MOUNTAIN BIKE PERU

What’s the price to go mountain biking for a full day in Cusco with Haku Expeditions? And what’s included?

The price is $205 USD per person with a 2 person minimum. If you are a single rider, please just tell us what day(s) you want to ride and we’ll put you on a scheduled ride. If there is no ride planned on the day you want to ride, you can choose to ride a half day for $190 or $260 for a full day trip.

The day begins and ends at our office. We’ll start by setting you up for everything you’ll need for an action-packed day. This will include:

• A fitted, well maintained, full-suspension Kona Process 153 rental bike, expertly adjusted to your physique and riding style.
• High-quality protective gear (e.g. Race Face, 661, Fox, Giro, Bell, and/or Demon Dirt). Knee pads, Elbow pads, Gloves and a full face helmet or half shell.
• The optional rental of a pair of Five Ten biking shoes for platform pedals. (7 USD/20 Soles)
• A professional, English-speaking mountain bike guide who’s intimately familiar with the surrounding landscape and its settlements. They’ll ride at your level and take care of you through the entirety of the trip.
• A comfortable, private shuttle that will shuttle us to the top of the trail head and be waiting for us at the bottom. In it, you’ll be able to leave extra belongings.
• A delicious picnic lunch or locally-prepared meal. (Full day rides only)
• Water refills (Bring a bottle!)

What’s the price to go mountain biking for a half day tour in Cusco with Haku Expeditions? And what’s included?

The price is $160 USD per person with 2 riders and $190 USD for a single rider

Please come to our office at 8 am. We’ll start by setting you up for everything you’ll need for an action-packed day. This will include:

• A fitted, well maintained, full-suspension Kona Process 153 rental bike, expertly adjusted to your physique and riding style.
• High-quality protective gear (e.g. Race Face, 661, Fox, Giro, Bell, and/or Demon Dirt). Knee pads, Elbow pads, Gloves and a full face helmet or half shell.
• The optional rental of a pair of Five Ten biking shoes for platform pedals. (7 USD/20 Soles)
• A professional, English-speaking mountain bike guide who’s intimately familiar with the surrounding landscape and its settlements. They’ll ride at your level and take care of you through the entirety of the trip.
• A comfortable, private shuttle that will shuttle us to the top of the trail head and be waiting for us at the bottom. In it, you’ll be able to leave extra belongings.

Not included:

• Snacks and Water
• Biking shoes. You can rent a pair of 510s from us.
• Haku Bike Jersey. You can buy one from us. $25 USD
• Tips for your local MTB guide
• Lunch

Peru’s currency is called the Nuevo Sol. You’ll be able to exchange US currency for the Sol easily in Cusco. The exchange rate often fluctuates between 3.7 – 4 sol per US dollar.

We recommend you bring cash. Peru is still a cash society. Most people don’t have bank accounts as Peruvian banks charge up to $15 per month just to have the account open. So, services like Venmo, Pay-Pal, and Apple Pay aren’t used here. Most local stores, taxis, and local restaurants are cash only.

ATMS charge around $8 to take out $60-200. Banks only allow a small withdrawal daily. Thus, it’s probably a good idea to withdraw a good sum of cash before you come to Peru unless you have a bank that returns the ATM fees. You can also try the app called ATM hero and do a little research before you come to decide if an ATM card or cash is best for you.

The USD, EURO, CAD cash you bring should be non-ripped bills. Small rips or bills that are written on are not accepted for exchange.

Seeing as Peru is a cash society and it is difficult to withdraw large amounts of cash, we require your balance be brought in cash.

TIPPING: Local restaurants generally do not require a tip, however, leaving a few soles is a nice gesture. Tourist restaurants are generally a 10% tip.

Tipping your guide in Peru is generally 10-15% of the price you paid for the tour. Drivers are generally the same amount in soles. (If you tip a guide 200 USD the driver would get often 200 soles) Tips should always be based on performance and are never obligatory.

Each person is required to have a specific travel/trip insurance outside of your credit card or regular medical insurance.

You should get comprehensive coverage with trip interruption/cancellation and with personal liability. Mention all activities that you will be involved in such as mountain biking, hiking at high altitude and whatever other activities you may have planned.

We do not provide refunds.  If you should get hurt or sick not only will travel insurance cover your medical expenses it will also cover the lost portion of the trip. Make sure you have trip interruption or trip cancellation included! South America is famous for people striking and shutting down all activities. If you miss your Machu Picchu trip, Galapagos or any other side trip,  or even your flight due to strikes the insurance will cover the loss or additional costs that are incurred.

Our Peru mountain bike tours include breakfast from your hotel and lunch on ride days.

Our MTB rides include lunches at local restaurants and also in the homes of locals who live on the trail. All of the food we eat for lunch is produced locally and more often than not organic. Most meals are a large bowl of soup followed by a main meal. The main meals are generally meat, chicken or trout along with rice, potatoes, and vegetables. Most lunches do not contain flour. If you don’t eat meat, you can get a plate that has rice, eggs and fried plantain. All of our meat is free range, grass fed and produced by local farmers with small farms.

If you have dietary restrictions please let us know so we can help you plan for the trip accordingly.

We provide snacks for the ride days. However, Peru does not have the same high calorie snacks that most developed countries have. Feel free to bring extra energy bars for the trail if you think you may want snacks you already enjoy!

We provide water for the rides. You will need a bottle or camel pack to fill.

This Peru mountain bike trip does not provide dinner (except the farewell dinner of course!) We have chosen to do this so that you can explore Cusco’s amazing food scene on your own!

All of our deposits are non-refundable. If you are booking a trip during the rainy season there is a chance you may get wet. We do not cancel for rain unless there have been landslides or something to close the trail. In the case that we cancel the trip we will refund you 100%.

If you are booking for a full day ride and the two person minimum has not been met:

You can choose to do a half day ride for 180$ or pay $220 USD for a full day ride or cancel for a full refund. You will be asked which of these options you prefer during the booking process. Please choose one, so we can plan accordingly.

Our singletrack mountain biking day trips in Cusco and the Sacred Valley are shuttle assisted rides. We do not do any pedaling or uphill climbing. Check out the descent vs the ascent on the data section. Most trails will be pretty technical compared to many parts of the world. These trails are foot trails, animal trails and Inca Trails. They are not maintained mtb flow trails! We ask you to make sure you have the ability to ride these trails before booking. You need an intermediate background or higher. For intermediate riders you may walk some sections as we do have some gnarly stair sections.

Haku Expeditions is renowned for the uniqueness of our rides and treks, our award-winning service, the unbeatable value of our trips, and our refusal to cut corners. But you don’t have to just take our word for it — check out our five-star rating and hundreds of “excellent” reviews on TripAdvisor, or pro freeride MTB Hall of Famer Brett Tippie’s review of a Haku biking trip on Instagram (@bretttippie).

You will need to have:

• Rain jacket.
• A water bottle (we’ll provide the water).
• A small pack to carry your snacks, rain jacket, etc.
• Flat bottom shoes to ride in (although, if you want super grip, we do have 510’s for rent).
• Sunglasses and sunscreen.
• An extra set of clothes (you may get wet!).

Yes. On some trips you’ll have a relatively long shuttle ride on Andean mountain roads. See the shuttle times on the next bullet point. You can leave stuff in the shuttle; use that as an excuse to bring extra clothing in case you get wet or cold!

Local Cusco: 20 minute ride. Lares: 1:45-2 hour ride. Lamay: 1:45-2 hour ride. Radar: 2:15 hour ride. Inca Legends: 1:10-1:30 hour ride.

All of our mountain biking day tours and half day tours start and end in Cusco. If you are located in the Sacred Valley please contact us to talk about your options.

Dress in layers! Long sleeves and shorts with a jacket on or in the backpack. Wear wool socks if possible. The best is a nice base layer, wool if possible, with jersey or t-shirt over it.

We highly recommend that you get travel insurance. Our deposits are non-refundable.

1 guide for every 4 riders.

In short: Our dry season is between mid-May and late September. The shoulder seasons are April and October, and the rainy season is between November and March with the heaviest rains in December and February.

The weather in the mountains changes quickly. Be prepared always for both cold, hot and rainy weather.

Basically, this is true year-round: if you’re in the sun, you’re hot; if you’re in the shade or the clouds are out, it’ll be chilly.

The cloud forest area can be very warm. You can use shorts and short sleeves but may choose not to due to the bugs.

Get a custom Haku Expeditions mountain biking jersey that will be the envy of your riding buddies back home. $25 USD

All add-ons can be purchased at check out.

Add some grip to your ride! These riding shoes will keep you on the pedals and provide a safer experience.

Price: $7 USD per ride day, $14 USD for the trip

All add-ons will be offered to you at check out.

Make your vacation even easier! Let us book a hotel or airbnb for you!

We make sure to book you a place that has a central location in Cusco with in walking distance to the Plaza de Armas.

We also make sure you have a place that has real hot water as many places in Cusco only offer cold water or luke warm showers at best!

Hotels include breakfast. Private apartment airbnb do not.

Price: $60-80 USD for 1-2 person group

All add-ons will be offered to you at check out.

Seeing this iconic 15th century Incan citadel is a more than worthy bucket list item for most people that come to Peru. If you’d like, we’ll organize a tour of the site that includes a round-trip train ticket, entrance to the sanctuary, and an English-speaking guide.

Archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as a palace for the Incan emperor Pachacuti in the 15th century. They abandoned it after roughly a century, during the Spanish conquest, and it then remained virtually unknown until 1911, when American historian Hiram Bingham made Machu Picchu’s existence public. In 1983, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and since then it has captured the imagination and awe of the millions of people who travel to experience its magic.

Price: $350 per person. (Normally $389 pp when purchased separately) 

Included:

• Entrance into Machu Picchu
• Round-trip train ticket on Peru rail
• An English-speaking guide
• Two-hour tour
• Taxi to the train station in Cusco

Not included:

• Bus up to the ruins ($24 USD, available to purchase at checkout)
• Entrance into Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain
• Taxi to train station in Ollantaytambo

All add-ons can be purchased at checkout.