the capital
Cuzco at the time of the Inca empire. This 2- day hike begins in the Andean town of
Achupallas and leads through picturesque country with lakes and mountain peaks ending at
the Caminos del Inca ruins of Ingapirca. On this hike we take packhorses with us and it is
suited to almost anybody, who is in a decent physical shape. On demand we also could stretch
the trek from two to three days to make the hike even easier.

Caminos del Inca: 4 days / 3 nights

Day 1 Caminos del Inca We leave Quito in the morning and drive south on the Pan-American
Highway to Riobamba, where we stop for lunch. From there on, we continue south to Alausi and
then turn off the major highway towards Achupallas, our starting point of the trek. We arrive
there late afternoon and put up our first camp just outside of town.

Day 2 Caminos del Inca After an early breakfast we load our equipment on the mules and
horses and begin our hike towards Tres Cruces, which we reach after 5 hours moving up along
a river valley. Tres Cruces is the beginning of a pass, which separates the valley of Achupallas
with that of Culebrillas. Hiking along a high mountain ridge, we reach our highest point at around
4200m, from there we have great views to the surrounding mountain peaks. From this point on,
it is then downhill to our campsite at the confluence of two smaller rivers in the Culebrillas
valley.

Day 3 Caminos del Inca The next morning we start out hiking on the remains of the Inca
road towards Paredones, passing the Culebrillas lake to the right. We reach the old Inca ruins
after an 1 hour walk. This building was probably once a way station of the Inca road. Following
again the remains of the royal road, we reach the small agricultural village of San Carlos after
another 2 hours. From there on it is an 1 and 1/2 hour hike among farms and fields down to
Ingapirca, Ecuador's best kept Inca ruins. There we put up our last camp site and after lunch we
explore this historical complex with the famous sun temple and other Inca buildings and
monuments.

Day 4 Caminos del Inca The jeep awaits us in the morning and we drive back to Quito,
arriving after a long 8-hour drive later in the afternoon.

http://www.caminosinca.com/