Flight of the Condor

The colonial city of Arequipa stands in a warm and sunny climate overlooked by the perfect, snow-draped cone of El Misti (5882m). Its fine buildings, constructed in distinctive local stone are single-storied to resist the ever-present threat of earthquake. Exploring the city centre on foot, you will first visit the Cathedral in the main square. Building started on the 15th of August 1540, the exact date the city was founded by Garci Manuel de Carbajal. On the opposite side of the square you will see 'La Compania' church, finished in the 17th century. It is famous for its finely carved façade constructed from a locally quarried white volcanic stone called Sillar. In the San Camilo market area you can taste the daily life of the Arequipan residents at the busy indoor food market. The tour ends at the city’s heart - the walled enclosure of the Convento de Santa Catalina - a miniature town occupying an entire block and which remained isolated from the rest of the city until 1970. Nowadays it provides a fascinating record of ecclesiastical life in bygone days, which you'll experience this morning. On the same road is the highly recommended museum of Andean Sanctuaries which houses the ice mummies found on top of Arequipa’s numerous volcanoes, you'll have the option to visit the museum this afternoon (additional charge). (B)

Leaving Chivay early you travel to the Colca Canyon (1½ hours drive). Here you find the perfect spot to look down 1200m into the canyon at Mirador Cruz del Condor. It’s here that the legendary condor can be seen rising and circling on the morning thermals, silhouetted against the magnificent backdrop of the mountain scenery. Passing back through the valley, the vastness and sheer beauty of the area is astounding. The canyon is of mythical proportions; controversy still rages over whether or not this is the world’s deepest canyon! In some parts it is more than one kilometre from cliff edge to river bottom. During your return journey to Chivay you visit the picturesque villages of Maca and Yanque with their Baroque-fronted churches overlooking quiet village squares, and marvel at the extensive series of agricultural terraces that dominate the hillsides, and which are still used today by the Colca people. After lunch in Chivay, there is the opportunity to try a two hour walk on the lesser visited northern rim of the canyon, close to the village of Coporaque, enjoying distinct views of the canyon and visiting remote hamlets and the Huari ruins of Ullo Ullo. (B)

Today you take a boat to the floating reed islands of the Uros Indians. The life of the Uros is based on the totora reed, which grows in the lake and is used to construct their houses and boats, thereby fostering the theory which led to Thor Heyerdahl’s Pacific journey with Ra. It is said that the Uros began their floating existence by constructing the islands to isolate themselves from the belligerent Collas and Incas. On reaching Lake Titicaca it’s clear that they are no longer as secluded as they once were, but they are still a unique sight. Once back in Puno you have a relaxing afternoon either shopping for handicrafts or visiting the town’s fine colonial cathedral. You can visit the iron ship Yaviri, moored close to the city. It was built in Scotland by James Watt & Co in 1862 and was shipped in boxes to the coast of Chile, where it then took seven years to carry on llamas and mules to its current home at Lake Titicaca. (B)

The local Sunday market at Pisac fills the main plaza with bustle and brightly-coloured costume. Then you travel via Urubamba to Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley, a traditional Inca village laid out on a grid plan (one of only four surviving examples) overlooked by the magnificent fortress of Ollantay, the only Inca stronghold ever to have resisted persistent Spanish attacks. This is the very heartland of the Inca Empire; you have plenty of time here to appreciate its quiet rural charm. The combination of benign climate and fertile soil creates a rich agricultural region - unusual in the high Andes. Hotel - 2 nights (B)

You leave your hotel early this morning and take a spectacular train ride (1½ hrs) to arrive at the stunning ‘lost city’ of Machu Picchu - the most dramatic and enchanting of Inca citadels, constructed from white granite in an extravagantly-terraced saddle between two towering peaks. No description of this mythical place can do it justice. It was rediscovered in 1911 by the American explorer, Hiram Bingham, who believed it to be the lost city of Vilcabamba. In the 1940’s archaeologists decided that the city was conceived and built in the middle of the 15th century by Pachacuti, the first Inca emperor to expand beyond the Sacred Valley towards the forested gold-lands. Basic Hotel - 1 night (B)

Cusco, once the imperial capital, is laid out in the rough shape of a puma. Today, its orderly streets bear witness to the extraordinary skill of Inca stonemasons. Many are still lined with precisely interlocked stonework, which serves as the foundation for later buildings from the colonial era, creating an atmospheric pastiche of contrasting architectural styles. This morning you visit the great fortress-temple of Sacsayhuaman located just outside Cusco city, along with the smaller ruins of Qenko and Tambo Machay. The skilfully constructed outer walls consist of massive blocks of stone (the largest weighing over 350 tonnes) which must have been difficult to manoeuvre, let alone to cut and dress with such precision. The tour continues on foot in the city centre and visit the city’s beautiful main square and the Koricancha, the magnificent Sun Temple, it was the most sacred of places for the Incas and Spanish accounts say it was laden with gold when they arrived to take Cusco in the 16th Century. The rest of the day is free to relax. (B)