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Peruvian Treasures
Day 01 Lima
Arrival in Lima.
Transfer from the airport to your hotel, the rest of the day is yours to spend at your leisure.
Day 02 Lima
In the morning enjoy a half day city tour Colonial & Modern of Lima, a great panoramic view of its ancient districts, see its main attractions like the Main Square (1535), designed by Franciso Pizarro – founder of Lima. The Presidential or Government Palace sits on the northern side of the square, the Cathedral was built in 1625 in a Baroque Renaissance Style, and has a unique collection of oil paintings and sculptures from the 17th and 18th centuries. You will visit the Archbishop’s Palace and the Church of San Francisco, built on top of a network of underground tunnels or catacombs.
After passing by several Colonial buildings, we will arrive to the modern and exclusive residential district of San Isidro called “garden district” where we will find numerous parks, including the Olivar de San Isidro set in an olive grove. It is characterized by their green areas and it maintains the solemnity of the luxurious suburb. Miraflores is the modern, most tourist district, brimming with shops, restaurants, cafes, wide avenues and an active nightlife. You will visit the Central Park of Miraflores, which has a small amphitheater and a circular open area for the exhibition of Peruvian handicraft. Also, you will visit the Love Park; this tiny park has a small amphitheater and a belvedere facing the ocean.
In the afternoon, visit the Larco Herrera Museum. This museum has the world’s largest collection of Peruvian Pre-Columbian Art with approximately 45,000 items in the collection. Mr. Rafael Larco Hoyle founded the museum on July 28th 1926 in Trujillo. In 1958 he moved the collection to Lima to a Colonial House in the district of Pueblo Libre. This house was refurbished into the characteristic style of the 18th century’s colonial houses of Trujillo. The halls of the museum are organized by subjects: The Metals, Ceramics, the Stones, the Culture, the Great Jewellery Vault and Textile Halls. Finally the World’s unique Erotic Hall gives us a glimpse of the fascinating sexual life of the ancient Peruvians. (B)
Day 03 Lima /Ica
Today, you will be transferred by private car from Lima to Ica. (Guide escort on route is included)
Ica - Is known as an area of sand, sea, oases and valleys, the cradle of Peru's Creole culture, saints and medicine men, where the best pisco brandy is distilled and where religious fervor is strong in the worship of the Señor de Luren or the Yauca shrine. The sandy wastes of this area gave rise to major pre-Colombian civilizations, leaving traces that have survived the ravages of time and wind erosion. (B,D)
Day 04 Ica /Paracas /Nazca
Private transfer from Ica to Nazca via Paracas. (Guide escort on route is included)
In the morning, tour to Ballestas Island during the journey the famous Candelabro, considered as the beginning of the Nazca Lines, to end finally at the Ballestas Islands, where many different animal species may be observed. Whoever visits this beautiful place, will be entranced by its flora and fauna. There are seven seal rookeries located within the reserve, home of approximately five thousand sea lions. The greatest quantity of fur seals is concentrated on the islet of El Arquillo, where there are also sea lions, concentrated in Punta Quemada.
Visit The Regional Museum of Ica is an important building, which holds and guards a vast collection of Paracas fossils, mummies and robes and Nasca pottery as well as colonial and republican pieces. (B,D)
Day 05 Nazca /Arequipa
Optional: Nazca Lines overflight gigantic geoglyphs located between Palpa and Nazca desert, they were created by the Nazca culture between 200 BC and 600 AD. There are hundreds of individual figures, ranging in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, and lizards. The Nazca lines cannot be recognized as coherent figures except from the air.
Private transfer from Nazca to Arequipa. (Guide escort on route is included) (B)
Day 06 Arequipa /Colca
Start our trip taking the Yura´s highway, boarding the snow-capped mountain Chachani towards Pampa Cañahuas (Reserve of White Wash and Salt Mines), and the habitat of vicuñas. We will continue on the same road and will visit the towns of Callalli (Callalli´s Castles) and Sibayo. Lunch Box on route.
Visit to the spring waters of La Calera. (B,L,D)
Day 07 Colca /Arequipa
Departure from your hotel to the Cross of the Condor Viewing Point, where we will observe one of the deepest canyons of the world and the impressive flight of the Condors. On the way back from Chivay, we will come across little villages like Pinchollo, Maca, Achoma, Yanque, etc. Lunch is included today. After lunch, we will head back to Arequipa. (B,L)
Day 08 Arequipa /Puno
Transfer from the hotel to the airport to take your flight to Puno.
Puno- The beauty and charm of the city; are a mixture of their typical constructions of Andean architecture in the sides of the hills until the bank of the Titicaca Lake, and that of their people, humble, poor and kind. Puno department is rich in archaeological remains and historic monuments, since there once were three different civilizations on the banks of the Titikaka Lake: Aymara, Quechua and Spanish, giving origin to a mestizo race that is shown by their artistic and cultural expression and specially their unequaled folklore which has made Puno the “Folklore Capital of Peru”.
Arrival in Puno, transfer from the airport to the hotel. (B)
Day 09 Puno
Visit to the two better-known small floating islands made of packed totora in the Titicaca Lake: The Uros and the Taquile Island, where its inhabitants are devoted to the agriculture and the fishing, and the women to the weaving and have developed an original form of "communal tourism", in which visitors share their food, homes, customs and traditions
Lunch will be served at the Island of Taquile (B,L)
Day 10 Puno /Cusco
Private transfer from Puno to Cusco with guide escort on route.
During this transfer you will visit Racchi and Andahuaylillas. Racchi is located at approx. 100 km from Cusco city. Currently, Racchi is one of the most important communities in regards to the production of handicraft, and it is dedicated to the production of potatoes, wheat, peas and corn. In the town of Racchi there is a chapel from the XI century which has a very peculiar popular architecture. The Archaeological complex of Racchi includes a big group of constructions.
Andahuaylillas, a town of fertile lands, where the most important attraction for the visitors is its church: San Pedro de Andahuaylillas, built at the beginning of VII century and considered as the "Sistine Chapel" of America due to the quality of its art pieces
Lunch Box on route (B,L)
Day 11 Cusco
Visit to the most important Cusco's landmarks of both The Inca and the Colonial times. Visit to Korikancha (the ancient temple of the Sun), and the Colonial monuments like the Cathedral and the Museum of Colonial Art. Visit the archaeological park of Saqsaywaman (the fortress-temple), the nearby shrines of Kenko (funeral worship) and Tambomachay (cleansing water rituals). Also, the ancient Tambo of Pukapukara, Inca's storage place. In the afternoon, enjoy a walking city tour to Cusco; visit the most important Cusco’s landmarks of both, The Inca and The Colonial times. Visit to Korikancha (the ancient temple of the Sun); visit the Colonial monuments and The Cathedral of Cusco. (B)
Day 12 Cusco /Sacred Valley /Cusco
Visit to the Pisac Market, in the town of Pisac in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Departure from Pisac towards the Sacred Valley on the north, and going through the plateau, then descend to Urubamba and finally Ollantaytambo, a typical Inca community located at 21 km from Urubamba town. Lunch will be served at the Posada del Inca Yucay. (B,L)
Day 13 Cusco /Machu Picchu /Cusco
Transfer from the hotel to the Ollantaytambo train station
Machu Picchu – “The lost City of the Incas”, “Cultural heritage of mankind”, are some of the names given to this wonderful stone City constructed with an incredible technique for its era and even for present times. Stone upon stone, fitted together perfectly without any cement, with impressive delicacy, exquisite detail and discrimination worthy of the world’s greatest palaces.
In the afternoon; transfer by train to the Sacred Valley.
Arrival at Ollantaytambo train station, transfer to your hotel in Cusco city. (B,L)
Day 14 Cusco /Lima
Transfer from the hotel to the airport to take your flight to Lima
Arrival in Lima, transfer from the airport to the hotel
Optional – Half day Gold Museum
The Gold Museum provides a quick look at what the Spanish people where looking for in their conquest: Gold. This guided visit to the famous Mujica Gallo Gold Museum allows visitors to understand the way Peruvian’s used to live before the conquest. Most of the horde the Spanish found was sent back to Spain. Now, the loot is stored in a cool basement and includes items you may not even have imagined that could be made from gold. Many of the objects are ornamental. In addition to the gold pieces, there are many made of silver or precious stones like lapis lazuli or emerald. There are also pieces of bronze and even some naturally mummified human remains. The pre-Columbian gold and silver artifacts have been exhibited around the world. (B)
Day 15 Lima
Today, at the convenient time you will be transferred from the hotel to the airport to take your International flight back home. (B)
*** End of our services ***
Hotels:
*** Stay a few more days to book an extension program to the Jungle or to the North of Peru.
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