Peru holiday, culture of the Northern Andes
Includes: • Tour leader • Internal flights • Transfers in Latin America on tour dates • Transport and accommodation • Meals and excursions as per tour profile
Description of Peru holiday, culture of the Northern Andes
The north of Peru is much less visited than the south, but travellers with a sense of adventure and a love of discovery will relish this 14 day Peru holiday in the northern Andes, exploring the region’s culture, archaeological treasures and spectacular landscapes. Meet friendly, welcoming people as you travel and with each day you’ll learn more about the culture and life of this remote region, which has changed little in decades.
Things are a little rougher around the edges in the north, so travelling around the area involves some long road journeys, but this is a chance to really discover authentic South America. This journey takes you all the way from Lima to the vibrant and extremely friendly city of Chiclayo on the north Peruvian coast. Explore the abundance of ancient sites and mystical ruins here, built by the Incas and earlier cultures, shop in local markets and hike through wild landscapes as you go.
Begin in Peru’s coastal capital, Lima, where the city centre’s churches and impressive balconies hint at its glorious past as the capital of Spanish America. You’ll then explore the coastal town of Trujillo, which has lovely colonial architecture and various pre Inca archaeological sites dotted nearby. Chan Chan is one of the amazing archaeological sites of northern Peru, established by the Chimú civilisation, while Huacas de la Luna and del Sol are sites created by the Moche people who lived here between AD100-800. Further into this journey, you’ll spend time at the ruins of Kuelap, built by the pre Inca Chachapoya culture using more stones than went into the great pyramids of Egypt, and their burial site at Karajía. Finally, take in the amazing ruins at Túcume, a site with some 26 pyramids and mounds, the remnants of a city built over 1,000 years ago.
This cultural holiday gives a wonderful insight into the ancient sites, vibrant towns and fascinating museums of this region, but it doesn’t ignore the wonderful scenery, either. Head into the verdant landscapes of the highlands, to see mountains, lakes and deep gorges, and hike to the spectacular Gotca Falls which, though exceptionally beautiful and familiar to local people, was not known to the wider world until discovered by a German hiking in the region in 2005.
Price information
Includes: • Tour leader • Internal flights • Transfers in Latin America on tour dates • Transport and accommodation • Meals and excursions as per tour profile
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Responsible Travel
Planet
On this tour we visit the far more off the beaten track area of Northern Peru, where tourism is still in its infancy compared with the south and offers a valuable asset to communities in this traditionally poorer region. We use public transport on one of the longer journeys from Trujillo to Cajamarca and take walking tours of the town centres at each spot.We have had extremely complimentary reports on the drivers we use for the transport in the Amazonas region of this tour. They are very cautious drivers, take care not to erode the mountain roads and are very safe. They are all local and know the routes and road extremely well and communicate through our Tour Leaders to the group about their upbringings and knowledge of the area.
People
We use small locally run hotels in almost all the locations. We also make sure we make use of the places offering food to travellers who come through the more remote towns such as Chillo, Leimebamba and Chachapoyas as they do not have such an influx of visitors as other parts of the country.Local guides are used at all the sites. We actually include them on nearly all our excursions. We didn’t used to but we asked to in order to provide more work for the local guides. We encourage shopping of local fruits or food or drinks on the side of the road on the route into the Amazonas region as there is little tourist traffic that comes that way.
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