Peruvian Inca History Ride in Peru

IT-PERT0413/1248

Perol Chico Photo Archive
Peruvian Inca History Ride - Peru
Explore Peruvian History on gaited Peruvian Pasos

Join us on our most unique visit to Peru yet! Ride Peruvian Paso horses on our moonlight tour through southern Peru.
A trip into Peru with many opportunities to meet local indigenous people, view ancient customs, and dine on traditional foods. Visit historic ranches of the breed; talk with breeders who have decades of experience. Experience four unique and historic areas - the Nazca Lines, historic Arequipa and a Peruvian Paso horse breeding ranch, the Sacred Valley near Cusco and of course Machu Picchu. The dramatic and varied scenery is comfortably viewed on Peruvian Paso horses, bred for their grace, spirit, and intelligence. The Sacred Valley of the Incas near Cusco and high in the mighty Andes, was the centre of a well-developed civilization which controlled a vast area. The monolithic remains of this powerful empire are everywhere to be seen and wondered at. The dramatic and varied scenery is comfortably viewed on Peruvian Paso horses, bred for their grace, spirit, and intelligence.

IT-PERT04
Rate includes all interior transfers from and to Lima, most meals except in Lima and Ica, 6.5 riding days, English speaking guide.
13 days/ 12 nights $2,775 Single +$350
2003 Dates:
04/10-04/22 06/05-07/17
07/02-07/14 08/21-09/02
10/15-10/27
Meeting: Lima
Transfer: All land transfers included
Flights Arequipa-Cusco-Lima +$200
Horse: mostly Peruvian Pasos
Tack: Peruvian
Pace: Moderate with trots and canters
Level: Intermediate
Notes: interior flight from Cusco to Lima is included (subject to change)

Itinerary
Day 1. Arrival in Lima. We will be waiting at the airport to transfer you to your hotel. The hotel is centrally located in Miraflores. If time allows, you can tour museums, shop in Miraflores or visit Barranco, a romantic and Bohemian district in Lima with many bars and a variety of nightclubs (no service included today).
Day 2 Private car transfer south along the Panamericana highway from Lima to Ica, through arid desert and lush coastal oasis. Arrive in Ica at midday for a short tour of the city. In the afternoon, enjoy a spectacular flight over the mysterious Nazca Lines - site of the world famous ground markings preserved by Dr. Maria Reiche, these giant animal and geometric figures were etched on the desert sands by Nazca people 1,500 years ago. Dinner and overnight at Las Dunas Resort.
Day 3 Morning horseback ride at the hotel Las Dunas and then transfer for an evening coach transfer to Arequipa, arriving there at 6:00 AM.
Day 4 Welcome. Arequipa was founded in 1540 and is one of the country’s most attractive cities. Full of colonial churches and mansionsThree volcanoes dominate the skyline: Misti, Chachani and Pichu Pichu. North of Arequipa lies the spectacular Colca Valley, a picturesque Andean valley dotted with towns founded in colonial times. The canyon is one of the deepest in the world and home of the majestic condor. Arequipa’s mild climate and altitude (2,300 meter above sea level – 7,500 ft.) make in the perfect place to acclimatize before continuing the trip to Cusco. After freshening up in the hotel, we will visit the convent of Santa Catalina. This convent was built in 1580 and expanded in the 17^th century. Approximately 450 nuns lived there for more than 400 years, totally cut off the outer world. The convent of Santa Catalina is like a city in a city. Take your time to visit this wonderful place; it’ll give you a lot of inspiration. In the evening we will have dinner with Senor Atahualpa Gamarra, a breeder of Peruvian Paso horses in Arequipa, and sit together for a briefing about tomorrow's riding tour. Overnight at the hotel in Arequipa.
Day 5 and 6 Pick up from the hotel in Arequipa. Early departure to the ranch of Atahualpa in the village of Sabandia, just outside the city. From here we will start a fabulous two-day ride to fascinating places and villages in the countryside. The riding tour is usually escorted by a group of ‘chalanes’ (horsetrainers) and other local ‘aficionados’ of the Peruvian Paso horse. Campsite with campfire and drinks, dine on traditional food of Arequipa. At the end of the second day we return to Arequipa and stay in a comfortable hotel.
Day 7 After breakfast drive to the airport. The spectacular one-hour flight over the Andes arrives mid-morning in the ancient Incan capital of Cusco (altitude 3338 m / 10952 ft). From here it is a one-hour drive to the ranch in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Arriving at the ranch you will be welcomed with a traditional Pisco Sour, Peru’s national cocktail, and a typical ‘Parrillada’ (barbeque). You will have an opportunity to become familiar with our beautiful Peruvian Paso horses. It can take a while to become acclimatized to the altitude, so take it easy. After lunch we will go out for a short two-hour ride in the valley. Dinner and overnight at the hacienda Marcabamba in Urubamba.
Day 8 After a leisurely breakfast, we saddle up the horses and depart around 10 am to Maras. We will cross the Urubamba River and visit Pichingote, an old Andean village where the houses are built half into caves. Then Salinas, the salt pans from Inca times, which are still being used by the locals to extract the salt from mountain spring water. The salt pans consist of a series of platforms where the salty water is channelled through an impressive irrigation system and left to evaporate in the sun. Take plenty of film to capture this unique sight.
At Salinas, we will climb with the horses (almost 1000 m / 3281 ft) to the altiplano of the Andes. This climb takes about two hours, and will be at an easy pace because the change of altitude does not only affect the horses. At 3700 m (12,140 ft), you will see the snow-capped mountains of Chicon, Veronica and Salcantay. We will enjoy a typical Andean lunch (the meal includes cuy, the Andean guinea pig) as the guests of a local family in Maras. Around 5:00 pm we arrive at our campsite just outside of Maras, the courtyard of the recently restored 400-year-old church Tiobamba. Riding time: 5-6 hours.
Day 9 After breakfast we continue our ride to Moray. This site is not the ruin of a city or a fortress, it is an earthwork. The ancient peoples of the region took four enormous natural depressions in the landscape and sculpted them into several levels of agricultural terraces that served, hundreds of years ago, as an experimental agricultural station for the development of different crop strains. This was possible due to the discovery of a fascinating phenomenon: the climates of many different ecological zones were present at a single site. In the thirty or so meters of altitude between the bottom and top levels of Moray’s main depression, scientist John Earls has recorded a full 15 degrees Celsius (59 degree F) difference in temperature. That is equal to the difference between the mean annual temperatures of London and Bombay. Conceivably it was Moray itself which played the key role in the original transformation of maize into a high-altitude crop!
There are no great ruins in Moray to impress visitors. Moray is more for the contemplative traveller with an affinity for such phenomena as the Nazca Lines, the stone rings of Avebury and the Memphis of Brittany.
We continue our tour following primitive trails to Lago Huaypo, where we will be camping. Riding time: approx. 5 hours.
Day 10 After breakfast, we follow a trail to the ruins and village of Chinchero.
The scenery is spectacular with snow-capped mountains, wildflowers and beautiful mountain lakes. We will meet smiling Quechua children with their herds of sheep or cattle and see Campesinos ploughing their fields in the traditional way.
On a clear day the views from Chinchero are tremendous. To the west and northwest stretches a vista of rolling altiplano, ringed in the distance by the dramatic snow caps of the Cordilleras Vilcabamba and Urubamba. We will visit the fascinating ruins of Chinchero. The main square of the town is famous for its massive Inca wall, set with ten of the largest trapezoidal niches known among Inca structures. This was probably the base wall of a palace -- perhaps that of Topa Inca -- that once overlooked the square. Dinner and campsite close to Chinchero. Riding time: 4-5 hours approx. Altitude: 3000-3800 m / 9840-12,470 ft. Dinner and overnight at campsite.
Day 11 The ride continues, criss-crossing the rough and sturdy Andean landscape, passing remote Quechua communities, herder’s huts and small farms or Chacras. From Chinchero we follow the trail leading upward on the opposite (north) side of the valley from the terrace ruins. About 45 minutes out of Chinchero we come upon the well-preserved ruins of an Inca tambo, or post house. The trail gradually leads into a lush, abundant valley, filled with orchards and green meadows. We will descend into a gorge, leading the horses for this 1-hour hike that zigzags down the slopes before finally reaching the village of Huayllabamba in the Sacred Valley.
From Huayllabamba we ride to the picturesque village of Yucay, a village with two main squares dominated by pisonay trees. Yucay was an important royal estate before Pizarro, and the agricultural terraces just behind the village to the north constitute one of the finest surviving Inca agricultural systems in the Cusco region, well-preserved and still in use. We continue the last part of the ride to Urubamba and arrive around 05:00 pm at the ranch. Dinner and overnight at the hacienda Marcabamba. Riding time: 6 hours approx.
Day 12 Early in the morning we take the memorable train from Urubamba to the ruins of Machu Picchu.
The experience of visiting Machu Picchu is not limited to the ruins themselves; the journey by train is without a doubt one of the most spectacular in the world. Machu Picchu itself is hard to describe, ‘the mysterious, monumental source of an unequalled stage of Peruvian history.’
Machu Picchu was exposed to the eyes of the modern world less than a century ago with an overwhelming, captivating force.
Take lots of film, this is every bit as magnificent as you have imagined. In the afternoon we take the train back to Urubamba. Dinner and overnight at the hacienda Marcabamba.
Day 13 Morning transfer to Cusco and departure - or you can extend you adventure with time in Cusco, and excursion to Puno and Lake Titicaca or a few days into the Amazon.