DAY 1. ARRIVAL IN
CUSCO.
Arrival in Cusco and transfer with only driver to the hotel
located in the historic center of Cusco. Rest of the day at leisure to have a
good adaptation to the high altitude. Overnight at the hotel.
DAY 2. SACRED VALLEY
/ AGUAS CALIENTES.
We will pick you up from the hotel located in the city of
Cusco in order to start the tour to The Sacred Valley of the Incas. We will arrive at the small town of Pisac after
a road trip of 20.5 miles. This fantastic place has an amazing craft market
and Inca sites with stone buildings and incredible views to the
valley, and the wonderful Inca platforms.
After exploring the market of Pisac,
we will continue the tour until reach the town of Urubamba to enjoy a
traditional Peruvian food in a local restaurant, situated on the
banks of the Urubamba River. This buffet lunch offers regional
flavors, and you can taste alpaca and trout.
Later, we will reach the town of Ollantaytambo located
at 2,792 meters above sea level. The Inca ruins of Ollantaytambo was
the headquarter of Inca’s army, as well as a religious and agricultural place.
It has stunning views, and more than a hundred Inca platforms with an advanced
irrigation canal for that period.
You will climb many steps until get the
top of the Fortress and you will visit main sites such as the ceremonial
center of the Temple Hill. Here, we are going to explore different
places including the wall of the six monoliths also known as
the Temple of the Sun.
At agreed time, you will board the train to
Aguas Calientes from the train station of Ollantaytambo to visit one of the Seven Wonders of the
World. After a journey of one hour and a half travelling on the
train, we will arrive at the train station of Aguas Calientes, where our staff
will be waiting for you to take you to the hotel. Later, you will have a short
briefing about the tour to Machu Picchu in your hotel for the next day.
DAY 3. MACHU PICCHU /
CUSCO.
You will board the bus to go up for 30 minutes taking the
winding road to Machu Picchu, amid a spectacular view of the Urubamba
River and its canyon. Machu Picchu, which means “Old
Mountain”, will astonish us with its terraces, ceremonial shrines, steps and
urban areas. Energy is all around us.
After a tour guide of 2 hours and a half, you will have time
enough to explore Machu Picchu on your own or if you want, you can climb
the Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountains (optional).
Another option is to take the bus to go
back to Aguas Calientes to enjoy lunch (optional). The town has good
restaurants with tasty Peruvian food.
At the agreed time, you will take
the train back to Ollantaytambo to then take the tourist bus to Cusco
and drop you off at your hotel located in the historical center of Cusco.
DAY 4. CUSCO / PUNO.
After boarding the tourist bus located at
the bus station in the city of Cusco, we will begin a 1-hour journey
towards the beautiful south valley in order to make the first stop
in Andahuaylillas situated at 3,093 meters above sea level.
This lovely Andean town has an incredible jewel of the
architecture dating back to the seventeenth century known as the Sistine
Chapel, with an impressive work covered in gold leaf and paintings of
the art school of Cusco.
There is a fascinating artwork inside the Church of San
Pedro de Andahuaylillas, ceilings and walls decorated in a Baroque style, many
of them belong to the Peruvian painter Luis de Reaño. Definitely, it
should be a must in your travel bucket list.
The bus ride continues, for one hour and a half,
until reach the archaeological site of Raqchi, our second stop located at
3,450 meters above sea level. The temple of Wiracocha was built next
to the Vilcanota River during the fifteenth century and, currently, it has huge
walls that belonged to temples, as well as aqueducts and tombs.
In this place, there are circular storehouses known
as Colcas. Them were used to hold different kind of grains such as quinoa,
potato, corn, among others. Another interesting fact is that Raqchi is part of
the incredible Inca Trail.
The tour to Puno by bus continues until we reach
the city of Sicuani to enjoy a buffet lunch in a local
restaurant, that offers local and regional dishes, vegetables, desserts and hot
drinks like mate de coca.
After lunch and a travel of 40 minutes by bus, we are going
to reach the highest point of the tour called La Raya Pass, situated at
4,335 meters above sea level. This is the border of the cities of Cusco
and Puno, and here, we are going to make a short stop to admire the snow-capped
Chimboya and take pictures of beautiful landscapes.
The next and the last visit will be at Museum of Pucara,
after a trip of more than an hour from La Raya pass. This museum has an
excellent collection of monoliths, stone sculptures and ceramics belonging to
the culture of Pucara, a civilization developed in the highlands of Peru and
Bolivia.
At the end, we will take the tourist bus to travel for two
more hours towards the city of Puno. Along the way you will be able to
admire landscapes of the heart of the Andes, passing through the city of Juliaca,
until we arrive at the bus station of Puno at 05:00 p.m.
Transfer to the hotel in the city of Puno and overnight.
DAY 5. UROS AND
TAQUILE ISLANDS.
After breakfast at your hotel located in the city
of Puno, you will be transferred to the lake
port, where a regular boat will take you to the floating
islands of the Uros.
We are going to spend an amazing time with the local people.
They will show to us their lifestyle and traditions, with more than 200
families living here. At this point, the half day tour at the Uros
Islands ends.
we will take the boat for a travel of one hour and a
half, to the island of Taquile. This is Quechua, unlike the other Aymara
speaking islands on the lake. It was part of the Inca empire and
vestiges of this culture can still be seen in its constructions.
This is the second largest island located in the Lake
Titicaca with an extension of 3.4 miles. Their textiles are amazing and
they are being considered as a heritage by UNESCO. The highest point gets
4,050 meters above sea level.
Later, we will enjoy a delicious Andean lunch,
and then, we will return to the port of Puno, where our transport will be
waiting to take you to your hotel.
DAY 6. SILLUSTANI AND
TRANSFER OUT.
We will pick you up from your hotel
located in the city of Puno to go towards the archaeological site of Sillustani
Puno. This amazing complex is located on the top of a peninsula on the
shores of Lake Umayo, 22.3 miles from the city of Puno and Lake
Titicaca.
This place has circa 90 funerary towers
built by the Kolla culture, an Aymara community developed before the Inca
Empire. A lot of mummies have been found inside these towers,
including important people as priests, leaders and nobles. They were previously
mummified and were places as fetal position, along with all their belongings
such as gold, silver and ceramics.
The Sillustani tour continues
with the visit to a local family that breeds Alpacas and they will
show us how they process and cook their own food, their lifestyle, their looms
and how they maintain ancestral customs.
At the end of the visit, you will be taken
to the airport of Juliaca.