Experience Peru Andean Cultural Tours in Cusco, The Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes.

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Our tour celebrates an indigenous point of view. Each day we will explore the wealth of Quechua music, dance, arts, customs, philosophies, cosmology, history and typical foods. A visit to the community of Amaru encourages participation in their communal workday called faena. This cultural exchange combined with visiting the ancient observatories and agrarian terraces deepens the appreciation of Quechua history and social life. This is an opportunity to experience the essence of Andean culture, its meaning and its magic.Lodging with a special atmosphere for each and every guest, enhancing the wonder and beauty of an ancient, living culture.

5,000 years of Andean culture are present in the temples, astronomic observatories, agrarian terraces, irrigation systems, ceramics, textiles, and above all in the values that persist to this day, and gave fruits as magnificent as Machu Picchu. These achievements are alive in the indigenous communities of the Quechua people who continue to practice reciprocity: ayni, and collective work: minka.

In the Andes the ancestral encounters and coexists with the contemporary. As the inheritors of a philosophy that respects and celebrates diversity, 12 million indigenous use thousands of different traditional dress, food, music, dance, rituals etc today.

Experience Peru Tours offers you something more than a tourist journey. Guided by local natives for the first time you will be able to approach the Andean world through a native perspective, in a very personal, intimate relationship to the land, the people and their customs.

We will explore: • the scientific religious function of temples • textile iconography • astronomical agrarian calendars • balanced relationship between man and nature • role of male female equilibrium • Incan mathematics, iconography, astronomy and geodesy • the experience of sharing the collective work, faena, with ancestral communities • traditional music and dance and their significance • and all that spontaneously occurs.

All of this is woven in an itinerary of visits to archeological sites surrounded by fantastic geography, full of mythology and history revealed each day by our guide with the enthusiasm of one who shares his life passion: his culture and tradition.

Andean culture is a unitarian culture. For the Quechua, everything is related and bound: Art, Science, Religion, Social organization, Daily life. It is important that the visitor feels this unity which is why our tour is integral. The accomadations and food are presented with this perspective.

Trip length: ten days including travel days
Description: high altitude, mountainous terrain. Comfortable driving tours and day hikes.
Altitudes: Cusco 11, 200 ft • Pisaq 10, 000 ft • Machu Picchu 7, 500 ft • Amaru 10, 500 ft
Meals: all meals included except two lunches and one dinner. Vegetarian available.
Accommodations: Hotel Pisaq is a comfortable and charming bed and breakfast in the Sacred Valley. Singles, doubles and triples with private or shared bath available.

Brief Itinerary

Day One: Arrival at Cusco airport. Scenic drive to the Sacred Valley and Hotel Pisaq. Afternoon to rest, acclimate and explore the cobblestone streets of Pisaq. Welcoming dinner.

Day Two: Leisurely drive to visit the ancient baths of Tambomachay and the astronomic calendar of Sacsayhuaman. Lunch out in Cusco. Afternoon walking tour through Cusco. Visit the main pre-Colombian Inca Temple, Coricancha, and the Plaza de Armas.

Day Three: Shopping day at Pisaq’s colorful Traditional Indian Market. Wonderful opportunity to buy woven goods, ceramics and hand-painted beads. Admire the beautiful faces and calm excitement that transforms Pisaq on market days.

Day Four: Walk or drive to the Pisaq ruins to explore the agricultural terraces and ceremonial site. Walk or drive down to Pisaq.

Day Five: Scenic drive into the high Andes and walk to the traditional community of Amaru. Participate in a communal work day. Walk and drive back to Pisaq.

Day Six: With the experience of Amaru fresh in our hearts we get an early start for our day trip to Machu Picchu! We drive through the Sacred Valley to catch the train in Ollantaytambo for a spectacular train ride. Day exploring the ruins. Evening return to Pisaq.

Day Seven: Visit the temple of Kenko on our way to Cusco. A few free hours for shopping or a museum visit before an early lunch in Cusco. A scenic drive through Chinchero.

Day Eight: Visit the ruins of Ollantaytambo. Farewell dinner.

Day Nine: Early breakfast before leaving for the Cusco airport.

The order of our itinerary will change according to the day upon which you arrive.

Your Hosts
Roman Vizcarra, a native of Peru, and his wife Fielding Wood Vizcarra, from Taos, New Mexico, invite you to participate in a truly unique travel experience. Roman has traveled worldwide teaching about the Quechua people. He loves to share an intimate knowledge of his people's traditions and belief systems: music, dance, art, customs, and food. A professional guide, Roman speaks fluent Spanish, English, German, and Italian. He shares with passion his life vision: the recuperation and revaluation of his culture. As an American living in Peru, Fielding understands the importance of hospitality, of exchanging insights, of creating your home away from home.

Wealth of Andean Cuisine: Agrarian based society
Andean cuisine offers some of the most diverse flavors on the planet due to a myriad of produce: potatoes, fruits, chilies that come in an infinite array of sizes, colors, flavors and smells unique to this region. Quechua world vision is centered on agriculture. All activity revolves around gardening. Science, ceremony, ritual, was and still is focused on fertility, production and abundance. Due to the vast geographic regions and the road system that allowed for transportation of these varied products, a very complex cuisine has evolved over time.
We prepare all of our meals with these fresh, organic ingredients to allow the visitor to explore the subtle combination of flavors found in the Andes today. We feel that delving into the flavors, scents and colors of food is a very important way of expanding ones understanding of the country’s culture.