DAY 1. LIMA:
Arrival in Lima, and private transfer with only driver to the hotel. Overnight.
DAY 2. LIMA / CUSCO:
Breakfast
at the hotel. We will begin the tour in the wonderful
Larco Museum, located in Pueblo Libre district, where you can see a complete
collection of more than 5000 pieces of ceramic, as well as gold and silver, and
pre-Columbian erotic art.
Then, we will go to the historic center to visit Casa
Aliaga, a colonial mansion with beautiful rooms full of invaluable art and
history. We continue to the Plaza de Armas, where we find the Government
Palace, the Archbishop’s Palace, the Municipal Palace, and other important
buildings of the colonial era, where we will visit the Cathedral built in the
sixteenth century.
After the visit, you will be transferred to the airport
to take the local flight to Cusco. Arrival in Cusco, and private transfer to
the hotel. Overnight.
DAY 3. CUSCO: Breakfast at the hotel.
In the afternoon, we will start the tour visiting the Temple of the Sun
well-known as Koricancha. This symbolic place has a clear example of the fusion
between Incan and Hispanic cultures, and its base was used to build Santo
Domingo’s Church and its famous convent.
Then, we’re going to visit the
Cathedral located in the Main Square, to appreciate a beautiful religious paintings
of the Cusco School. The Cusco City Tour continues in Sacsayhuaman,
an amazing archaeological complex with huge carved stones which fit each other
in a perfect way, and it is said that it was built by more than 20 thousand
men, and took over 70 years to finish it.
Then we will visit Qenqo religious
temple, place where the Incas worshiped their Gods like the Sun, the Moon and
the Earth. You will have an incredible experience exploring through its
underground galleries, and admire a semicircular amphitheater.
We will continue
this entertaining excursion in the military compound of Puca Pucara, which
means “Red Fortress” for its reddish infrastructure. Then we will go the
water’s worship center of Tambomachay, with aqueducts and waterfalls provided
from nearby springs. At the end, we will drop you off at El Regocijo Square, located one block from Plaza de Armas. Overnight.
DAY 4. CUSCO / SACRED
VALLEY / AGUAS CALIENTES: Breakfast at the hotel. We will pick you up from
the hotel in Cusco, to start a 30 Km. journey until Pisac. This fantastic place
has an amazing market, and archaeological temples of stone buildings, with
incredible views to the valley and the magnificent Inca platforms.
Then, we
will continue until Urubamba to enjoy a delicious buffet lunch, and later we
will reach Ollantaytambo. Its temple 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.
After this unique
experience, we will go to Ollantaytambo´s train station to take the Train
Expedition to Aguas Calientes. Arrival and transfer to the hotel. You’ll have a
short meeting with the guide to organized your visit to Machu Picchu for the
next day. Overnight.
DAY 5. AGUAS CALIENTES
/ MACHU PICCHU / CUSCO: Breakfast at the hotel. Early morning, you will
board the bus to go up the winding road to Machu Picchu, amid a spectacular
view of the Urubamba River and its canyon.
The Lost City of the Incas,
Machu Picchu, will astonish us with its terraces, ceremonial shrines, steps and
urban areas. Energy is all around us. After a guided visit, you will have time
enough to stay for more time or take the bus to back to Aguas Calientes Town,
and have lunch (Optional).
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. Overnight at hotel. Overnight at the hotel.
DAY 6. CUSCO / RAINBOW MOUNTAIN VINICUNCA / CUSCO: Very early in the morning, we will pick you up at 3:30 a.m. from your hotel located in the city of Cusco. Our shared transport will take us in a journey of 3.5 hours driving through an undiscovered land of wild desert panoramas, snowcapped peaks, herds of alpaca.
When we reach the trailhead for this hike, we are going to have a hot breakfast upon arrival, and the hike will begin from Chillihuani at 4.200 meter above sea level /13,900 ft elevation. From here, it will be a circa 4-hour uphill hike to reach the famous Rainbow Mountain in Peru.
Along the way, you will enjoy beautiful landscape of the Andes, glacial peaks, red valley, rocky hills, and traditional llamas and alpacas grazing along this place. As we reach the summit of the mountain, we will be able to spot some Andean wildlife. Vicuñas are considered as the Andean camel, and this is the only place in Cusco where you will see them in the wild. Vicuñas are the same family as llamas and alpacas, though are much smaller and they have the most expensive wool in the world.
Upon we arrive at the top of what we come to see the Rainbow Mountain, we will have time enough to take photos and relax even being in high altitudes admiring majesty views. We will have the opportunity to see the Ausangate Mountain right in front of us, the tallest mountain of Cusco (just under 21,000 ft), and it is part of the Vilcanota Range.
While we are looking around this fantastic spot, our tour guide will share interesting information about the composition of these incredible mountains formed millions of years ago, and how they got this lovely colorful effect.
After taking a few amazing pictures and soaking in the views (perhaps we will even see a few condors around by) we will begin our descent with a 2-hour downhill hike. Then, we are going to meet up our transport that will take us to a local restaurant in order we can enjoy a delicious hot lunch.
Finally, we will back to Cusco, arriving around 5:00 p.m., where we will drop you off at your hotel.
DAY 7. CUSCO / PUNO: Breakfast at the hotel and transfer to the bus station. 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.
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.
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.
Arrival at the bus station and transfer to the hotel. Overnight.
DAY 8. PUNO: After
breakfast at your hotel, you will be transferred to the lake port of Puno,
where a regular boat will take you to the floating islands of the Uros.
The Uros are an ancestral society that populate a series of artificial islands
built on the basis of the totora plant, which grows in the same lake.
The
islands are constructed by weaving the totora in the places where it grows
thicker and forming a natural layer. On top of it they built their houses, also
of totora, and cook outdoors to prevent possible fires.
After Uros visit and,
an hour and a half boat trip, you will continue your journey 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. Once there you will be given a brief explanation of the
island and witness a cultural activity.
After lunch, you will return to the port
of Puno, where our transport will be waiting to take you to your hotel.
Overnight.
DAY 9. PUNO / LIMA:
Breakfast at the hotel. We will pick you up from your hotel at the agreed time,
and we will go to Sillustani, located 34 km from Puno City. We will visit
this amazing pre-Inca cemetery, where you will find funeral towers
around. In addition, we will visit the communities surrounding this place, to
know their lifestyles.
At the end, we will continue the tour until reach
Juliaca Airport. Arrival en Lima, and transfer to the hotel. Overnight.
DAY 10. LIMA / OUT:
Day at leisure. Transfer to the airport to take the international flight.
**END OF SERVICES**