DAILY DEPARTURES !!! From 08:50 am to 17:00 hrs
This is the most famous mountain biking tour in Cusco, very popular for all local cross country bikers which is a mix of impresive landscapes of white mountains, andean towns, Inka ruins, salt mines and moderate mountain biking adventure. 4 to 5 hours mt biking approximatelly. (36 Km approx).
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Pick-up from your hotel at 08:50 am then 1 hour private van drive following northeast direction from Cusco to “Chancadora” located before Chincheros town. From this point we start our mountain biking adventure. 1 hour of warming up ride in a flat dirty single road with spectacular views of crops of potatoes, barley, impressive andean landscapes and views, snow capped peaks around, small lakes and local friendly people, you will have another perspective of views of the sacred valley, then we reach to Cruzpata. From here we continue 1 hour riding of gradual riding up to Maras town. Another hour of moderate up and flat dirty road and country cross biking till the ruins of Moray, time to visit this impressive Inca experimental agricultural terraces mainly used as a farming laboratory in Inka´s time, then we return down hill for 50 minutes to Maras town. Finally we ride for 20 minutes downhill to Salineras (the salt mines) after visiting and pictures we descend for 30 minutes to Pichingoto then cross a small bridge to end our trip at Urubamba where our transport is waiting for us to return back to Cusco or take you to your hotel in Urubamba. A pack lunch is provided here.
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CHINCHERO: Located 28 kilometers from Cusco and surrounded by patchwork style fields of exquisite natural colours. Chincheros is a charming town, with colonial style constructions and was a major agricultural center during the Tawantinsuyo. One can appreciate the stone walls with trapezoidal niches that provide the setting for the traditional market, where they still practice bartering. The Chincheros women can always be recognized for their very distinguishing clothing and braided hair. The famous church and archaeological site here requires the tourist ticket.
MORAY:
a further breathtaking 20 kms drive with the beautiful snowcapped Chicon and Veronica mountains in the Cordillera Vilcanota as a backdrop we continue through to Moray. In Moray we visit “ the Inca agricultural greenhouse or laboratory”, consisting of four platforms amphitheater style or. Has a depth of 150 meters, the overlapping concentric circular stone rings widen as they rise. It was an experimental place to study the adaptation of plants to new ecosystems.
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MARAS / SALINERAS:
located 7 miles from Moray at altitude of 3, 380 m is a small village, as a model of a miniature city. Famous for its salt mines, made up of about 3000 small wells with an area average size of about 5 ms ². These were already exploited since Inca times as a means of economic exchange and securities. Very interesting to see how the salt is colected from these mines and the lives of those who work here.