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4-day hike on the Ingapirca Trail

A local certified guide will take you on this outstanding 4-day hiking trail on an Inca Trail adventure to Ingapirca Ruins!

Not specified

Andes

4 Days

All year


Description

This 4 days trekking in the Ecuadorian Andes will take us to Ingapirca, the largest Inca ruins and Inca archeological site in Ecuador. The trail follows the old roads used by the Incas as commercial routes to connect the center of the empire in Peru with the northern limits in what nowadays is Colombia.

The trails runs above 3000m, and the highest altitude we reach is 4200m, before we arrive to the ruins near the beautiful city of Cuenca, in the south of Ecuador.

Proposed Itinerary:

Day 01: This adventure begins in Riobamba, where we will take the 7:00 A.M. train to Sibambe. This is the famous “Devil’s Nose” train ride, where you can ride on the roof of the train as it passes through native indigenous farms and the remote Allot Indian villages of the Province of Chimborazo. After arriving at the village of Alausí, the train continues towards the Devil’s Nose section, which is a switchback system of tracks, built on a steep hillside of andecite volcanic rock. This is the highlight of the train ride and the point where your adrenaline really starts pumping. Finally, we arrive in Sibambe, where we’ll disembark. After lunch, we’ll drive to La Moya and the Achupallas village (3,300 m/10,824 ft) and on to our campsite, where we’ll arrive at 3:00 P.M. Here, we’ll have dinner and camp overnight.

Day 02: We’ll have breakfast at 8:00 A.M., break down our campsite at 10:00 A.M., and begin hiking on a road that was, over 500 years ago, an important commercial connection that the Incas used between Colombia and Peru. After five hours hiking, we’ll arrive at our next campsite located in the middle of a nice valley below a hill named Tres Cruces (4,100 m / 13,448 ft.). We’ll have dinner and spend the night in the tents.

Day 03: We’ll continue walking up the wild paramo countryside. After an hour we’ll cross over the Tres Cruces (4,200 m / 13,776 ft) and pass a small lake. Quite often, this area is covered with snow and is usually quite cold. We continue with an easy journey that takes us to the highest point of the trail located at 4,200 m (13,776 ft.). From here, we’ll enjoy a spectacular view of the numerous mountain peaks before heading down to Culebrillas lake. After lunch, we’ll continue our walk, crossing a swampy valley floor and arriving at our next campsite in Paredones (3,700 m / 12,136 ft) at 3:00 P.M. Here, we’ll have dinner and spend the night in the tents.

Day 04: We’ll have breakfast at 8:00 A.M. and then continue our hike along the Inca trail which drops down to a fertile, agricultural valley, where we’ll pass several farms and campesino houses before arriving at the famous Ingapirca ruins. After a 2 hour tour in the ruins, we’ll have private transportation taking us to our hotel in Cuenca, where we’ll arrive around 6:00 P.M.

Please contact me if you are interested in doing this fascinating trekking, following the trail of the mythical Inca Empire!


About the guide

Tomás and his team of IFMGA/UIMLA-certified mountain guides, leaders and rock climbing instructors (Alvaro, Juliana, Merlin, Rodrigo, Armin, Alfredo, and Camila) are some of the top outdoor adventure professionals in Latin America.

Whether you wish to climb some of the most stunning mountains in the Andes or discover the vibrant peaks of Central America, among other amazing options, you will find yourself in good hands with this lively team of professional local guides that will not only show you the top spots in Latin America for outdoor adventures but also, bring you closer to the colorful local cultures of the places that you visit with them.

Tomás will be your main point of contact during the booking process and will help you with all the questions you have in order to make sure you receive the best possible guiding service.

Pick one of the E-S Latam Adventure Guides' programs and start planning an unforgettable experience in the beautiful mountains of Latin America!

Languages

French | English

Certificates

AAGM | IFMGA


What people are saying about Explore-Share

Kumari Selvakumar

5.00

Sept 14, 2022

I’m extremely happy with the ease with which I could book via your site reliable and experienced guide. Thank you so very much, and I’ve started to recommend your site to my friends. Dimitris is not only an awesome guide, but a wonderful person who was always looking out to give me the best experience I can have when he found out how much I love climbing! He is the Best!

Niklas Warren

5.00

Sept 6, 2022

I am very pleased with Explore-Share! This was my first international climb, and the communication and response time were great. Herbie is a very skilled guide and very efficient. The entire booking process & payment was smooth. I will definitely use Explore-Share again. Thank you.

Greg

5.00

Aug 23, 2022

I was looking for a local guide for a hike I was planning and came across Explore-Share. They seemed to have good reviews and so decided to give them a try. The experience was very positive and completely happy with their service. I will be using them again for next trip.

Colin Finnegan

5.00

Aug 17, 2022

Easy to set up and find the perfect trip. Informative site that is easy to use. Guides are all great to work with and communicate all arrangements needed. As simple as can be!

Lesley Weber

4.00

July 16th, 2022

Thank you explore-share for a wonderful via feratta experience. We have been wanting to learn for a long time but don't have the facilities in Scotland. The guide Mitja was extremely helpful and knowledgeable, answering all my many questions and providing advice. On the day head to take another group but he quickly arranged another guide Borut, who was brilliant. We had a fantastic morning learning via ferrata at Hvadnik in the gorge. It gave us the confidence to later hire our own equipment and go out in Mojstrana. Altogether a five star + experience. Thank you.

Richard Scrivener

5.00

July 20, 2022

Hello! I have been thoroughly impressed by the service and assistance that explore-share have provided the past couple years in helping to plan my trip to the High Tatras in Poland. I really appreciated the flexibility that they provided in allowing me to rearrange my trip twice owing to covid. They were responsive and communicative throughout. This trip was part of my Stag weekend celebrations and explore-share connected me with an outstanding guide in the form of Marcel - he was an excellent recommendation and we really enjoyed our guided hike in the High Tatras with him. Marcel was an outstanding professional, placed a high focus on preparing well and staying safe, and was also a great guy! Highly recommend. Many thanks and best wishes - Richard

Yvonne Morrison

4.00

May 8, 2022

Our first time with Explore-Share. An absolutely fantastic experience from start to finish. Extremely good value, very well organised with attention to detail. We travel widely and this has by far been the best of experiences. Well done to all concerned. We are already looking at booking another trip!

Mark Stone

5.00

April 14, 2022

Great service by explore share. Our guide, Fred, gave us a fantastic day. Totally wild adventure that would be impossible on our own. I’m really impressed. Thank you very much.

James Dempster

5.00

March 9, 2022

I can’t recommend this enough. Great service, great price and the on the ground team was top notch. Top marks all round.

Leonardo Rodriguez

5.00

March 4, 2022

Everything went very well! Above our expectations! Thanks Explore-Share and Thanks Kiliholidays! Great support from all you! Thanks for the hard work and excellent level of commitment.

Daniel Martinez

5.00

Feb 2, 2022

Excellent job making your platform available to all mountain lovers. Our guide Gabrielle was an excellent companion

 

 

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