Explore centuries-old Inca traditions with us on this immersive cultural tour!
Want to learn more about Peruvian backstrap weaving? Join us on the Inca Traditions tour and enjoy cultural activities in a traditional rural Andean setting.
High quality personalized experience
Unique, off-the-beaten track routes
Experienced staff
Verified sustainability practices
$20 of every trek donated to Threads of Peru
To begin our exploration of Inca Traditions, we start early, picking you up from your hotel around 7am. We drive for about 2 hours to the “living Inca village” of Ollantaytambo, the only remaining village laid out according to an Incan plan. Here we will have a chance to stretch our legs and buy some snacks or a coffee before continuing on. Then, we drive for about another hour, up, high above Ollantaytambo and deep into the mountains. You can feel time slowly turning back as we pass through traditional Andean communities where people still wear traditional dress every day. We’re getting closer and closer to experience Inca traditions first-hand!
We will arrive at Rumira Sondormayo, a traditional Quechua community where one of the weaving associations is that the non-profit organization, Threads of Peru ,works with. Members of the weaving association, Puca Turpay, will prepare a weaving demonstration and also give you the chance to buy their weavings.
After our weaving demonstration, we will begin the walk back down to Ollantaytambo. This pretty hike has us stumbling upon unexpected yet fascinating Inca ruins. With only us and the locals around, you will feel as if you have discovered them for the first time! We pass by acres of terraces and you will appreciate the massive scale of the Inca Empire more than ever before. Most of these Inca terraces are still under cultivation even today, carrying on a different kind of Inca traditions. As we walk, we pass by fields of corn, beans, and other crops.
We will arrive at the well-preserved yet little-visited Inca site, Pumamarca, in time for lunch, after which we will wander amongst these interesting ruins. The exact purpose of Pumamarca is unknown, but it may have been a fortress or control point for access into the Sacred Valley.
Leaving Pumamarca behind, we continue our descent through farmland until we reach Ollantaytambo. If there is time, we can visit this village’s impressive ruins. Note: The Ollantaytambo ruins require the Boleto Turistico (what’s that?) in order to visit, which is not included in the price of this Inca Traditions tour.
We will return to Cusco in the late afternoon by private transport.
For a real cultural immersion, check out our family homestays! Available on many of our Lares treks, you can spend a night with a traditional Andean family.
Peru is an incredibly diverse and culturally rich country. Read more about one of the country’s staples – Peruvian corn – or check out this blog and some of the things that Peru is famous for – besides Machu Picchu!
The cultural exchange with the weavers was very meaningful to us. Urbano did a wonderful job as an interlocutor. He was wonderful and very well informed.
