North Peru adventure – 3 star hotels and lodges – 12 days

Today, someone would meet you from your international flight at any time then transfer to your centrally located hotel in the safe district of Miraflores. The transfer takes around 45-50 minutes depending on the time of day and level of traffic.

Overnight 3* Miraflores, Lima

Note: this is a special Charter flight (small plane) we can only take 5+15kg of bags so if you are travelling with more luggage we would need to store for our return to Lima.

After an early breakfast at 5.30am we leave latest by 6am followed by a 35 minute transfer by private van back to Lima airport. Flight departs at 8.30am to Chachapoyas (1 hour and 45 minutes) with ATSA charters.
A quick transfer to our hotel and the rest of the day free to explore the pretty town of Chachapoyas (elevation 2335m)

Although Chachapoyas is used mainly as a base to get to the most well-known attractions of the area – the waterfalls of Gocta and ruins of Kuelap – there are additionally a variety of close-to-town activities within walking reach and its suggested on this day to do this in the afternoon if feeling fresh.
Plaza de Armas — Perfect for people watching, Chachapoyas’ main square is a fine place to relax and watch the world go by. It’s also surrounded by tour agencies, restaurants, hotels and the ever-useful mini-market.
Pozo de Yana Yacu (Yana Yacu Well) — This historic well is located half way up the steps leading to the Luya Urco mirador (see below). Legend has it that Saint Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo, then the Archbishop of Lima, came to Chachapoyas while the settlement was suffering a severe drought. He hit his staff three times on the rocks, and water began to spout from the ground. A well was built around the new water source. It’s also said that single people who drink from the well will remain in Chachapoyas forever, enchanted by the beauty of the local women.
Luya Urco Mirador (Luya Urco Viewpoint) — Head up past the well and take a right at the top of the steps and you’ll come to Luya Urco Mirador, which offers a good view of Chachapoyas below.
Museo Étnico Religioso y Histórico de Santa Ana (Santa Ana Ethnic Religious and Historical Museum) — A tiny museum worth a quick look. The highlight of the tiny collection is a scale model of Kuélap.
Gilberto Tenorio Ruíz Exhibition Room — This exhibition room on the Plaza de Armas is now home to the permanent “El Reino de las Nubes – Las Chachapoyas” museum.. And it has mummies.
Chachapoyas Market — It’s colorful, it has a wide range of fruits, meats, cheeses and other regional produce, and is full of good photo opportunities. The food stalls on the second floor also offer cheap eats, but you might want to avoid it unless you a strong stomach.
Pampa de Higos Urco — Just east of the city and across from Chachapoyas’ large university is the pampa de Higos Urco, a hilltop that marked the main center of the Battle of Higos Urco, fought between pro-independence and pro-Spanish forces on June 6, 1821. A simple graffiti-scarred monument marks the victory for independence. Worth visiting if you fancy a stroll after eating at the recommended Los Guayachos Restaurant.

Further away, for those avid trekkers, there is a view-point of the nearby Sonche canyon from the small village of Huanca. Trekking time to get there from Chachapoyas is 1.5 hours and incline of 300m. Or alternatively take a taxi in 20 minutes.
Luya Urco viewpoint of Chachapoyas town. Well of Yunayacu.

Overnight 3* hotel Chachpoyas

Today at around 8 or 9am we head to do tour the amazing archaeological site (the Machu Pichu of North Peru) known as ‘Kuelap. The new cable car system running up to the site is the first to be built in the entire country, and has helped generate plenty of additional buzz around the walled Chachapoyas settlement/fortress/citadel. Kuélap is frequently referred to as the “Machu Picchu of Northern Peru,”. It’s impressive and large, there’s no doubt about that, but Machu Picchu is a whole different kind of spectacular. On tour we have a local guide who will explain the most important sectors as well as given some free time at the site to explore independently.
Tour also includes, transport, lunch, entry and cable car ride. Tour will terminate around 4pm afterwards, we will then transfer to your hotel located near to the waterfall for the next day.

Overnight 3* Cocachimba/Gocta

This day we will take a trip to the iconic waterfalls of Gocta. Depending on the criteria used, Gocta is anywhere between the fourth- and 16th-tallest waterfall in the world. Ranking aside, Gocta is a beautiful, powerful and impressive waterfall, and justifiably one of the main attractions in Amazonas. It’s easy to reach via a two-hour trek from the village of Cocachimba (you can hire a horse if you don’t like trekking).

Overnight 3* hotel, Cocachimba/Gocta

7:30 a.m .: We will leave from Chachapoyas is a journey time of 1.5 hours. until the rock cliffs of Revash, this set of mausoleums are rectangular buildings of 1 and 2 floors with roofs and decorated with Chachapoya iconography and cave paintings that represent figures of humans, animals and geometrics
After the guided tour, then we will move to the town of Leymebamba from there to the Museum of the Mallqui center, where more than 2000 objects, 119 mummies and an interesting collection of recovered Quipus – material brought from the Mausoleums of the Condor Lagoons. The museum also exhibits , ceramic textiles and weapons of the ancient Peruvian cultures.
After a brief city tour in Leymebamba, we return to Chachapoyas but stopping for a typical regional lunch in the city of Lamud, then we will visit the Cave of Quiocta located at 25 minutes in transit, which has a depth of 550 meters. We will observe stalagmites, stalactites of different shapes and sizes and in the interior we will appreciate many human bones scattered throughout the place since this cave was used as a cemetery for the pre-hispanic culture. Return to Chachapoyas. 6:00 p.m. Arrival in Chachapoyas.
Leymebamba (sometimes Leimebamba) is a pretty town south of Chachapoyas, reachable in just under two hours. The main attraction is Leymebamba Museum, which houses hundreds of Chachapoya mummies from Laguna de los Cóndores. Some are very well-preserved.
Revash — Revash is a Chachapoya funerary complex south of Chachapoyas, roughly en route to Leymebamba. Unlike the sarcophagi at Karajía, the mausoleums at Revash are like little houses, forming miniature villages along the canyon wall.

Overnight 3* hotel, Chachpoyas

Today we take a tour of the area of the Huayla Belen Valley with a sanking river through the middle and around the province of Luya, passing villages such as Cohechan, Chocta and Cruz Pata, we have 25 minutes of walk to the sarcophagi of Karajia, a set of funerary statues, located in an inaccessible rocky outcrop belonging to the pre-Inca culture of the Chachapoya, this form of burial is considered unique to the world.After finishing our tour and a final dinner in town. We travel to the bus station to take our comfortable luxury night bus with Cruz Del Sur to Chiclayo in around 10 hours leaving at 8pm and arriving to Chiclayo early the next morning.

Overnight – bus/hotel on arrival 3* Chiclayo

Highlights include 26 large pyramids that make it one of the largest archaeological sites in America. One Pyramid is larger is 450 m long, 100 m wide and 40 m high, since, unlike the Egyptian pyramids, American pyramids are large platforms, instead of ending in a point, where are located the temples and the National Museum of SICAN, falling under the Chimu domain. Here the metallurgical art shows (being especially famous for its gold funerary masks and tumi or ceremonial knives) that the museum shows

Overnight – 3* hotel Chiclayo

Depart around 8am and arrive to Cajamarca for mid-afternoon, transfer to the hotel leave bags then go for late lunch. Followed by a city tour

CITY TOURS, We visit the Plaza de Armas, Santa Catalina de Alejandría Church (Cathedral), San Francisco Church, Rescue Room, Bethlehem Church, Colonial Men’s Hospital, Colonial Women’s Hospital (Archaeological Museum and Ethnographic Museum), Santa’s Hill Apolonia, “Silla del Inca”.

Hotel accommodation 3* Cajamarca

LA COLLPA-LLACANORA-BAÑOS DEL INCA, traditional “call of the cows” by its name at the time of milking. The artificial lagoon, chapel, town of Llacanora where we walk to see the waterfalls, the Baths of the Inca, the first Tourist Spa of the North of Peru of thermo-medicinal waters, Poza del Inca and the Perolitos, whose temperatures reach 78 ° C.
Travel to CUMBE MAYO, located at 3,500 m.s.m., Mirador Bella Vista, where we can observe the Cajamarca valley in all its splendor. Layzón, “Forest of Stones”. We will continue our excursion with a visit to the Sanctuary with inscriptions of Petroglyphs, the Tunnel of Desires, ceremonial altars, sacrificial stones and the aqueduct of Cumbe Mayo, a great work of hydraulic engineering.

We depart early morning at around 7.15am and get to Trujillo in just under 5.5 hours.
Movil tours buses cover this route and offer some of the most comfortable options for seating
Once arriving in Trujillo we transfer to the hotel and time for some lunch.
At 2.30pm. We then head out again in the afternoon to the Chicama Valley to visit El Brujo and the Museum LADY OF CAO Complex. It is called Lady of Cao Cao or Lady of the mummy belonging to a ruler of the Moche culture that is believed ruled the north of present Peru in the fourth century AD. Their discovery is compared with the Lord of Sipan. Before the discovery, it was thought that only men had held high positions in ancient Peru. It is believed that the lady had the status of ruler in the theocratic society Chicama River Valley, besides being considered an almost divine character. The luxury of ornaments and dresses that accompany the funerary bundle of women confirmed the status of the ruler. Back by 6.30pm

Overnight 3* hotel, Trujillo

At 1040am approximately, we go in the morning to the Moche countryside (25 minutes from Trujillo), on the route we visits the Artisan’s house, then we enter to the archaeological complex, capital of the Moche culture where we will see the imposing Huaca del Sol. Following our route we will visit the Huacas de Moche Museum. Inside, there are pieces of pottery and other objects found during the excavations in the archaeological complex from 1991 until now.
We then transport Huaca de La Luna (30 minute visit). At the moment it is in excavation. In the interior we will find the beautiful polychrome murals with the representation of the main God called: Ai-Paec, also known as the “Decapitator.” We walk to the Ceremonial Plaza to observe the stepped facade with enigmatic reliefs in color.
We then take an hour for lunch before continuing our tour in the afternoon.
At 2.30pm. The tour continues visiting Huaca Arco Iris (Rainbow temple) or Temple of The Dragon, located to the north of Trujillo. This temple was built by the Chimu Culture, and it was integral part of Chan Chan. After this visit we go to Chan Chan to visit the Site Museum where we will see the Chan Chan scale model and then we will visit the citadel called Tschudi or Nik An this is the only of nine opened to the tourism.
Finally, we will finish the tour in the fishing village of Huanchaco, famous for the “small reed boats”(Caballitos de Totora) that are used by the local fishermen from ancient times. We return back to your hotel around 6.30pm.

Overnight 3* Hotel, Trujillo

Transfer to Trujillo airport at any time and according to your departure flight. Fly home.

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