Peru | Spirit of a Country

Peru asks something of you. It is not a country that yields its best to the passive traveller — it rewards those who arrive with curiosity, stamina, and a willingness to be changed by what they encounter. This 18-night journey moved through four entirely distinct worlds, beginning in the Tambopata Reserve deep in the Amazon, where four days at Casa Amazonas included a forest walk with Don Victor, a traditional healer from the community of Infierno, a ritual flower bath, and a private ayahuasca ceremony held just for two around the Circle of Fire. From the jungle, the route climbed to the Sacred Valley — the Relais & Châteaux casitas of Sol y Luna, a Pachamanca feast cooked in the earth at Patacancha, and a private ceremony of thanks to Pachamama on the salt flats above Maras. Then four days on foot: the full Inca Trail from Km 82, over Dead Woman's Pass at 4,215 metres, through cloud forest and ancient stone paths, arriving at Machu Picchu through the Sun Gate at first light. The journey south to Lake Titicaca crossed the Altiplano on the Titicaca Train, arriving at the world's highest navigable lake for two days among the reed islands of the Uros and the textile-keeping community of Taquile. Lima closed the trip in Barranco, the city's most creatively alive neighbourhood, with a final morning in the markets and the colonial heart of the old city. Eighteen nights. Four landscapes. One country that is unlike anywhere else on earth.