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June 9-18, 2024
Highlights: Machu Picchu l Rainbow Mountain l Cusco l Ollantaytambo
14-16 spots available. Must be at least 18 years of age.
The Itinerary
Day 1
Welcome to Peru!! Is this even real?!
Today we fly into Lima but we have an early flight to Cusco tomorrow morning, so we'll be picked up from the airport and taken directly to our hotel, which is walking distance from the airport, to rest before heading out on our adventure tomorrow.
Day 2
Cusco
After breakfast at the hotel, we will board our flight over to Cusco where we will be picked up by our guide and taken to our hotel. We will then have a calm rest of the day to explore the city, do some shopping and get acclimated to the high altitude. We will wrap up the evening by joining for a light dinner (again, to help with the altitude).
(breakfast & dinner included)
Day 3
Cusco
Today we will discover the beautiful city of Cusco! After breakfast, we'll take a city tour where we'll visit the historical Plaza de Armas, the colorful San Pedro Market, and Qorikancha. For lunch we'll escape the city and touristy areas and go to the heights of Cusco to have a French-style picnic among Incan ruins, in the midst of a eucalyptus forest with hills offering an exceptional view of La Cordillera Blanca and the impressive Ausangate mountain in the distance. We will then go through the San Blas neighborhood, the oldest and best maintained of Cusco, before heading back to our hotel to wash up before leaving again to partake in a delicious Cusquenian dinner.
(breakfast, lunch & dinner included)
Day 4
Sacred Valley, Moray, Maras
We will depart from Cusco early to explore the Inca agricultural laboratory of Moray, a fascinating archaeological site located in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It consists of a series of concentric terraced circular depressions that resemble a set of enormous natural amphitheaters. These depressions are thought to have been used by the Incas as an experimental agricultural laboratory for studying and cultivating a wide variety of crops. From there, we'll cross the countryside of the Sacred Valley to the salt pans of Maras, a series of thousands of small, terraced salt evaporation ponds that have been in use for hundreds of years, and they continue to produce salt to this day.
The salt pans are situated on a steep hillside and are fed by a natural saltwater spring. The saltwater flows into the various terraced ponds, where it gradually evaporates due to the dry climate and high altitude of the region. We will cross the salt flats by foot and then enjoy a buffet lunch of local products. To wrap up the day, we'll head to our "hotel" for the night, a home in the middle of the jungle on a cocoa/coffee plantation.
(breakfast, lunch & dinner included)
Day 5
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We'll wake up in the rainforest of the Quillabamba Valley, downstream from Machu Picchu. After a hearty breakfast we'll take a tour of the cocoa plantation, and the owner will give us a demonstration of how to make cocoa paste and then we'll make our own! From there, we'll drive towards Machu Picchu and go for a 2.5 hr walk to Machu Picchu Pueblo, also called Aguas Calientes. We'll check in to the hotel and rest a bit before an early dinner and then hitting the hay early, because tomorrow is a BIG day. Hint hint....Machu Picchu!
(breakfast, lunch & dinner included)
Day 6
Machu Picchu
Make sure your phone/cameras are charged because today we're checking off one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Machu Picchu!! We'll spend a couple of hours admiring and learning everything we could ever need to know about it (maybe even get some pictures with llamas?!)! From there we'll head back to Aguas Calientes and enjoy a delicious lunch before boarding our train towards Ollantaytambo.
(breakfast, lunch & dinner included)
Day 7
Ollantaytambo, Urubamba, Inkariy Museum, Pisac
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We will start the day with a visit to Ollantaytambo, an archaeological site that features impressive stone terraces, temples, storage areas. It holds historical significance as one of the few places where the Incas were able to successfully resist the Spanish conquistadors during their conquest of the Inca Empire. We will then explore the colorful market in the small town of Urubamba which is hardly visited by tourists, yay! From there we'll head to the Inkariy Museum which offers a complete panorama of the Inca and pre-Inca civilizations. After a nice dinner, we will end the evening with a visit to the site of Pisac, an ancient Inca citadel that will be what most consider, the more impressive of our stay! We'll spend a few hours exploring before heading back to our hotel.
(breakfast, lunch & dinner included)
Day 8
Free Day
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Today is yours to do whatever you'd like in Cusco!
(breakfast included)
Day 9
Rainbow Mountain
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Today is so exciting, we're going to Rainbow Mountain, Palccoyo!! On the way there, we'll see beautiful valleys and mountains, a river that regularly turns red like the color of the clay on the ground, and hundreds of alpacas and llamas. We'll then walk for about an hour to get to the top where we will take so so many pictures, and of course get some with the iconic llamas! On the way back, we'll enjoy a nice picnic (hopefully surrounded by llamas and alpacas because we can't get enough of those cuties!). We'll then make our way back to Cusco, stopping along the way to see as many historic sites as we have time for (including but not limited to, Andahuaylillas, the so-called Sistine Chapel of the Andes). After checking in to our hotel, we'll join for a delicious farewell dinner.
(breakfast, lunch & dinner included)
Day 10
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Today we'll wake early and hop on a flight back to Lima, and fly home from there. I miss you already but as always, it's not goodbye, it's, "until next time!"
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What's Included
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What's Not Included
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☓ International Flights to and from Lima
☓ Travel Insurance (optional, but highly encouraged)
☓ Meals not included in itinerary
☓ Beverages not included with meals
☓ Alcohol
☓ Gratuities
☓ Any extras not listed on itinerary
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✓ Airport pickup & drop off
✓ Domestic flights
✓ Private ground transportation
✓ Accommodation
✓ All meals listed in itinerary
✓ Bottled water provided daily
✓ Entry fees to all sites mentioned in the itinerary
✓ Goodie bag
✓ Private local female tour guide
*Accommodation is a shared room. Single room supplement is an option, it's an extra $500
Cost
($200 early booking discount ends Oct 1. Price increase to $2,900 & $3,000)
Pay in Full (Save $100!)
*Save an additional $50 if paying through Venmo, @Arikari12
$2700 USD
Payment Plan
$2800 USD
To secure a spot, a non-refundable deposit of $700 is required. The remaining balance of $2200 will be divided into 4 payments of $525. The first payment installment will be collected on Nov 15, the second payment installment will be collected on Jan 1, the third payment installment will be collected on Feb 15, and the fourth payment installment will be collected on April 1 from the card you put on file at the time of registration.
(Option to do 6 payments of $350)
Please email me at charmingtravelsco@gmail.com with any questions!
Looking forward to hanging with you in Peru!
© 2023 Ari Kari Capital, LLC