Peru Grand North with Amazon

Itinerary

• Day 1: Arrive in Lima

  Welcome to Lima, Peru's capital and biggest transport hub! Meet our English-speaking personnel at the airport for a private transfer to your hotel. After arrival, check-in and relax.

  • Lima

• Day 2: Lima - Trujillo

  Fly to Trujillo this morning. Located on the banks of the Moche River, near its mouth at the Pacific Ocean, Trujillo was long a center of the pre-Columbian Moche culture and Chimu Culture that thrived in the north coast of Peru between the 2nd and the 15th centuries.

  After arrival, with an English-speaking guide, you will stroll through its historic center full of colonial and religious buildings, visit the Huacas del Sol y la Luna and Huacas de Moche Museum for a general understanding of Moche Culture, marvel at Huaca del Dragon - a Chimu construction pyramid made of adobe, with elaborate reliefs on the outside walls depicting scenes of religious ceremonies, myths, constellations, framing and fishing, and finally explore Chan Chan - an archaeological site of the ancient Chimu Empire's capital and the largest pre-Columbian city in South America.

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  • Trujillo

• Day 3: Trujillo - Chiclayo, El Brujo & Cao Museum

  Move on to Chiclayo this morning (about three hours by drive). On the way, visit the El Brujo and the Cao Museum. El Brujo is a preceramic archaeological complex composed of three great adobe pyramids with rich traces to enrich your knowledge about the magical religious beliefs, especially the Wizards worship, of Moche, Sicán and Chimú cultures. The Cao Museum situated at this complex houses the mummified body of the Lady of Cao, a female ruler of the Moche Empire, as well as rich collections from her tomb and other excavations on this site.

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  • Chiclayo

• Day 4: Chiclayo, the Archaeological Sites of Huaca Rajada - Sipán

  Sipán is an archaeological site consisting of numerous royal tombs unearthed at the end of the 1980s. Among them, the Tomb of Lord Sipán is of great significance in understanding the mystical traditions of Moche culture. The jewelry-filled Tomb of Lord Sipán is hailed as the "Tomb of Tutkamon" in the New World. Its excavation is considered the most glorious tomb discovery in the entire Western Hemisphere, even cast the Inca culture into the shade.

  Spend the full day discovering the archaeological sites of Huaca Rajada - Sipán and its local museum, Ventarrón (Cartavio), and the Tumba Reales de Sipán Museum at Lambayeque.

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  • Chiclayo

• Day 5: Chiclayo, the Archaeological Complex in the Forest of Pomac

  In the dry coastal Forest of Pomac, scatter 36 pyramids, without nobody knowing if they were temples, mausoleums, or dwellings, only the many gold objects discovered in pyramids telling that they were a part of the Lord of Sicán. Today, you will explore this archeological complex and enjoy the serenity of the forest. For a deeper understanding of the ancient Sicán civilization, you will also visit the Sicán Museum at Ferreñafe, the Túcume pyramids on a plain around La Raya Mountain, and Huaca Las Balsas - the emblematical site in the valley of the Pyramids of Túcume.

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  • Chiclayo

• Day 6: Chiclayo - Cocachimba

  Setting off forward the east and climbing up the Andes, after about 10 hours of driving, you will arrive in Cocachimba, a plateau town at an altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level, where you will start your adventure in the Amazon. After arrival, check into your hotel and have a good rest.

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  • Cocachimba

• Day 7: Cocachimba - Chachapoyas, Gocta Waterfall

  Gocta, one of the world's tallest waterfalls, pouring down 771 meters from the top of an Andes mountain, is a natural wonder where the Amazon Rainforest meets the Andes. Today, you will have a guided tour of Gocta Waterfall. Depending on your pace, a moderate hike for about 4 hours will be involved. While walking in the forest, it is also possible to see the Cock of the Rock - the national bird of Peru, along with some other interesting species. After the tour, transfer to Chachapoyas for the night.

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  • Chachapoyas

• Day 8: Chachapoyas, Karajía Sarcophagi & Quiocta Caves

  The ancient Chachapoyas people buried the dead in difficult locations, on cliffs facing the rising sun or in deep caves pitch black.

  The sarcophagi of Karajía is a collection of funeral sarcophagi, a kind of structure made of mud, clay, grass and wood, in human shape and up to 2.5 meters tall, with mummy and offering placed inside. With a two-hour drive along a dirt road and then a 20-minute hike down an earth trail, you will see the sarcophagi on the cliffside over a river valley and among them, two were topped with human skulls. Not far from Karajía, you will discover Quiocta Caves, some wet, muddy, and pitch-black caves in which you will find stalagmites and stalactites as well human bones and skulls. Such caves were also used as burial places by the Chachapoya people, however, no offering was found deep in the caverns.

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  • Chachapoyas

• Day 9: Chachapoyas, Kuélap

  About 70km southwest of Chachapoyas city, at the summit of Barreta Hill with 3000 meters above the sea, the archaeological complex of Kuélap overlooks the valley of Utcubamba River silently. Inside the site, there are over 500 constructions, most circular and few weird-shaped. What we see today are the remaining foundations and some broken walls, just as how they looked like when they were first found, as well as some restored ones to give an idea of how they looked like before being eroded by nature and time. Outside it is a perimeter wall high up to 19 meters.

  Built by Chachapoyas people, also known as the Warriors of the Clouds, between the 11th and 16th centuries A.D., older than Machu Pichu, Kuélap is the largest material legacy of the Chachapoyas civilization.

  Today, besides marveling at Kuélap, you will also visit the city of Chachapoyas and the stunning Huancas canyon viewpoint.

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  • Chachapoyas

• Day 10: Chachapoyas - Leymebamba, Revash Necropolis & Mallqui Museum

  After breakfast, a 3.5 hours' land journey will take you to Leymebamba. Along the way, with the support of horses, you will see the Revash necropolis, a kind of sarcophagi sticking to the cliffside like tiny houses.

  After arrival, visit the Mallqui Museum, which lodges more than 200 mummies found at the Condors Lagoon cliffs. Tonight, stay at a basic hostel.

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  • Leymebamba

• Day 11: Leymebamba - Cajamarca

  Depart to Cajamarca after breakfast. Though there is only about 240km, you will spend about 10 hours on the road and have a box lunch en-route. Late in the day, arrive and check into the hotel for a good rest.

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  • Cajamarca

• Day 12: Cajamarca, Otuzco necropolis & Cumbemayo

  With a mild highland climate, well-known dairy products, and rich mineral reserves, the city of Cajamarca and its surroundings changed hands to several cultures for more than 2000 years. Today, it is the cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes and full of outstanding examples of Spanish colonial religious architecture, scenic landscapes, and pre-Hispanic archeological sites.

  Today, you will visit the city, the Qtuzco necropolis, and the Cumbemayo - an archeological complex comprising aqueducts, a grotto, petroglyphs, and bizarre rock formations.

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  • Cajamarca

• Day 13: Cajamarca - Lima, Larco Museum

  Transfer to the airport to take the flight to Lima. On arrival, transfer to the hotel. In the afternoon, visit the Larco Museum, a privately-owned museum showcasing myriads of jewelry, ceramics, gold and silver works, etc, which will give a perfect overview of the pre-Columbian history of Peru.

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  • Lima

• Day 14: Lima - Departure

  Breakfast in the hotel. Transfer to the airport at the proper time for departure. Please be noted that it is requested to be at the airport 3 hours before the international flight.

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