Experience the Timeless Culture of Peru
August 22 – 29, 2017
Join CCRA and Metropolitan Touring for an exclusive trip over a period of 8 days and explore Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. Experience the timeless culture of Peru with an educational tour. Meet the people, experience the adventure, live the traditions, delight your palate, encounter the past, embrace nature, feel the mystery...discover the intensity of Peru.
$1,099 per person, double occupancy
$1,499 single occupancy
Non-industry spouse or significant other - additional $100Peru FAM Itinerary
August 22nd | Lima
Transfer from the airport not included. In case you require it please request it and it will be quoted according to the number of people taking the service.Overnight in Lima.
August 23rd | Lima
Morning at leisure to rest before the Power Solutions event.Transfer from your hotel to PowerSolutions Meeting that starts at 5:30 pm. You'll be joining us at the beautiful JW Marriott Hotel Lima for a fantastic night. We'll be ready to help you connect directly with some of the travel industry's best suppliers. They're looking to drive real relationships with dedicated sellers of travel like you, and to help you grow your business, expand your offerings and of course get those higher commissions.
Full Event Details and information
After the event, you will be transferred back to your hotel.
Overnight in Lima.
August 24th | Lima
Half day Lima City tour & Larco Museum (private)
Enjoy a half day guided sightseeing tour to the most attractive and important sites in Lima, the "City of Kings." Visit Lima's Historical Center, passing by Plaza San Martin, Plaza Mayor, the Government Palace, the City Hall, the Cathedral and its Religious Art Museum (closed on Sunday and Saturday pm; Santo Domingo Convent is provided instead on these days) as well as San Francisco Monastery and its famous underground crypts known as the Catacombs.
Continue your visit through the residential Districts of San Isidro and Miraflores, passing by the Huaca Pucllana, a Ceremonial and Administrative Centre of the Lima Culture built in the II Century A.C. that the Incas considered as "Ñaupallaqta" or Sacred Town. Also visit El Olivar Park with olive trees brought from Spain in the XVth Century, the Central Park of Miraflores and El Parque del Amor, or Peruvian Love Park.
The Love Park, located on the cliffs of Miraflores overlooking the Pacific Ocean, is a beautiful natural lookout, where you can see the waves of the Pacific rolling in towards the coast below and the Morro Solar in Chorrillos at a distance, with the coast extending further along the bay until the port of Callao. This is also the perfect spot for a romantic view of the setting sun in the late afternoon, right in front of you.
Your visit continues with a stop at the Larco Museum, for an excellent overview of Peru's ancient past as it holds the best private collection of pre-Columbian art in the country.
You will have the chance to tour through this old Hacienda House in the Pueblo Libre district, which was built upon a pre-Incan sacred site (huaca), housing the private collection of a great Peruvian scholar: Don Rafael Larco Hoyle.
The museum chronologically exhibits hundreds of ceramic, textile, metal and precious stone pieces and also inside you will find the vault which safeguards precious pieces of gold and silver with semiprecious stones.
The Larco Museum is one of the few museums in the world that allows such intimate access to its deposits, in this case around 45,000 pieces. Another attraction of the museum and of great interest to visitors is the exhibition of erotic pre-Colombian art. After the visit you will be driven to your hotel.
Lunch
Half day Bohemian District of Barranco (private)
Enjoy a guided sightseeing tour of the quieter side of Lima, the picturesque district of Barranco (Spanish word for cliff), known as the bohemian heart of the city because towards the end of the 19th Century it became the favorite hangout of poets, writers, painters and sculptors who were inspired by its coastal scenery.
Filled with nightlife locals and restaurants, it has nevertheless kept its essence and charm it form of old houses painted in bright colonial colors. The most emblematic symbol of this neighborhood is its wooden Puente de los Suspiros or “bridge of sighs”.
After the visit you will be driven to your hotel.
Overnight in Lima.
August 25th | Lima, Cusco and Sacred Valley
Transfer Hotel / Lima Airport (private) At the appropriate time, our representative will meet you at the hotel lobby and transfer you to the Lima Airport to board your next flight. Our representative will assist you with check-in procedures and all departure formalities.FLIGHT NOT INCLUDED Recommended flight: LA2023 LIM/CUZ 08:10 – 09:45
Enjoy a guided sightseeing tour of Cusco City’s main surrounding ruins: the Sacsayhuaman Fortress - a ceremonial compound and magnificent example of Inca military power that boasts a panoramic view of the city, the Qenqo Amphitheater - a ritualistic site with subterranean galleries that form an underground maze, Puca Pucara or red fortress and, the Inca Baths of Tambomachay.
En route towards the Valley, you will have the chance to visit Awanacancha, an Andean textile center whose key objective is to maintain the wealth of the Inca’s textile art and keep their traditions alive. Awanacancha means “the palace of weaving” and as its name announces, it is all about textile production. Here you will learn about the dyeing techniques and instruments used for hundreds of years in the weaving of these famous textiles.
Then, continue to the town of Pisac, famous for its ruins but even more so for its market. Originally held only on Sundays, the Pisac Market was the place of reunion for all artisans of the region to get together and exchange or buy and sell their products.
During the XXth century, due to the increase of tourism in the area it became increasingly popular to the point that now it is held daily. It is a favorite destination for visitors from all over the world who don’t want to miss the opportunity of enjoying the colorful ambience in this marketplace. This is an excellent chance to share the peasants’ customs closely with plenty of time to explore and even barter all the goods and crafts typical of the areas around Cusco. Leisurely roam through the textiles and souvenir sections of the market.
Lunch in a countryside restaurant.
Transfer to your hotel in the Sacred Valley.
Dinner Overnight in the Sacred Valley.
August 26th | - Sacred Valley
Full day Chinchero Village, Maras Saltpans & Ollantaytambo (private) Today you will set off in the direction of the Sacred Valley to the town of Chinchero, an authentic Andean village with lots of character, where we will find the colonial church that houses a large collection of painting from the Cusqueñan School of Art.Chinchero is well known for its continuing tradition as a commercial town and on Sundays the townsfolk gather in the main square to trade their products in a bartering system.
Next, continue your journey through the Sacred Valley of the Incas, to the salt fields of Maras and its seemingly never-ending terraces, where salt extracted from springs is stored. Although these waters have been used for centuries, even before the time of the Incas, Maras was founded by the Spanish in 1556. It supplied salt to the southern highlands during the viceroyalty, so it was an important town. The use of Maras Salt dates back thousands of years and is inherited from generation to generation and managed communally.
It is produced naturally in about 5,000 pools of approximately 5 square meters each forming different levels of terraces, nourished by salty water from a creek that permeates the pools and then evaporated by the intense sun, forming thick crystals. They are extracted once a month, as soon as they have reached a height of 10 cm. It is impressive to see the variety of colors created by the reflection of the sun’s rays in this field of salt deposits, and to learn about the Incas striking ability to generate resources.
Then, you will head to the Inca fortress and citadel of Ollantaytambo. This site was built just as the Spaniards arrived and evidence of how it was constructed is still visible. This fortress was believed to be constructed in order to guard the entrance to this part of the valley and protect it from possible invasions of tribes from the jungle lowlands. Later it served as a temporary capital for Manco Inca, leader of the Inca resistance in 1537 during the Spanish conquest of Perú, who fortified the town to stop the advance, as Cusco had fallen under Spanish domination. The town of Ollantaytambo is referred to as a "Live Inca Town" because inhabitants still live according to customs and traditions inherited from their ancestors. Take a journey in time through its straight streets with perfectly laid stones that feature a canal for water to run through the town.
Lunch in a local restaurant.
Weave demonstration in Chincheros (Private) You will visit the home of artist and master weaver Nilda Callañaupa. Peruvian textiles, recently believed to be a generation away from extinction, are making a surprising comeback, and the revival of the country's 2,000-year-old weaving techniques is largely due to Nilda Callañaupa, who works with six mountain villages to resurrect symbolic patterns and avoid the use of garish chemical dyes and synthetic yarns. Enjoy a highly educational weaving demonstration that will include wool spinning, natural dyes, traditional patterns and weaving techniques.
After the tour you will be transferred to your hotel. Overnight in Sacred Valley.
August 27th | Sacred Valley, Aguas Calientes, Cusco
Full day excursion to Machu Picchu via roundtrip train (Local private guide) Morning transfer to the train station for an amazing train journey to the famous Inca Citadel of Machu Picchu, the great mountain-top city abandoned by the Inca Empire, reclaimed by the jungle and lost to humanity until its rediscovery in 1911.Along the way you will enjoy the changing landscape as you travel from Andean highlands to the beginnings of the jungle (“eyebrow of the jungle”), before finally arriving at the town of Aguas Calientes.
From here, board the bus that will take you on a 20 minute ride up to the citadel of Machu Picchu, or Lost City of the Incas, which sits upon the summit bearing the same name, and is one of the most representative and recognized examples of Incan architecture. A guided tour of the Citadel includes the Main Plaza, the Circular Tower, the Sacred Sun Dial, the Royal Quarters, the Temple of the Three Windows and various burial grounds.
The legendary 'Lost City' is without a doubt one of the world's most impressive archaeological sites. Built by the Incas on the summit of "Machu Picchu" (old peak), overlooking the deep canyon of the Urubamba river in a semi-tropical area 120 Kms (75 miles) from the city of Cusco at 3,400 m.a.s.l (11,155 f.a.s.l).
It sits on a mountain site of extraordinary beauty, in the middle of a tropical mountain forest; Machu Picchu was probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its height, with its giant walls, terraces and ramps, which appear as though they have been cut naturally in the continuous rock escarpments. Machu Picchu is also one of the Inca's best kept secrets, since they did not leave written records and Spanish chronicles make no mention of the citadel, it remains a mystery.
Lunch in Aguas Calientes.
PM: Return to Cusco (private) In the afternoon, take the shuttle bus to Aguas Calientes and then board your return train. Upon arrival at the train station you will be met by our representative and private driver who will transfer you to the hotel.
Dinner in a local restaurant in Cusco. Overnight in Cusco.
August 28th | Cusco
Participative Cooking Lesson + Walking visit to San Pedro Market One hour guided tour through San Pedro Central Market of Cusco. An experience to sense local commerce and activity, learn about regional products and pickup supplies to cook the suggested dishes.Half day Cusco Walking City tour including San Blas, MAP Museum & Hatun Rumilloc Street (private)
Today you will enjoy a guided walking tour of Cusco, the imperial City, where you will admire the finest examples of Inca history and architecture. What a better way to discover the archaeological capital of South America, a city of stone streets, than walking!
Visit the city's most important historical monuments that reveal the influence of different cultures: the Plaza de Armas, the Cathedral dating from Spanish viceroyalty times, built with great slabs of red granite renaissance style in contrast with the baroque style silverwork of its interior and the Santo Domingo church built upon the foundations of the Inca Temple Koricancha, dedicated to worship the Sun God.
Continue with a visit to the district of San Blas, with its winding streets, the whitewashed houses, the blue balconies hung with geranium-filled flowerpots, the uneven line of the tiled rooftops and the endless stairways.
In the neighborhood live the folk artists of Cusco, who for centuries have used their hands to tell the tale of their longings and frustrations working in stone and woodcarving, sculpture, doll-making, silverware, weaving and textile arts, gold-leaf, mask-making, and an array of ceramics in utilitarian, architectural, sculptural, monumental, grotesque and many other styles for example Edilberto Merida, renowned sculptor. He looked to religion for his primary inspiration, but he moved away from traditional religious images, by making grotesque images with exaggerated features. It is a form of sculpture that has come to be known as "mud of protest."
Then visit the Pre-Columbian Art Museum, the only museum in Peru dedicated to rebound the arts of ancient Peruvian cultures which contain a selection of pieces from different periods and cultures; the collection of 450 master pieces date from 1250 B.C to.1532 A.D. The museum is in an imposing colonial house known as Casa Cabrera.
The tour also includes a stop at Hatun Rumiyoc Street to admire the 12-angled stone, perhaps the most famous example of the Incas’ exquisite ability for cutting stones to fit together like jigsaw-puzzle pieces without mortar.
After the visit you will walk back to your hotel.
Farewell dinner.
Overnight in Cusco.
August 29th | Cusco, Lima
FLIGHT NOT INCLUDEDFlight Schedule will depend on everyone’s international flight connections
Transfer Hotel / Cusco Airport (private) At the appropriate time, our representative will meet you at the hotel lobby and transfer you to Cusco Airport to board your flight to Lima.
Lima Airport assistance (private) Upon arrival into Lima International Airport, you will be met by our representative who will assist you with check-in procedures and any departure formalities for your next flight.
How to Qualify for this FAM
- Participants need a valid TRUE, CLIA or IATA number
- Participants must be actively selling travel with verifiable sales volume
- Participants must be in good health
- Participants must be willing to participate in all CCRA events and all onboard training.
- Participants must have 2 blank passport pages, passport must be valid for 6 months beyond travel
- Participants must purchase travel insurance for this FAM
- Spouses and significant others are welcome to attend
Inclusions
- Private services with English or Spanish speaking guide, except where otherwise specified
- All entrance fees to the sites mentioned above
- Meals: As indicated in the itinerary
- 1 Roundtrip train ticket to Machu Picchu via Vistadome or Executive coach per person
- 1 Entrance ticket to Machu Picchu per person
- 1 Bus ticket to and from the Machu Picchu ruins per person
- 7-night accommodation
- All tips (except hotel staff & guides); additional tips are optional and voluntary. However, we provide the following guidelines:
• Guide/transferman: US$ 4.00 per guest per day
• Driver: US$ 2.00 per guest per day
• Restaurant Tips: 10% of the total check - Permanent assistance during the trip
- CCRA membership
- 1 person from Metropolitan Touring that will go with you during the whole trip.
- 1 bottle of water per person per day only for tours.
Exclusions
- International and domestic airfares (actual price subject to changes by the airline).
- Meals or any other item not described in the itinerary.
- Early check-in, late check-out, services and non-mentioned meals in the itinerary
- Personal expenses
- Drinks during meals, hotel extras and personal spending
- Bottle of water for transfers
- Tips to guides and hotel staff
- Local VAT taxes (18% applicable only to Peruvian and foreign residents of Peru; in order to be exempted you will need to show your passport and the Andean Immigration card given at Customs at Lima Airport upon your arrival to Peru.). Foreigner should also have stayed not longer than 60 days in Peru, otherwise Peruvian taxation will apply at hotels