Itinerary

Days 1-2

Lima
Hotel Casa Andina Miraflores

On arrival at Lima International Airport, you will be met and transferred to the Casa Andina hotel.

Lima, the Capital of Peru was founded on 18th January 1535, by Spanish Conquistador Francisco Pizarro, and quickly became known as the City of the Kings. Within 70 years it was the most important city in the Spanish-American empire, and was the focal point for European trade and cultural activity in the region.

It is a city of rare fascination and unexpected pleasures.  Lima has decaying colonial splendor and the teeming vitality of an oriental bazaar; melancholy cloudy winters and warm breezy summers; impoverished urban sprawl and quiet elegant corners among ancient buildings where the night air is scented with jasmine.

Day 2

This morning you will visit the fascinating Archaeological Museum, showcasing the progression of Peru’s various early civilizations – from the Chavin in 1200 BC to the Incas.

A charity visit to the Perez Aranibar Orphanage is included either before or after the tour (according to the time given by the orphanage). You will have the chance to visit this impressive building and to do a brief activity with them, serving breakfast to the orphans or do some drawing with donated stuffs, etc.

Days 3

Lima/Cusco
Hotel Casa Andina Cusco

This morning you are transferred to the airport where you embark on your flight to Cusco, an Andean community and former ancient capital of the Inca Empire. Upon arrival in Cusco, you are met and transferred to your hotel.  The morning is left free to relax and acclimatize, as you are now at 3400 meters altitude. We recommend minimal activity and the local remedy of coca tea, (which is in plentiful supply), for those who are susceptible.

This afternoon will have an educational focus: you will meet with community members to learn about modern life in Peru through their eyes.

 

Day 4

Morning at leisure.

This afternoon enjoy a city tour which includes the Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas and Santo Domingo, a Dominican church and convent built upon the foundations of the Koricancha, or the ‘place of gold’, the Incas’ principal religious building, dedicated to the worship of the sun.

You will stop in San Blas district where you will appreciate a variety of artists who master the traditional techniques involved in the different disciplines of colonial art.  This is ideal way for families to interact with local artisans.

You’ll then visit the Sacsayhuaman ruins where you will have the opportunity to have your future divined as your coca leaves are ‘read’ by a local Shaman or witchdoctor, who has a reputation for unerring accuracy with his predictions. Coca is a plant whose historic significance dates back to before the conquest of the Incas and it was used (and still is) by the Incas, Quechuas and many other Andean cultures. The purpose of the use of coca, in a magical sense, is to protect the individual against witchcraft, curses, change bad luck and predict the future. Without coca, it would be impossible for the fortune teller to forecast the future, or to indicate what is the ailment of his patients and how to cure it.

Days 5-6

Cusco/Sacred Valley
Hotel Sonesta Posada Yucay

This morning depart for the Urubamba Valley. En route, make a stop in the town of Chinchero, where you will visit a Traditional Andean Textile Center. Here, you will learn how wool is shorn from the llamas and alpacas kept in the Center, and later spun, dyed and woven to produce a range of beautiful products that you will be able to buy if you wish.

You will have time to shop before enjoying lunch at a local restaurant
After lunch, continue on to the massive fortress of Ollantaytambo.  Visit the massive fortress of Ollantaytambo.  It is a formidable stone structure that climbs massive terraces to the top of a peak, was the valley’s main defense against the Antis and was the site of the Incas’ greatest victory against the Spanish during the wars of conquest.  Constructed of rose-colored granite, this huge installation was once a thriving complex of baths, temples and military barracks.  Below the fortress lies a complete Inca town, also called Ollantaytambo, still inhabited and with its original architecture and layout preserved, here you can visit one local house and see how they breed the “cuy” or guinea pig for domestic consumption.

Day 6

This day you will visit the Yucay platforms, a real Inca heritage: learn the extraordinary example of the ancient agricultural techniques, where local farmers still produce potatoes, corn, legumes, among others with their traditional tools and learn also about their agricultural rituals.

After lunch at hotel, we can dedicate the afternoon to visit an orphanage and make the contribution.

Mosoq Runa, an orphanage for children, located on a hill above the dry sun-baked neighborhood of Ccotohuincho, this orphanage or “Habitat” as it is called, contains 3 houses, a small courtyard with a brick oven and stellar views of the surrounding red mountain of Yawarmaki and the snow peak of Chicon. The directors, Ada Stevenja, who is Croatian-Italian and Barbara Loringz who is Hungarian-Swedish, have been caring for local children for the past 4 years.

It is good to do this visit in the afternoon, when children are not at school, as it is the time they do some activities like theater, music, singing, sewing and baking and also English workshops.

Day 7
Sacred Valley/Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu Inn

Transfer to the train station.

We will take the train at the station in Ollanta and follow the ever-narrowing gorge to the Urubamba River until we reach km104. Here we will start our half-day hike along the famous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. As we approach Machu Picchu, the valley turns into a canyon and vegetation changes to that of a cloud forest.

Past the Chachabamba ruins, a three-hour ascent through highland grasses and small valleys brings us to Wiñay Wayna.  From here, a winding trail through the cloud forest, which cuts across a ridge, brings us finally to the sun gate, Intipunku with a spectacular view of the citadel below, and the original entrance to Machu Picchu. During the 6-hour hike, we enjoy a box lunch.

While in Machu Picchu you will be accommodated at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge inclusive of buffet breakfast. Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge enjoys a unique position at the entrance of the Inca Citadel ruins, at 8,200 feet above sea level.
Day 8
Machu Picchu/Cusco
Hotel Casa Andina Cusco

Accompanied by your guide, explore the city's ruins, and feel its pulse as you visualize the lives of the priests, craftsmen, and servants who inhabited this seemingly uninhabitable citadel.  Excavations at the site have revealed skeletons, artifacts and woolen clothing, but no gold.  The same precision of assembled stones exists here as in other Incan sites.  Overlooking the raging Urubamba River and discovered in a hidden tangle of vines and trees atop the mountain, the city of Machu Picchu will forever hold its secret of its destruction - the Incas left no written record.

Visit the jewel in the crown of Latin America’s archaeological legacy in the company of your guide and Alfredo Mormontoy.  Alfredo will give you an exclusive expert insight into the history of Machu Picchu, the mystery surrounding its use and demise, and into current work and research being undertaken in the complex.

In the early afternoon, after lunch, we join our train to Cusco, where our bus will be waiting to transfer us back to our hotel in Cusco.

Day 9
Cusco/Lima/Depart

Transfer to the airport for your flight back to Lima. On arrival you will be met and assisted to connect with your international departure flight to your next destination.

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