A Transpersonal Expedition to Peru (17/09/19)

“Peru will change you. And this country has a number of ways of doing it. Returning from an expedition to Peru, you will find that you have not come back completely, that the journey goes on and is now everywhere, wherever you find yourself. Yes, you have not come back to your former self – the one who made the decision to go to another continent is no more. And you will be very glad of it.”

The expedition programme (16 days)

Number of days and nights: 16 days / 15 nights. Number of people: 6–8–10

Hotels: twin rooms.

The main points of the route: Lima – Cusco – Ollantaytambo – Aguas Calientes – Machu Picchu – Pisac – Puno – Lake Titicaca and its islands – the Colca Canyon – Lima

**Day 1. LIMA.**Kyiv (Moscow) – Lima – Cusco – Ollantaytambo – Aguas Calientes – Machu Picchu – Pisac – the Sacred Valley of the Incas – the Palomino Islands – Lima – Kyiv (Moscow)

**Day 1. LIMA.**Arrival in Lima. Meeting at the airport. Transfer to the hotel.

Day 2. LIMA – CUSCO. In the morning, after breakfast, we set off by minivan for Lima airport. Boarding the flight Lima – Cusco. Arrival in Cusco. Transfer to the hotel. Acclimatisation at a height of 3400 metres. Getting to know the city and its surroundings.

**Day 3. CUSCO – THE SACRED VALLEY – OLLANTAYTAMBO – AGUAS CALIENTES.**In the morning we set out by minivan for Ollantaytambo, an ancient town with the railway station from which trains leave for Aguas Calientes, the gateway to Machu Picchu. On the way we will visit ancient megalithic structures, such as the huge sanctuary of Sacsayhuamán. Then we will touch the mystery of the Temple of the Moon, and Qenqo. And finally, before going on, we will look in at the Inca springs, a place where water sources, beautifully set in ancient stonework, have been preserved in an astonishing way. Then our route will run through the whole Sacred Valley of the Incas, where we will be able to stop the vehicle at any landscape spots we like, all the way to Ollantaytambo itself. Here we leave our things in the left-luggage room at the station and, travelling light, climb the pyramid-mountain on whose summit the Temple of the Sun once stood. From there there is an unforgettable view of Ollantaytambo itself. Then we go down to the station, board the train and set off for Aguas Calientes, a small pedestrian town that has become a staging post on the way to Machu Picchu. On arrival we check in at the hotel.

Day 4. AGUAS CALIENTES – MACHU PICCHU. Early in the morning, at 4.30, breakfast. We leave the hotel for the place where a small bus will pick us up and take us up the serpentine road right to the entrance of Machu Picchu. We are to walk not only around Machu Picchu but also climb Huayna Picchu, the very mountain that in all the famous photographs of this place stands as an unshakeable backdrop behind ancient Machu Picchu. Huayna Picchu, like many other places in Peru, is a pyramid-mountain. Its summit is crowned with traces of polygonal masonry, and the approaches to it are framed by huge steps, like Mexican pyramids. After we climb to the top of this mountain, which is considered a place of power, we have a fairly difficult trek to the Temple of the Moon and a large cave situated at the foot of Huayna Picchu. It is believed that Huayna Picchu is a hollow mountain, and that the Temple of the Moon was the entrance to its underground passages, one of the tunnels of which led to the very top of the mountain. After the difficult trek we return to Machu Picchu again and end the day with a rest in Aguas Calientes.

Day 5. AGUAS CALIENTES – THE MANDOR WATERFALLS – OLLANTAYTAMBO – PISAC.

Early in the morning we will make a three-kilometre hike to the Mandor waterfalls, which are in a natural botanical garden amid the tropical mountain forest. Here ****is an excellent place for meditation. In the second half of the day we return to Aguas Calientes, pick up our things and go to the railway station, from where the train will take us to Ollantaytambo. On arrival in Ollantaytambo, we set off by minivan for Pisac, a small colonial shamanic town. On arrival in Pisac, we check in at a small, cosy hotel. In the evening we meet a local shaman (a man or a woman) who will hold a transpersonal ceremony for us (optional). The ceremony begins at about 21.00.

**Day 6. PISAC – THE RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN.**On this day we will hike up the mountain that towers above Pisac, to the ruins on its summit. Here we will see the partly preserved buildings of the Temple of the Sun. In good weather we will climb higher still, where there are also ruins in the area of the Inca Trail. In the second half of the day we go down to Pisac.

Day 7. PISAC – CHINCHERO – MORAY.

In the morning we set out by minivan to one astonishing place, Moray, where there are structures like amphitheatres, sunk up to 100 metres into the ground, with magnificent acoustics and whose purpose is not truly known. In the second half of the day we return to Pisac. Preparation for the 2nd ceremony with ayahuasca (optional). Rest.

Day 8. CUSCO – THE DEVIL’S BALCONY.

Today we will have a completely on-foot hike to a spot called the Devil’s Balcony. We climb on foot out of Cusco into a mountain gorge, pass by the walls of the ancient sanctuary of Sacsayhuamán, and turn onto a mountain trail that runs past small peasant hamlets and goes over a pass. By this trail we will reach the Devil’s Balcony, where there is a grotto into which a mountain stream bursts, and above the grotto rises a rock from which a half-natural, half-artificial balcony looks down at the stream from a great height. This is a place where the Indians worship the mountain spirits, the Apus. In the second half of the day we go down to Cusco. Rest.

Day 9. CUSCO – THE SEVEN-COLOURED MOUNTAIN.

Early in the morning (about 4.00) we set out by minivan in the direction of the Seven-Coloured Mountain, or, as it is otherwise called, Rainbow Mountain. Breakfast will be on the way. Arriving at the mountain trail, we begin the climb from 4600 metres to the summit at a height of 5100 metres. If necessary, it is possible to hire mules for those who cannot manage the first part of the trail on their own. After the ascent we go back down and return to Cusco. Rest.

Day 10. CUSCO – RUMI COLCA – TIPON – ANDAHUAYLILLAS – RACCHI – LA RAYA – PUNO.

In the morning we set out by minivan to two places not far from one another. One is called Rumi Colca, an ancient aqueduct that crossed the Sacred Valley. The other, Tipon, is an ancient stepped pyramid-mountain, along whose steps runs a water channel built into the pyramid’s system and still in working order. The place is astonishing for the grandeur of the design, executed in stone, of an unknown civilisation. An excellent place for meditation. In the second half of the day we return to Cusco. Rest.

Day 11. PUNO – THE UROS ISLANDS – AMANTANI ISLAND.

At about 8 o’clock in the morning, after breakfast, we head for the pier on Lake Titicaca, where a covered boat will already be waiting for us. On it we will go to the floating islands of Uros, where Ind****ians still live to this day. They build the floating islands with their own hands from the local totora reed. We will see their life without embellishment, hear their story of how they build and live on their homemade islands. Then we move on, leaving the Indians of the floating islands, and in a couple of hours we reach a real island, which is called Amantani. From the landing stage we climb up to a peasant dwelling, where we will stay with a hospitable family. Here, with this family, we will also take our meals. After we settle in, we will be fed a simple but hearty peasant lunch. After that we are free and can climb to the top of the island, or rather to its two summits, which the Indians dedicated to their two chief deities, setting up sanctuaries there to the Moon and the Sun, who are the ancient symbols of the feminine and masculine principles respectively.

Day 12. AMANTANI – PUNO – CHUCUITO – ARAMU MURU.

In the morning we set off for the other end of the island. We board a boat going to the Capachica peninsula, where a car will pick us up. By car we will go on to two more places, one of which is the Temple of Fertility at Chucuito, where women who cannot have children come. The ruins of the temple lie in an anomalous electromagnetic zone, which quite possibly has a positive effect on the female body. Then we will visit the second astonishing place, called Amaru Muru, where there is the so-called Gate of the Gods, a huge portal carved in red rock. Here too we will see the figures of some ancient animals, whose outlines resemble partly man-made natural rocks. You get the impression that this whole strange place was some kind of sacred centre of an ancient civilisation. The energy of Aramu Muru is very strong. It makes sense to linger here and meditate. After Aramu Muru we return to the hotel in Puno. Rest.

Day 13. PUNO – SILLUSTANI – THE COLCA CANYON.

In the morning we set out by minivan for the Colca Canyon. On the way we will stop at Sillustani, where, above the beautiful Lake Umayo, at a height of 4000 metres, megalithic structures stand in the form of ancient dolmen-towers. A place of extraordinary beauty. On arrival we check in at a hotel right above the abyss of the canyon, whose depth at this point exceeds 2000 metres. Rest.

Day 14. THE COLCA CANYON.

A day of meditation, of watching the biggest birds in the world, the condors, and a visit to hot springs.

Day 15. THE COLCA CANYON – AREQUIPA AIRPORT – LIMA.

A walk along the canyon. And then we drive over a pass of 5000 metres to Arequipa, to the airport. In the evening, boarding the flight Arequipa – Lima. Arrival in Lima. Transfer to the hotel. Rest.

Day 16. LIMA – COLONIAL LIMA – AIRPORT.

In the morning we set off by minivan for the central part of the city and get to know Lima of the colonial era. We will see the presidential palace, the Cathedral, the Santo Domingo monastery and the cradle of the Franciscans, the Cathedral of San Francisco. After that we go to a restaurant standing on piles in the Pacific Ocean, Rosa Náutica (the Water Rose). After a farewell lunch, we return to the hotel for our things and drive by minivan to Jorge Chávez airport.

Boarding the international flight.

Price of the programme: 2500 $

INCLUDED:

• – meeting at Lima airport on the 1st day and seeing off on the last,
• – all hotels on a double basis,
• – all internal flights,
• – all transfers and journeys listed in the programme,
• – all breakfasts in hotels (except Pisac)
• – lunch, dinner, breakfast on the island of Amantani,
• – accommodation in a peasant house on the island of Amantani,
• – boats on Lake Titicaca,
• – the train to Machu Picchu and back,
• – entrance fees to the sights,
• – full accompaniment from the first day to the last by a Russian-speaking guide along the whole route.

NOT INCLUDED:

• The flight to Lima (1000 $)
• Lunches and dinners (and breakfast in a hotel in the town of Pisac)
• Ceremonies with ayahuasca (120 dollars per person for each ceremony)
• tips
• expenses in force majeure circumstances (climatic conditions, illness of a group member, etc.).

EQUIPMENT:

Bring clothes both for summer and for the in-between seasons (in Peru at this time of year it is the end of winter)! Sandals, trainers, T-shirts, cotton trousers or jeans, a jumper, a windcheater, a cap or a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, small rucksacks, so that for the trip to Machu Picchu you don’t have to carry your whole suitcase but can take only what you need for a couple of days.

REGISTRATION and DETAILS:
+38 (096) 33 77 199 tel, WhatsApp, Viber
skype: natavalitskaya
liogrita@gmail.com

P.S. For the especially curious, here is the New Year journey to Peru