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Inca Trail 4 day Trek - Private
Services & Prices 2008
*** IT4P
Inca Trail 4 day Private
Service 2008
***
A private
service is similar to our standard 4 day group service except that it is organized
just for you with private transport and your own personal guide.
We don't add other people to your group. This enables us to
provide the best service possible with personal attention and
added comfort.
Price per person (2008)
1 person: US$1400, 2 persons: US$775, 3 persons: US$640,
4 persons: US$590, 5 persons: US$540,
6 persons: US$500, 7 persons:
US$470, 8 persons: US$450,
9 persons: US$440, 10 persons: US$430,
11 persons: US$425, 12 persons: US$420,
13 persons: US$415,
14 persons: US$410,
15 persons: US$405,
16 persons: US$400
* the above price now
includes all credit card & PayPal transfer fees within the cost of the trek
Discounts: US$30 discount on the above prices to
students with a valid International Student Identity Card (ISIC) and to children under the age of
16 years old (scans of your ISIC card or child's passport must be
provided at the time of paying the trek deposit in order to
qualify for the discount). International Youth Travel Cards (IYTC)
or other forms of student identity are not acceptable. South America Explorers Club members receive a discount of US$10
(membership number must be provided). Unfortunately we do not offer travel agent discounts or
commissions.
Available Departure Dates:
Since this is a private trek you can depart on any
day that suits you best as long as there are still trek permits
available for the date that you want.
The availability of trek permits
can be checked on the web page
www.andeantravelweb.com/peru/treks/inca_trail_trek_permit_availability.html
Please note that in order for us to obtain Wiñay Wayna as the
campsite on the 3rd night (the campsite nearest to Machu Picchu)
the number of remaining trek permits needs to be above 300 at the
time we go to buy the trek permits. If the number of trek permits
is less than 300 then there is only a very small chance of camping
at Wiñay Wayna and if the number falls below 250 there is
virtually no chance at all. If we are unable to obtain Wiñay Wayna
then we will have to camp at an alternative campsite such as
Phuyupatamarca which is a 5 hour trek to Machu Picchu meaning that
you won't arrive until about 10:30am. If this is the situation you
may want to stay an extra night in Aguas Calientes and return to
Machu Picchu the following day unguided (first bus from Aguas
Calientes to Machu Picchu departs at 05:30am). Costs associated
with spending an extra night and returning to Machu Picchu
independently, are not
included in the costs given above.
Includes: Private bus to the start of the trail, Inca Trail
& Machu Picchu entrance fees (244 Peruvian Soles per person, about US$83), English speaking professional guide (two guides for
groups over 8 persons), 4 Person dome igloo tents - 2 persons per
tent with plenty of space for your backpacks, Double thickness
foam sleeping mattress, Cooking equipment, Experienced cook,
Meals (03 breakfasts,
03 hot lunches,
03 hot dinners) - food includes pancakes,
omelets, soups, fresh fruit, avocado, pasta, chicken, fish, meat,
rice, all rich in carbohydrates and suitable for trekking, hot
drinks including coca leaf tea which is excellent for the
altitude. Teatime everyday (tea, coffee, biscuits, popcorn),
Porters (to carry the tents, food, and cooking equipment), Dining
tent, Kitchen tent, Accommodation for our porters and cooks, First
aid kit including emergency oxygen bottle, Bus from Machu Picchu
ruins down to the village of Aguas Calientes US$6
(many companies don't include this), return on tourist
train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo (Backpacker Cerojo US$40),
Bus from Ollantaytambo to Cusco (value US$6). The price of the trek includes
all local sales taxes. All clients will be provided
with a free bar of biodegradable soap to help limit the
environmental impact to rivers in the Machu Picchu sanctuary.
Excludes: Breakfast on the first morning. Some hotels offer
an early morning breakfast service. If not, we stop at the town of
Ollantaytambo on the way to the start of the trek where you’ll
have the opportunity to buy
breakfast, Meal (lunch)
in restaurant in Aguas Calientes
on the final day. Entrance to the
thermal springs in Aguas Calientes
(optional)
US$3, Sleeping
bags can be hired in our office for the
4 day/3 night trek (every sleeping bag is washed prior to each use),
Tips for the guide, cook
and porters. The optional night in Aguas Calientes, along with
the associated accommodation, meals, entrance fees, bus tickets
etc are not included. This can be arranged easily, independently
(We can change the date of your train ticket, if you advise us before
paying the deposit).
Trek Options:
1. Personal porters can be hired to help carry your personal items
such as clothes, sleeping bag etc. The services of a third
of a
porter (maximum 6kg or 13lb per person) can be hired for US$35. If
you hire the services of a third of a porter we will provide you
with a lockable porter bag to safeguard your
equipment (you will need to supply the small padlock). However even with
this service you will still need
to take a daypack to carry your essential items such as rain
poncho, warm fleece, camera and water bottle. Please note that due
to new government regulations the maximum
number of porters that we can use in each group has now been capped. This is why
we have had to limit the maximum amount of personal equipment that
you can give to a porter to carry for you to 6kg or 13lb per
person. (The maximum amount that each porter can carry on the Inca
Trail has also been limited to 18kg or 40lb per porter).
Approximately 30% of our clients hire the services of an extra
third porter.
2. An extra night in Aguas Calientes can easily be arranged
independently. Hotels costs and costs associated with returning
to Machu Picchu the following day are additional to trek costs.
For more information see our
frequently asked questions. Please note that if you spend an
extra night in Aguas Calientes independently, we will purchase your train ticket
to return from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo the following day. Obviously we won't
be able to send a bus especially to collect you from Ollantaytambo
so we will refund you the US$6 so you can catch one of the many
buses waiting for the train to take you back to Cusco.
3. We can also provide vegetarian meals or cater for special diets
at no extra cost, but we need to know when you make the trek
reservation.
4. You can hire sleeping bags in our office. All sleeping
bags are synthetic (easy to wash). They
are washed after
every use and are guaranteed to be clean. After we have hired out
our standard
sleeping bags
just 12
times we donate it to a porter to use.
We have now issued sleeping bags free of charge to all of our
porters (over a 100 in total) although they are constantly being
replaced as they become old and worn out.
Cost: US$15
per person for the 4
day/3 night trek. Weight 2.5 kg and are
rated to 11 degrees below freezing (nice and warm even during the
coldest of nights experienced on the Inca Trail).
Why choose Peru Treks ?
In the last few years Peru Treks has been working hard to become
one of Peru's most responsible tour operators. Since we operate
all of our own treks we have complete control over the quality of
our service. The fact that you will enjoy our service is of utmost
importance to us, however it is also important that everyone
involved in the operation is well treated and cared for and that
the benefits of tourism are shared throughout the Peruvian
communities. All of our porters are picked from one of three
mountain villages: Amaru (in the mountains behind Pisac),
Paucartambo (on the road between Cusco and Manu just before the
Andes drop down to the Amazon) and Cuper Alto (a small community
beside Lake Piuray near Chinchero). Since the beginning of 2004
all of our porters have been issued with free sleeping bags, rain
ponchos, backpacks and suitable shoes. All of our porters sleep in
a communal tent which has a waterproof floor and they have access
to any first aid equipment if necessary. Since the beginning of
2006 we have provided free life insurance to ALL of our Inca Trail
porters. Obviously we hope that the insurance won't be needed, but
it should provide our porters and families with peace of mind. We
don't consider any of these items to be luxuries or anything
special, we consider them to be the absolute minimum requirements
for treating our porters fairly and like human beings. We cannot
promise you that our porters are happy all of the time (they still
have to work extremely hard for a living) but we can guarantee
that our porters are well treated, fairly paid (in accordance with
the Porters Law and requirements set down by the Ministry of Work)
and have warm dry accommodation and plenty of nutritious hot meals
to eat. Of course many other trekking companies will tell you
this, but there are less than a handful of companies that
genuinely care for their porters. More detailed information can be
found on our Porter Welfare
page. Peru Treks is recommended in many guidebooks including South
American Handbook, Peru Handbook, Inca Trail & Cusco Handbook, The
Inca Trail Cusco & Machu Picchu Guide and in October 2006 Peru
Treks was awarded the Best Travel Agency in Cusco for 2006 by the
Ministry of Tourism. In November 2006 Peru Treks was also
recommended in the New York Times in an article about the Inca
Trail. The new Lonely Planet Guide to Peru (published March 2007)
describes Peru Treks as a "locally owned, ecoconscious company
with experienced guides; it also invests in the ethical treatment
of porters. Highly recommended".
Peru Treks is also helping local communities by donating school
equipment to village schools and ensuring that it is properly
used. A percentage of the profits made by Peru Treks go
towards such community projects. (rather than just talking about
helping communities we would prefer to be judged upon our actions.
Information and photos of our projects can be seen on our
community projects page).
IMPORTANT:
Possible changes to Inca Trail trek price 2008:
The above Inca Trail prices are based
on the following third party costs which are outside of our
control:
1: Inca Trail entrance fee is
244 Peruvian Soles, about US$83 (US$30 discount for students with
ISIC cards and children <16yrs) and 41 Soles, about US$14 for all
of our porters. The price paid for the entrance fee is clearly
marked on the trek permit. This price includes entrance to Machu
Picchu. The government reserves the right to increase the entrance
fee at any time and may only give us one or two weeks notice.
(information updated on the 10 Jan 2008)
2: Included in the price of the trek
is the returning journey on the train from Aguas Calientes to
Ollantaytambo on the Backpacker Cerojo train which currently
costs US$40 per person. (details of service and price can be
checked on the Peru Rail website
www.perurail.com) The Peru Rail website states that they
reserve the right to change the price at anytime. There is also
the possibility that Peru Rail will no longer sell a one-way
ticket and will only sell return tickets i.e. Ollantaytambo -
Aguas Calientes - Ollantaytambo. If this is the case it is
possible that the price of the ticket could increase by more than
US$40 per person!! However this is very unlikely. We will try to
do everything in our control to keep the price of the ticket to as
low as possible but clients must be prepared for such increases in
the price of the train ticket. Peru Rail currently runs a monopoly
service so we don't have an alternative (Peru Rail is owned by
Orient Express which is registered in Bermuda and listed in the NY
stock exchange). The price paid for the train ticket is clearly
marked on the ticket.
3. Included in the price of the trek
is the bus ticket from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes
which currently costs US$6 per person. It is not anticipated that
these costs will increase during 2008, and if they do they are
unlikely to increase by more than US$2 per person. The price paid
for the train ticket is clearly marked on the ticket.
4. Local sales taxes known as
IGV are included in the price of the Inca Trail trek. The
currently rate of IGV is 19%. It is not anticipated that this rate
will increase during 2008.
5. Exchange Rate. The Inca
Trail trek prices are based on an exchange rate on the 01 January
2008 which was 1 USD = 2.95 Peruvian Soles. Although we accept payment
for the trek in US dollars the majority of our expenses are in
Peruvian Soles (trek permits, wages, food, taxes). Peru Treks will
absorb any change in costs up to 15 points difference from 2.95.
i.e. if the exchange rate falls to 2.80 we will not ask you to pay
any additional surcharge. If however the value of the US dollar
falls below 2.80 we will ask you to pay a surcharge. Peru Treks will have to show
any calculations to clearly justify such surcharges.
If any of the third
party costs listed above change to increase the cost of the trek
we will immediately update the trek price listed on our website
(apart from the exchange rate which can continue to go up and down
throughout the year so the website will not be updated to reflect
these cost changes). Clients will be liable for paying any
increased cost of the Inca Trail trek upon arrival in Cusco.
Due to the new Inca Trail regulations
that limit the number of trekkers on the Inca Trail it should be
noted demand for spaces on the trek far outweigh the number of
available trek permits. Unlike many trekking companies Peru Treks
and Adventure have not taken advantage of this situation and in
real terms we have not increased the price of our treks during the
last 2 years. We feel that the service provided by Peru Treks and
Adventure is second to none, and the price that we offer is very
competitive and offers great value for money.
Making a reservation for a private
trek service: In order to make a reservation for this private
service please send us an email stating the number of persons in
your group and the preferred trek departure date. We will then confirm availability or offer you an
alternative departure date closest to the date that you want to
depart. We will also send you all the booking details and deposit
requirements.
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