Pure Adventure
Expeditions designed for adventure seekers
Peru: Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Lima. We will spend the first night at a nice hotel in Lima, getting a bit of refreshing sleep
Day 2: Early in the morning we will board a plane for Cusco. Immediately upon departure from the one hour flight we will be taken by ground transport on a drive through the Andean highlands and down into the Urubamba Valley. Here we will board a train for Aguas Calientes, the town that sits at the base of Machu Picchu.
Day 3: Solstice on Machu Picchu! Yes! The Sun Temple of Machu Picchu was designed for this very day. We will rise early and be on Machu Picchu to observe the Solstice Sunrise. We will spend the entire day on Machu Picchu, first being led by our Quecha Indian guide, Cucho, who will explain the meanings of the various temples and their alignments with the Solstices and Equinoxes and stars. Following Cucho's introduction to the mysteries of Machu Picchu, we will each go to find the places of power that draw us individually. No rush. The day is yours.
Day 4: For this who wish, a return to Machu Picchu (usually one day is so powerful, that is enough for most), for others, exploring the wonderful town of Aguas Calientes. There is a Hot Springs (well, warm, anyway) at the top of town, trails to hike, markets to shop. And... this village has no cars in it! Not even motorcycles. Just people on foot. Ahhhh!
In the afternoon we board the train, traveling two hours up the Urubamba River where we will stay for two nights in the ancient village of Ollantaytambo.
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Day 5: The whole day will be spent in the wonderful village of Ollantaytambo, exploring the meglithic temples and ruins. Wit hstones weighing over 240 tons, these remains of an archaic building are unable to be moved and set with such precision with today's technology. Also, shopping the markets and visiting with local Andean villagers... my Peruvian family lives here in Ollantaytambo.
Day 6: Christmas Eve in Cusco! At mid-day we begin a 2-hr ride to Cusco. Along the way we will stop at Grandmother's house in the village of Chinchero to share a traditional meal with a native Quechua/Inca family. The Peruvian people celebrate Christmas with pageantry, festivals and parades throughout the streets and plazas. Cusco is world renowned for its Christmas eve celebrations!
Day 7: (Those coming only for the Amazon Journey will be arriving in Lima today) The rest of us, already in Cusco, will journey up the high point above Cusco to Sachsayhuaman, where megalithic temples immerse you in the geo-energy wisdom of the ancient ancestors. They built these temples on natural power sites with perfectly fitted stones weighing in excess of 300 tons! Also to be seen are the many hundreds of most enigmatic machine like carvings in the living rock, perhaps this is evidence of a industrial civilization dating thousands of years prior to the Inca Empire.
In the evening local women will be guiding us through the fascinating markets near the main plaza. This is a great place for shopping, for the crafts have been gathered here from all over Peru.
Day 8: From Cusco we drive up and over to the jungle-side of the Andes. Here the Amazon moisture-laden air dramatically pushes up from the low lands, condensing into mist, therebyy the name of the Cloud Forest, a striking country of steep slope forest deeply draped in mosses, epiphytic ferns, lichens and orchids is gven to this region. Waterfalls and cataract rivers adorn abyss walled cliffs. The dense jungle on extreme slopes is so impenetrable that places we see have likely never been trod by humanity; there are areas near the mountains still not mapped. We stay the first night in a lodge in the midst of the Cloud Forest.Go top
Day 9: Deep Jungle days. We continue to drive down the mountains to reach the Upper Madre de Dios River. From there we boat 4hrs into the lands of the Matsiguenga tribes. A little further downstream we will stay at the lodge and Traditional Plant Centre built by the Shipetiari indigenous community
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Day 10: Traditional Medicine Centre - Walking visit to the Matsiguenga tribal village of Shipetiari. Settling in, resting, the day is spent preparing for the 1st Ayahuasca ceremony, that evening.
Day 11: Traditional Medicine Centre - Jungle walks available each day. 2nd Ayahuasca ceremony.
Day 12: Traditional Medicine Centre - Jungle walks available each day. 3rd Ayahuasca ceremony.
Day 13: Departing by boat up the Madre de Dios River, then by land transport ot the lodge in the Cloud Forest.
Day 14: Returning by ground transport to Cusco, a night of rest and relaxation. We will have dinner at a comfortable restaurant.
Day 15: Lima departure: An afternoon flight will return you to Lima. When back in the city our guides will offer optional plazas, beaches and restaurants at your pleasure. That night they will get you to your departing flights, which typically depart in the first wee hours of .Go top
Space is limited, so reserve your spot!
