The Lost City and Lake Titicaca
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Highlights:
Everybody likes a good mystery and doing and seeing unusual things. In fact, there are probably over 50 cable channels covering these items in between commercials.
How about seeing and doing things in real life? Visit a sacred site that was never discovered by the Conquistadors but finally found by an American and his Peruvian Guide? Cruise on the highest navigable lake in the world and meet a tribe of people who live on islands made from reeds that they weave themselves.
You’ll also visit an island that was a political prison until it was returned to the people who rightfully owned it and who welcome you as their guests. Sound interesting? Read on…
Everybody likes a good mystery and doing and seeing unusual things. In fact, there are probably over 50 cable channels covering these items in between commercials.
How about seeing and doing things in real life? Visit a sacred site that was never discovered by the Conquistadors but finally found by an American and his Peruvian Guide? Cruise on the highest navigable lake in the world and meet a tribe of people who live on islands made from reeds that they weave themselves.
You’ll also visit an island that was a political prison until it was returned to the people who rightfully owned it and who welcome you as their guests. Sound interesting? Read on…
SKU:
Explore: The lost city of Peru and Titicaca lake
Customizable Itinerary - 11 Days (from $4,660 / person)
Day 1: USA-Lima
Depending on your flight you will arrive in Lima in the either the afternoon of early evening. You will be met by one of our drivers and delivered to your hotel where you can enjoy dinner before retiring for the night.
Dinner
Day 2: Exploring Lima
After breakfast you will begin your exploration of this ancient city, once the capital of the New World after its founding by Francisco Pizzaro in 1535. You will visit the Plaza Mayor, the main square designed when the city was founded. You will also visit the Cathedral of Lima whose cornerstone was laid by Pizzaro and the Church and Convent of San Francisco, famous for its catacombs. Your guide will then take you to the Larco museum with its Inca treasures. You will have lunch at Café Del Museo Larco inside the museum before being returned to your hotel in Miraflores. Close to the beach, the area is also known for its chic shops and wide variety of restaurants. Try a Pisco Sour as an aperitif before selecting one of the restaurants for dinner.
Breakfast and Lunch
Day 3: Journey to the Sacred Valley
In the morning you will be picked up from the hotel and delivered to the airport for the one hour flight to Cusco. In that one hour you will go from sea level to 11,000 feet so to adjust to the altitude you will spend the day and night at a slightly lower altitude. You will be met and driven to your luxury resort in the Urubamba Sacred Valley surrounded by natural beauty. To help adjust you may want to relax by the pool or at the spa. If you adjust quickly (or live in Denver) you can try some kayaking, hiking or horse riding organized by the resort. In the evening, enjoy dinner at the resort.
Breakfast and Dinner
Day 4: Pisaq Market and Ollantaytambo Fortress
After breakfast, your guide will take you the Pisaq Indian market where a wide selection of handicrafts is on display along with the colorful native dress of the sellers. You have lunch before visiting the ruins if the Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo. After a tour of the ruins you will be returned to the hotel. There are many good restaurants in the nearby town and you are free to select one of them or stay at the hotel.
Breakfast and Lunch
Day 5: Machu Picchu and Cusco
In the morning you will be transferred to the station at Ollantaytambo where you board a Vistadome train for the ride down to Machu Picchu. You’ll enjoy snacks on board as you view the magnificent scenery on all sides of the train. You arrive in Aguas Calientes where you meet your expert guide who will first take you to lunch at Sanctuary Lodge and then on a tour of one of the world’s great sights. The “lost city of the Incas” was re-discovered by Hiram Bingham and his Peruvian guide Melchor Arteaga in 1911. The site is built entirely of stone, using every space in harmony with function. There are two main sections: the urban area which includes temples, palaces, plazas and fountains and the agricultural area made of cultivated terraces. You will see both before returning to Aguas Calientes. Here you say farewell to your guide and board the elegant Hiram Bingham train using antique dining cars out of an Agatha Christie novel. As you make your way to Ollantaytambo you enjoy a multi-course meal with wine. Upon arrival you are met and transferred to Cusco.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 6: The Blended Culture of Cusco
The name Cusco, in Quechua, means center of the world and so it was for both the Incas and the Spaniards. Following the arrival of the Spaniards, Cuzco became a mestizo and colonial city featuring splendid colonial construction built on top of Inca foundations. In the morning your guide will take you on a tour of some of the most interesting sights including the Inca ruins of Sacsayhuaman and the 12-sided stone on the street called Hatun Rumiyoc attributed to the Inca leader Pachacutec. You will also visit the most outstanding colonial sights of this UNESCO World Heritage City including the Cathedral, the Compania Church and Santa Domingo Convent. After your tour you have the afternoon free. This evening you dine at the hotel as your Peruvian exploration comes to an end.
Breakfast and Dinner
Day 7: Cusco-Puno-Lake Titicaca
After breakfast you will be transferred to the airport for a flight to Juliaca. Upon arrival you are met and taken Puno and your hotel located on the shores of Lake Titicaca. You have time to relax, stroll around town and just enjoy the Lake view which you continue to enjoy while having dinner at the hotel.
Breakfast and Dinner
Day 8: Crossing to Suasi Island
In the morning you board a boat for the trip across Lake Titicaca to Suasi Island. On the way, your first stop is at Uros floating islands. The islands ae located in the Bay of Puno and are actually floating on a bed of woven reed carpets. Three to ten Uro-Aymaras families live on each one. They roof their houses with totora reed carpets although some families have replaced them with metal roofs. The Uros call themselves Kotsuna, “the lake people” and their origins pre-date the Incas. The men are skillful handlers of the totora reed boats, and the women are expert knitters. You enjoy a box lunch as you continue to the Taquile islands which were, up until the early 20th Century a political prison. It was turned back to the Taquile people in 1970 and these friendly inhabitants maintain their customs and Andean beliefs. In the afternoon you arrive at the island and transfer to the hotel.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 9: Exploring Suasi Island
Lake Titicaca is 11,000 feet above sea level and the waters around the island are about 800 feet deep. This private island, owned by Martha Giraldo, is the only solar-powered hotel in Peru and all foods served are from the land or the lake. This island is also home to three of the four “camelids”, the Llama, Alpaca and Vicuna plus a wide variety of other animals and birds. You have the choice of taking game walks or taking a canoe out on the lake. You also have the option of getting a massage or you can just relax on your patio and gaze at the lake.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 10: Return to USA
You have the morning to explore the island. At midday you will board a boat to return to the mainland enjoying a box lunch on the way. After disembarking in Puno you are met and transferred to Juliaca for the flight to Lima to connect with your late afternoon flight to the USA.
Breakfast and Lunch
Day 11:
You arrive back in the USA early in the morning.
Depending on your flight you will arrive in Lima in the either the afternoon of early evening. You will be met by one of our drivers and delivered to your hotel where you can enjoy dinner before retiring for the night.
Dinner
Day 2: Exploring Lima
After breakfast you will begin your exploration of this ancient city, once the capital of the New World after its founding by Francisco Pizzaro in 1535. You will visit the Plaza Mayor, the main square designed when the city was founded. You will also visit the Cathedral of Lima whose cornerstone was laid by Pizzaro and the Church and Convent of San Francisco, famous for its catacombs. Your guide will then take you to the Larco museum with its Inca treasures. You will have lunch at Café Del Museo Larco inside the museum before being returned to your hotel in Miraflores. Close to the beach, the area is also known for its chic shops and wide variety of restaurants. Try a Pisco Sour as an aperitif before selecting one of the restaurants for dinner.
Breakfast and Lunch
Day 3: Journey to the Sacred Valley
In the morning you will be picked up from the hotel and delivered to the airport for the one hour flight to Cusco. In that one hour you will go from sea level to 11,000 feet so to adjust to the altitude you will spend the day and night at a slightly lower altitude. You will be met and driven to your luxury resort in the Urubamba Sacred Valley surrounded by natural beauty. To help adjust you may want to relax by the pool or at the spa. If you adjust quickly (or live in Denver) you can try some kayaking, hiking or horse riding organized by the resort. In the evening, enjoy dinner at the resort.
Breakfast and Dinner
Day 4: Pisaq Market and Ollantaytambo Fortress
After breakfast, your guide will take you the Pisaq Indian market where a wide selection of handicrafts is on display along with the colorful native dress of the sellers. You have lunch before visiting the ruins if the Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo. After a tour of the ruins you will be returned to the hotel. There are many good restaurants in the nearby town and you are free to select one of them or stay at the hotel.
Breakfast and Lunch
Day 5: Machu Picchu and Cusco
In the morning you will be transferred to the station at Ollantaytambo where you board a Vistadome train for the ride down to Machu Picchu. You’ll enjoy snacks on board as you view the magnificent scenery on all sides of the train. You arrive in Aguas Calientes where you meet your expert guide who will first take you to lunch at Sanctuary Lodge and then on a tour of one of the world’s great sights. The “lost city of the Incas” was re-discovered by Hiram Bingham and his Peruvian guide Melchor Arteaga in 1911. The site is built entirely of stone, using every space in harmony with function. There are two main sections: the urban area which includes temples, palaces, plazas and fountains and the agricultural area made of cultivated terraces. You will see both before returning to Aguas Calientes. Here you say farewell to your guide and board the elegant Hiram Bingham train using antique dining cars out of an Agatha Christie novel. As you make your way to Ollantaytambo you enjoy a multi-course meal with wine. Upon arrival you are met and transferred to Cusco.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 6: The Blended Culture of Cusco
The name Cusco, in Quechua, means center of the world and so it was for both the Incas and the Spaniards. Following the arrival of the Spaniards, Cuzco became a mestizo and colonial city featuring splendid colonial construction built on top of Inca foundations. In the morning your guide will take you on a tour of some of the most interesting sights including the Inca ruins of Sacsayhuaman and the 12-sided stone on the street called Hatun Rumiyoc attributed to the Inca leader Pachacutec. You will also visit the most outstanding colonial sights of this UNESCO World Heritage City including the Cathedral, the Compania Church and Santa Domingo Convent. After your tour you have the afternoon free. This evening you dine at the hotel as your Peruvian exploration comes to an end.
Breakfast and Dinner
Day 7: Cusco-Puno-Lake Titicaca
After breakfast you will be transferred to the airport for a flight to Juliaca. Upon arrival you are met and taken Puno and your hotel located on the shores of Lake Titicaca. You have time to relax, stroll around town and just enjoy the Lake view which you continue to enjoy while having dinner at the hotel.
Breakfast and Dinner
Day 8: Crossing to Suasi Island
In the morning you board a boat for the trip across Lake Titicaca to Suasi Island. On the way, your first stop is at Uros floating islands. The islands ae located in the Bay of Puno and are actually floating on a bed of woven reed carpets. Three to ten Uro-Aymaras families live on each one. They roof their houses with totora reed carpets although some families have replaced them with metal roofs. The Uros call themselves Kotsuna, “the lake people” and their origins pre-date the Incas. The men are skillful handlers of the totora reed boats, and the women are expert knitters. You enjoy a box lunch as you continue to the Taquile islands which were, up until the early 20th Century a political prison. It was turned back to the Taquile people in 1970 and these friendly inhabitants maintain their customs and Andean beliefs. In the afternoon you arrive at the island and transfer to the hotel.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 9: Exploring Suasi Island
Lake Titicaca is 11,000 feet above sea level and the waters around the island are about 800 feet deep. This private island, owned by Martha Giraldo, is the only solar-powered hotel in Peru and all foods served are from the land or the lake. This island is also home to three of the four “camelids”, the Llama, Alpaca and Vicuna plus a wide variety of other animals and birds. You have the choice of taking game walks or taking a canoe out on the lake. You also have the option of getting a massage or you can just relax on your patio and gaze at the lake.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 10: Return to USA
You have the morning to explore the island. At midday you will board a boat to return to the mainland enjoying a box lunch on the way. After disembarking in Puno you are met and transferred to Juliaca for the flight to Lima to connect with your late afternoon flight to the USA.
Breakfast and Lunch
Day 11:
You arrive back in the USA early in the morning.
