From Peru to Bolivia

You'll be picked up at Lima airport upon your flight's arrival and dropped off at your selected hotel in Lima to rest and accommodate your things. At about 2:30 in the afternoon, we'll depart for a 3½ hour tour which will include visits to the 4^th century Puccllana Temple, the Government Palace, Archbishop's Palace, the Basilica Cathedral, the crypts of San Francisco Convent, and more as we explore the pre-Columbian, colonial and modern sides of the city of Lima.

After an early breakfast in the hotel, we'll depart at 6:00am to catch a train to Aguas Calientes, from where we'll be a short bus ride from the Machu Picchu Archeological Complex. The guided portion of the tour will last about two hours. We'll arrive back in Cusco at around 8:00pm.

We'll have a guided tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas, leaving at 8:00am by bus. We'll pass by picturesque Quechua-speaking communities with adobe houses and locals in traditional dress and sprawling patch-worked family fields of Andean products as we enter fertile valley surrounded by snowy mountain peaks. We'll visit Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and Chinchero, enjoying guided tours of Incan agricultural terraces and ruins and stopping in Urubamba for a buffet lunch. Depending on the day, we might be able to explore the colorful Pisac market as well. We'll arrive back in Cusco between 6:00-7:00pm.

In the morning we'll head to the Inka Express Bus Terminal to catch our bus from Puno. We'll be following the same route (in reverse) taken by the legendary founders of Cusco and the Inca Empire and will have guided stops at the Pukara Museum, La Raya lookout, Raqchi Archeological Complex, and the San Pedro Chapel of Andahuaylillas, whose simple exterior hides a stunning ornate interior. There'll be guided stops along the way as well as a buffet lunch in Sicuani.

We'll depart by motorboat from Puno's port at 7:30am, crossing the waters of Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake, to visit the famous manmade Floating Islands of Uros, whose Aymara-speaking culture is one of the continent's oldest and whose residents rely heavily on the totora reed, which provides them housing, transport, sustenance, and the islands themselves. We'll also visit the Quechua-speaking Island of Taquile.

We'll leave the hotel in Puno at 7:30am to catch the bus to Copacabana, on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. We'll arrive just before noon, and after lunch we'll set off by motorbat for the sacred Island of the Sun, Isla del Sol, where you will see the Temple of Pilkokaina and descend the Inca steps of Yumani to the Fountain of Youth. After exploring the Island's ruins and natural beauty, as well as learning of the island's significance to the Inca Empire, we'll return to Copacabana. We'll tour the city of Copacabana on foot, stopping to visit the Sanctuary of the Dark Virgin.

After breakfast in the hotel, you'll have a free morning in Copacabana to explore independently before we board our bus to La Paz, where you will also have free time in the afternoon. At 9:00pm it will be time to catch the overnight bus to the small town of Uyuni, where we'll arrive the following morning at 7:00am.

On this day we'll depart from the town of Uyuni at 10:00am to enter the Uyuni Salt Flats, the world's largest salt desert. At Colchani, we'll learn about the traditional process of artisanal salt extraction. We'll also visit the first building constructed inside the salt flat: the Salt Hotel, made entirely of salt. It now longer functions as a hotel but is a popular attraction nonetheless.

At Fish Island (‘islands' in Uyuni are not island at all, but the eroded peaks of prehistoric volcanoes submerged long ago) you'll see the curly-tailed vizcachas and giant cacti. We'll spend the night in a hotel inside the Salt Flats.

Our tour will continue as we visit the surreal lagoons of Uyuni, especially the brilliant Colored Lagoon and the Red Lagoon with with its flamingos. We'll visit the Tree Stone and other geological formations of Siloli and camp for the night within the Salt Flat.

We'll rise early, setting off at 6:00am to watch the noisy Sol de la Mañana (Morning Sun) Geysers. We'll stop for a rest at Cañapa Lagoon in the Chavín Desert, where you can relax in the Hot Springs if you desire. Afterwards we'll continue on to the Green Lagoon to observe the shift in color of its mirror-like waters. At 6:00pm we'll leave the Salt Flats en route to the town of Uyuni, where we'll catch a night bus to La Paz that departs at 9:00pm and arrives in La Paz at 7:00am.

We'll arrive in La Paz at 7:00am and accommodate ourselves in the hotel. We'll take a tour of the city of La Paz and the surreal landscape of the eroded Valley of the Moon, returning to the hotel in the afternoon. We'll finish off the evening with a folkloric dinner show.

After breakfast in the hotel we'll head to the La Paz bus terminal to catch our bus back to the city of Puno, where we'll arrive around 1:00pm. You'll have the afternoon free to spend as you wish exploring Puno independently.

We'll spend the afternoon touring the Sillustani Chullpas, a pre-Inca highland cemetery on a hilltop overlooking Lake Umayo, about a half hour outside of Puno proper. We'll explore the chullpas, high circular burial towers, which serviced to house the mummified remains of a variety of cultures from the Pucará and Colla to the Aymara, and finally the Incas.

Afterwards, you'll be transferred to the airport in Juliaca to catch your departing flight to Lima.

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