Begin your journey to Peru's vibrant capital city. These flights almost always arrive at night. You will be met by Van Evans or his associate. Be certain to wear your Southern Cross Expeditions cap as you exit customs so we can recognize you. We will probably check in for our flight the next day and then transfer to the Holiday Inn hotel less than 3 minutes from the airport parking lot. No need to buy water or exchange money yet.

Have breakfast (always included in the hotels), check out, and fly to Cusco. Our team will meet us at the airport and take us to get some lunch. We will have a money exchanger on the bus. Have some coca tea at the restaurant to hedge against altitude sickness. After lunch, the driver will take us to the top of the Sacred Valley of the Incas where we will stop for photos like this one to the left. We then drop down into the valley, stopping first at the Pisaq outdoor artisan market. Buy an alpaca sweater or blanket there. After shopping, we will head to our hotel in Urubamba or Yucay. Dinner is on your own.

Sleep in to catch up on two long days of traveling. Right off the bat we will visit the ruins of Ollantaytambo where the Savior visited the people and where they carved His face into the mountain. There is a good spirit there. Later we will visit the Inca Salt Mines and agricultural ruins of Moray. Dinner in Urubamba. For those so inclined, we can hike an hour down the Inca Trail from the salt mines and meet up with the bus on the other side of the Sacred River (Vilcanota). Get to bed early tonight.

Just take your day pack and the driver will take us to Ollantaytambo to the train station to board a late morning train to Machu Picchu. In just under two hours the train arrives in Aguas Calientes, the town below the ruins. We may have time for lunch in Aguas Calientes. Then we will walk to the bus transfer which will take us up to Machu Picchu and spend a few hours at this remarkable Inca sanctuary (you may opt to Add On the climb to Huayna Picchu or the hike from Kilometer 104). Meet back down in the town to have an early dinner and then board the train back to the Sacred Valley. Trains are on time in Peru! Don’t be late! We will be met at the train station in Ollantaytambo and taken back to the hotel.

After breakfast, attend church at the Urubamba Branch. Then change your clothes and check out, donating your church clothes to the members and future missionaries. The bus will take us to the Raqchi scenic overlook of the Sacred Valley. If interested, do the zip line across the canyon. Then we will visit the town of Chincheros and see how the women dye and spin and weave. They may feed us lunch too! After that, we will continue on to Cusco and check into the Marriott Convent hotel. Cusco is the oldest continually inhabited city in the Western Hemisphere. People have been living there since around 800 AD. Dinner on your own. The rest of the evening is free to roam the city of Cusco.

On this day we will visit 3 temple sites along the Holy Path the Savior sojourned. First we will walk to the Temple of Coricancha, now a monastery. After the tour, we will drive south and stop to see the probable temple site at Urcos and stroll along the Holy Path. Then on to visit the Temple of Wiraqocha at Raqch’i (built to worship Wiraqocha, the white bearded god). The shaman Grivanesa will give us a tour of the temple grounds and the washings and anointings they still do there.

Enjoy your last morning in Cusco. See the 12 - angled rock or one of the cathedrals in the main plaza. We will take a late morning flight back to Lima. In Lima, a bus will take us to the historial main plaza in downtown Lima, plus visit the catacombs. If there’s time we will also visit the Larco Museum, one of the best in Peru. Then we can head over to Miraflores for last minute shopping or on to Larco Mar to have our final tour dinner on the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. After dinner, the bus will take us to the airport for our late night flight back to the USA.

But if you don't think 8 days is enough adventure and you crave more, try one of our Add On’s.