I left Cusco in the end of morning in the direction of Chinchero on the 27th of August. It was wanted to leave at that time because the trek I was heading to do was only 12.5 km and since the beginning of my trip I had not had a chance to go camping, so I wanted to stop along the this little trek to camp out. I got to Chinchero and took some time to visit the archeological site it is at the same time the road to take to get to the hiking trail that I needed to get to. I will here dictate the itinerary that I found on another web site because I had never even heard of this trek before.
Chinchero
Ruins of Chinchero
Looking back on the ruins and the stream at
the bottom that you will follow
the bottom that you will follow
The info comes from the following site : http://www.trektheandes.com/chinchero-to-huayllabamba/
I made to copy and paste of his text and added my own comments in blue.
Here is the complete itinerary.
Trek Length: 12.5km 4hrs (in my case in was longer than that because I took some time to visit Chinchero and the ruins)
Trek start: Chinchero Market
Max altitude: 3336 m
A great walk and it is all downhill. We start in the beautiful
village of Chinchero with its colonial buildings, cobbled streets and
beautiful churches and bustling traditional market. The route takes you
past the impressive Inca walls thought to have been a country retreat of
Inca Tupac Yupanqui and follows a sharply falling stream down to
eventually meet the Rio Vilcanota in the Sacred Valley. The path is
original Inca Trail and is good all the way but the long descent is sure
to let your knees know you have done a good day’s walking.
To get to start of walk take a bus or collectivo from Cusco heading towards Urubamba, about 3 to 5 soles.
N.B. The market is best on Sunday but also opens on Tuesday and Thursday. To visit the Inca site you need a Boleto Turistico but to just walk past them as you do on this trek you do not. (I am not sure that you can go without passing the entrance to the site, but maybe if you explain that you are heading to the trek, maybe...)
Start at the entrance to Chinchero market, go through the entrance and head through it hugging the left hand side. (I went through the archeological site instead of taking this route)
120m Come out the other side, just past the toilet block through the arch. Carry straight on down the track in front of you past the sign indicating that you are on the Qhapaq Nan. (I did not see this sign)
To get to start of walk take a bus or collectivo from Cusco heading towards Urubamba, about 3 to 5 soles.
N.B. The market is best on Sunday but also opens on Tuesday and Thursday. To visit the Inca site you need a Boleto Turistico but to just walk past them as you do on this trek you do not. (I am not sure that you can go without passing the entrance to the site, but maybe if you explain that you are heading to the trek, maybe...)
Start at the entrance to Chinchero market, go through the entrance and head through it hugging the left hand side. (I went through the archeological site instead of taking this route)
120m Come out the other side, just past the toilet block through the arch. Carry straight on down the track in front of you past the sign indicating that you are on the Qhapaq Nan. (I did not see this sign)
350m - 10 mins from start a small stone sign in the ground points your
route ahead. (Follow the blue arrows if you are already on the site) Take the direction signposted as Urquillos not the path
that heads off left to Sipasqolca. You can now see the Inca walls ahead
of you to the right. You carry along underneath them. (When passing on the site I followed the walls (terraces) until I reach the very end)
1.03Km reach end of Inca site and descend down steps through a small valley lined with eucalyptus trees.
1.35km continue on the path along the right hand side of the stream, ignoring the path heading up to the left
1.03Km reach end of Inca site and descend down steps through a small valley lined with eucalyptus trees.
1.35km continue on the path along the right hand side of the stream, ignoring the path heading up to the left
1.74km the river drops on a series of small falls leaving you high
above it with a great view of snow-covered Pitusiray in the distance
The stream goes down a series of small falls
The footpath that continues down a little farther
1.85km ignore the path to the right and descend towards Urquilo (there was a small sign when I passed there)
2.26km - 40 mins arrive at a small structure on a left hand bend labeled as Q’ente Capilla or chapel of the hummingbird. You have great views down to the Sacred Valley and across to the mountains. (I did not see this structure, maybe I missed it)
2.48km - 45 mins Signpost gives you the option to descend to the waterfall known as Pop Pop. You do have to climb back up afterwards. (If you have a big backpack, I would propose to find a place to hide it before going down, because coming back up is pretty hard, which I had to do) It is 600 meters distance each way, half hour total down and back up a zig zag path (unless you do like me and have your backpack on), you need to look at the map on the post and count the zig zags, you traverse right after the fourth left of switch back and avoid the descending path, after the 4th time you find yourself on the left hand side of a switch back. (Which I did not do and went all the way down and had to come back up to find the trail to the waterfalls, I should calculate 1h instead of 30 minutes in my case, because I took time for a break at the bottom and on the way back up because I had the extra weight)
2.26km - 40 mins arrive at a small structure on a left hand bend labeled as Q’ente Capilla or chapel of the hummingbird. You have great views down to the Sacred Valley and across to the mountains. (I did not see this structure, maybe I missed it)
2.48km - 45 mins Signpost gives you the option to descend to the waterfall known as Pop Pop. You do have to climb back up afterwards. (If you have a big backpack, I would propose to find a place to hide it before going down, because coming back up is pretty hard, which I had to do) It is 600 meters distance each way, half hour total down and back up a zig zag path (unless you do like me and have your backpack on), you need to look at the map on the post and count the zig zags, you traverse right after the fourth left of switch back and avoid the descending path, after the 4th time you find yourself on the left hand side of a switch back. (Which I did not do and went all the way down and had to come back up to find the trail to the waterfalls, I should calculate 1h instead of 30 minutes in my case, because I took time for a break at the bottom and on the way back up because I had the extra weight)
Observe how many zigzags, the yellow spot is the waterfalls
The stream all the way down
Find my Inukchuk close to the stream all the way down
Pop Pop waterfalls
View down where you need to go down and back up to go to the waterfalls
N.B.Timing and distance assumes you have gone to see the waterfall,
if you do not then you can knock half an hour and 1.2km from the timings
and distances that follow
3.06km arrive Pop Pop waterfall
3.69km - 1hr15 arrive back up at main path
5.05km - 1hr45 come to a grassy spot about 4m by 5m wide with enough room for a few of you to sit down and have a picnic. Note the folded strata to your right. (I did not notice this point because I could see the next point which was my objective for the day)
3.06km arrive Pop Pop waterfall
3.69km - 1hr15 arrive back up at main path
5.05km - 1hr45 come to a grassy spot about 4m by 5m wide with enough room for a few of you to sit down and have a picnic. Note the folded strata to your right. (I did not notice this point because I could see the next point which was my objective for the day)
Maybe the picnic site mentioned
5.3km - 1h55 a couple of flat Inca terraces to your left would be great for a discreet camp. (I used the Inca terraces for camping that night, it was around 4h30 and I met a farmer that lives a little further up the road on the opposite side of the trail. I asked if I could camp there and he said no problem. I had a hard time understanding him, because he was mumbling more than speaking. A little later his wife and daughter also went by and saluted me nicely also.)
My camping spot on the Inca terraces
My point of view at night fall
5.38km leave the main path to head down to the river on a small path (I have not followed a smaller path, it was the path that went down to the stream)
6.26km - 2hr15 a confusing signpost stone saying Uran Mayo in a clearing in the eucalyptus. It is not clear which way it points. You need to cross the stream on the small wooden bridge (I have not seen this sign and it seemed obvious that I had to cross this little wooden bridge)
6.26km - 2hr15 a confusing signpost stone saying Uran Mayo in a clearing in the eucalyptus. It is not clear which way it points. You need to cross the stream on the small wooden bridge (I have not seen this sign and it seemed obvious that I had to cross this little wooden bridge)
Little dam you will see on the way
7.11km - 2hr40 Capilla Urquillos- small chapel on your left (did not notice this, but here you will start to see some houses)
8.28km 3hr join main track and head left
9.07km Hacienda located to your right
9.7km - 3hr20 Urquillos church and pretty plaza with impressive tree on your right. Road comes here if you have arranged transport (Went I went by, I only saw one big tree)
8.28km 3hr join main track and head left
9.07km Hacienda located to your right
9.7km - 3hr20 Urquillos church and pretty plaza with impressive tree on your right. Road comes here if you have arranged transport (Went I went by, I only saw one big tree)
The church and Plaze central of Urquillos
10.67km - 3hr35 turn right past the hotel and follow track along Rio Vilcanota ( was looking for a small village hotel, but when you will see it you'll know it's the right one, follow the road it's the only one until the bridge)
The main gate to the hotel that you will see once you turned right
Working in the fields on the last stretch of the road
12.17km - 4hr cross bridge over river
12.47km - 4hr05 arrive at the road where you can
catch a bus back towards Urubamba or take one in the opposite direction
to Calca. You can get back to Cusco from both towns but via Urubamba is a
bit quicker.
Click on picture to see the whole album of the trek
Statue at the crossroads
Escape Route: There is not one , the only option is to carry on or turn back up the way you came.
Alternative Route: If you choose not to visit the waterfall you will save yourself 1.2km and about 30 mins. You could arrange to get picked up at Urquillos saving 2.77km. I think there are combis from here too. Thus you could make the walk only 8.5 km if you skip the waterfall and finish at Urquillos. (I have seen no combis, a few parked mototaxi along the road if there is really a need for one, but the road is not that long and flat, really easy)
Alternative Route: If you choose not to visit the waterfall you will save yourself 1.2km and about 30 mins. You could arrange to get picked up at Urquillos saving 2.77km. I think there are combis from here too. Thus you could make the walk only 8.5 km if you skip the waterfall and finish at Urquillos. (I have seen no combis, a few parked mototaxi along the road if there is really a need for one, but the road is not that long and flat, really easy)
''End of the itinerary''
It's was a little easy trek and I did it on two days only because I wanted to camp on the way and since there is almost no one else it was easy for me to do this. I saw no other trekkers on the trail. I saw one old man, a farmer, his wife and daughter. Once I got to Urquillos I started crossing local people on the road. All in all the trek is very quiet and pleasant. Easy trek and in no moment I felt like I lost the trail. I asked the direction to a few people just to be sure I was on the right road and the answer was always positive. So your chance of getting lost are null, you simply have to follow the stream all the way down.
Do not underestimate the descent, it is in fact hard on your knees and your feet do get a bit sore
Good trekking if you decide to go.
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