Are you planning to come to Peru, and it is too late to book a trip on the inca trail??.
well here in cusco we can do many different hikes, it all depends on what kind of hike you would like to do, and how many days you are planning to be in the mountains.
Just to give you an Idea:
one of the well known hikes after the traditional inca trail is the Salkantay trek. we take you to mollepata by bus, and from here we start ascending little by little towards Soray pampa and along the way you get to see the Umantay ( snow capped mountain,) and finally to the base of Salkantay ( one of the tutelary gods of the andean people). we call this mountain Apu Salkantay, and tradition says that this mountain is one of our protectors, the male god, ( the female god that is well know is Pachamama, mother earth); however the maximum elevation that you reach is 5000 mtr above sea leavel. the view from this pass is spectacular ( with many snow capped mountains, like the Pumasillu mountain range). then we start going downhill towards collpapampa, (were we camp). we keep descending, and the path follows close to the river as we get to the village called la playa (the path is close to some farms, so you get to see some plantations like coffee, bananas , passion fruit etc); all this area is known as a cloud forest area. from there we go towards Santa Teresa , and here we can enjoy the hot springs in Cocalmayu, after a nice relaxing bath we go towards Aguas Calientes and finally to machupicchu. for this hike we need at least 4 days, plus one extra to visit the inca site of machupicchu.
but if you would like to do a hike that doesn't require as much physical activity, and you want to relax, see the nature, and the true andean Peruvians ( nice landscape, some lakes, small native villages, have a jump into a hot spring, and get up to 5500 masl) , then Lares is the place to go. you will need only 3 days to do the hike it self, and then the fourth day we go by train from Ollantaytambo to Machupicchu.
Another hike that is highly recommended is the true secret valley Huchuy Qosqo; you can start either in Chinchero or in Tambomachay, ( both are inka sites). there along the way you can enjoy some lakes is well , but the elevation gain is not that much. 4500 mt is the maximum elevation there, so the hike is more gentle. you can get also to some villages like Pucamarca and through beautiful bridges you get to Huchuy Qosqo ( a beautiful inka site). from here you can see all the secret valley. depending on the time that you have , you can do this either in 2 or 3 days, and then take one or two days in Machupicchu.
But if you like the snow cap mountains, and being in the high lands, then you should go to Ausangate. this trip takes a minimum of 4 days, here you'll see the Apu Ausangate, one of the highest mountains in Peru, 6300 masl. also you get to see some beautiful lakes, and true Andean people on the way, but you'll be hiking most of the time up to 4000 masl and getting up to 5000 masl in certain passes. this hike is in the south part of cusco, so if you want to visit machupicchu you would have to came back to cusco, then head north ( where the inca site is located) We can take the train either from cusco or from Ollantaytambo to go to Machupicchu
