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Departures:
Weekly. Itineraries are flexible.
Day 1 Wednesday
- Arrival in Lima
Upon arrival at the airport a host will meet and assist you
in transferring to the hotel and help you in registering. In the
afternoon City
Tour of Lima and Larco Museum - This half day tour visits both
the colonial and modern sections of this "City of Kings."
Colonial sites include the lovely Plaza de Armas with its cathedral
and palace, and the exquisite Torre Tagle Palace modern day seat
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In modern Lima, drive along
the exclusive residential areas of Miraflores and San Isidro.
Continue to the Larco Museum, founded in 1926, it showcases remarkable
chronological galleries providing an excellent overview on 3000
years of development of Peruvian pre-Columbian history. Located
in a unique vice-royal mansion of the 18th century built over
a 7th century pre-Columbian pyramid, is surrounded by beautiful
gardens. Features the finest gold and silver collection from Ancient
Peru and the famous erotic archaeological collection, one of the
most visited Peruvian tourist attractions.
Day
2 Thursday - Lima / Iquitos / Ceiba Tops
Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer to the airport for your
flight to Iquitos. Reception
at the airport, brief city orientation and transfer to the Explorama
dock. Twenty-five mile journey down the Amazon River to Ceiba
Tops, where rooms with air conditioning and private bathrooms
provide the comforts of home in the rainforest. Afternoon hike
in the beautiful primary rainforest reserve surrounding the lodge
which includes many huge trees festooned with epiphytes. After
dinner there may be local flute or guitar music at the El Toucan
Bar or the guides are always ready to relate some of the many
legends of the Amazon forest. Overnight
Ceiba Tops. (B,L,D)
Day
3 Friday - Ceiba Tops
Morning
boat ride, spotting for dolphins, to visit a small village of
Yagua Indians where your guide will explain the local Yagua Indian
culture and how it was affected by the arrival of Europeans and
the passing of time. There will also be an opportunity to see
some of the local crafts and for a demonstration of the blowgun
which some of the Yagua elders still use for hunting. Afternoon
walking excursion to the neighboring town of Indiana. Originally
a Franciscan mission, Indiana has grown into a large river community
with its own market, high school and small hospital. Overnight
Ceiba Tops. (B,L,D)
Day
4 Saturday - Ceiba Tops / Iquitos / Lima
Your
choice of morning walking or boating excursion to further enjoy
the rainforest and Amazon River. Afternoon transfer to Iquitos
and to the airport. Upon arrival
at the airport a host will meet and assist you in transferring
to the hotel and help you in registering. (B)
Day
5 Sunday - Lima / Chiclayo
Breakfast at your hotel. Tranfer to the airport for your flight
to Chiclayo. Upon arrival at the airport a host will meet and
assist you in transferring to the hotel and help you in registering.
Visit the complex of Huaja Rajada which comprises two huge pyramids
mad of adobe mud in front of which there is a platform which is
to have contained the royal mausoleum. The intact remains of an
important Mochica ruler known as the Lord of Sipan were discovered
here in 1987. Then continue to the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum,
a museum inaugurated in November 2002. Rated as one of the most
outstanding archaeological museums in South America, the building
is modeled after an ancient pyramid of the region. Here you can
find a reconstruction of the tomb of Sipan, dubbed the "Tutankhamen
of the Americas" because of the golden splendor of his tomb
: hundreds of pieces of pottery and exquisite gold jewelry. (B)
Day
6 Monday - Chiclayo / Trujillo
Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer in bus to Trujillo. Upon
arrival a host will meet and assist you in transferring to the
hotel and help you in registering. In the afternoon visit the
city of Trujillo, known as "the City of the Eternal Spring",
where you will visit the Main Square, the Cathedral and the beautiful
residential and commercial areas which contain grandiose colonial
houses and well preserved porches, balconies and churches such
as the Colonial Mansions of "Casa Iturregui" and "Casa
Bracamonte". Transfer to the National University of Trujillo
Museum, that contains cultural expressions of Peru´s diverse
Pre-hispanic epochs such as: ceramics, weavings, metal, etc. (B)
Day
7 Tuesday - Trujillo / Lima
Breakfast at your hotel. Visit to Chan Chan, the former capital
of Chimu Empire. This Empire reached its apogee in the 15th century,
not long before falling to the Incas. The planning of this huge
city, the largest in pre-Columbian America, reflects a strict
political and social strategy, marked by the city's division into
nine 'citadels' or 'palaces' forming autonomous units. This pre-Columbian
adobe city is famous for its archaeological site in South America!.
From Chan Chan you will visit the seashore village of Huanchaco,
known for its totora seahorses - a typical small reed boat used
for fishing. Then visit one of the most important centers of the
ancient Moche. This pre-Inca civilization, a warrior culture,
once dominated the valleys of the northern coast of Peru. Experience
the amazing adobe engineering of the Temple of the Sun (sol),
the tallest pyramid in the Americas at a height of 48 meters,
which is estimated to have involved over 200,000 workers in its
construction and over 140 million adobe bricks. Steps away is
the temple of the Moon (Luna), the Moche political center where
recently uncovered friezes of mystical images are believed to
belong to a divinity of sacrifices. Transfer to the airport for
your flight to Lima. Upon arrival at the airport a host will meet
and assist you in transferring to the hotel and help you in registering.
(B,L)
Day
8 Wednesday - Lima / Cusco
Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer to the airport for your
flight to Cusco. Upon arrival at the airport a host will meet
and assist you in transferring to the hotel and help you in registering.
Tour of Cusco and its Ruins - This afternoon's tour of the oldest
continuously inhabited city in the western hemisphere includes
important landmarks of enchanting Cusco and also the nearby ruins
of Kenko, Puca-pucara, Tambomachay as well as the Sacsayhuaman
fortress. Once the center of the Inca civilization, modern Cusco
is a delightful combination of Inca and colonial architecture.
During the tour, you will visit Cusco's Cathedral, Santo Domingo
Church and the Plaza de Armas. (B)
Day
9 Thursday - Cusco / Sacred Valley / Cusco
Breakfast at your hotel. Full Day Excursion to the Pisac Indian
Market and the Ollantaytambo Fortress (Daily) -Morning departure
for a drive through the fertile countryside to the colonial village
of Pisac. During your visit to the bustling marketplace you will
have the opportunity to bargain with the natives for many different
types of Peruvian handicrafts and jewelry. After lunch the tour
continues to the village of Ollantaytambo for a visit to its impressive
Incan fortress. In the afternoon return to Cusco. (B,L)
Day
10 Friday - Cusco / Machu Picchu / Cusco
Breakfast at your hotel. Full Day Excursion to Machu Picchu -
Early wake up for a train ride through the sacred valley of Urubamba
to the "Lost City of the Incas," Machu Picchu. Perched
8,200 feet above the valley, it was hidden by mountains and semi-tropical
jungles for 400 years until discovered by Hiram Bingham of Yale
University in 1911. Archaeologists believe that the Inca "Virgins
of the Sun" took refuge from the Spanish Conquistadors here.
Guided tour of the ruins upon arrival. All transfers are included.
Lunch is at the Orient Express' Sanctuary Lodge located just a
few steps from the Inca citadel. Afternoon return to Cusco. (B,L)
Day
11 Saturday - Cusco / Lima / Home
Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer from hotel to the airport for
your flight to Lima and then take your connecting flight to home.
(B)
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Departures:
Weekly. Itineraries are flexible.
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