11/12/2018
NOURISHING YOUR PATH WITH ANCESTRAL POWER:
A SACRED JOURNEY TO INCA AND PRE-INCA SITES
PERU AND BOLIVIA JOURNEY May 27 - June 11, 2019
SACRED VALLEY - MACHUPICCHU - AUSANGATE -
CUSCO - LAKE TITICACA - TIWANAKU
The mountainous area in southern Peru around Cuzco and Titicaca lake is a place where magic exists, where ancient traditions meet modern life, where serendipity rules the days and where your intuition increases in miraculous ways. The people are strongly connected to the lands and lovingly honour Earth as a living being called Pachamama or Mother of Time-Space. The high mountains are regarded as powerful helpers in many ways.
We will journey through these Andean lands and deeply connect to ancient power places like world-famous Machu Picchu and Tiwanaku as well as to lesser known and less visited sacred sites. We will marvel at the crystalline blue waters of Lake Titicaca and travel to mountains with an altitude up to 6740 meters where we will camp during 2 nights in wintery temperatures.
During this journey we will work with powerful forces of Nature and of energetic hotspots on which the ancestors built great temples in a far distant past. We will dive deeply into the Andean traditions and establish an intense relationship with universal forces. This will greatly speed up the process of embodying your own Destiny.
We will be guided through this spiritual task by paqos who are deeply steeped in the Andean mystical tradition and who will lead our ceremonies and share initiations. We will be blessed by the presence of kureq akulleq don Mariano Quispe Flores and don Sebastian Succle Apaza, and pampa mesayoq doña Paulina, doña Agustina Ccapa Champi and don Hernan Quillahuaman.
This journey is organized by Saskia Kuipers, who is a trained pampa mesayoq and a practising medical doctor in the Netherlands.
Our guide and interpreter Luis Alejo from Cusco, who owns travel agency Back2Nature and Serena Anchanchu school, is very knowledgeable about the Andean lands and its mystical traditions.
The journey may be physically challenging as we will be travelling between altitudes of 2700 and 4700 meters. This means that the journey will be easier and more enjoyable if you fit and healthy. We will do our utmost for you to be comfortable under these extraordinary circumstances.
Our group size will be limited to 12 people.
Saskia Kuipers: “This journey is the second spiritual journey I am inspired to initiate, after having immersed myself for a long time in the Peruvian mystical traditions. I started training with don Juan Ñunez del Prado from 1999 to 2005, proceeded with five years of training with the Four Winds Society, three years of training with Dennis Alejo and Q’ero paqos before they founded Serena Anchanchu school, where I culminated my training as a pampa mesayoq in 2014. In 2016 I completed training in the European Tradition Arte Triptych Melissae/Path of Pollen.
Health and reconnection with Nature have been my major guides in this long process of training and (un)learning. I have been working as a medical doctor since 1990, since 1999 in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases. I am looking forward to a future with heart-based living and more natural ways of healing people.
For years I dreamed of taking people on a journey around Peru. I love to empower people and to share the gifts of this beautiful wisdom in the lands that have kept the ancient ways alive.
Day 1: Lima to Cusco and on to Sacred Valley (2800m)
Transfer from Cusco airport to your hotel in the Sacred Valley. Here we will start the journey in order to acclimatize easily to the higher altitudes in the following week. In the afternoon will we meet the other group members so we can get to know each other and enjoy a tasty dinner together.
Day 2: Sacred Valley
On this first full day of our journey we will meet the Paqos and set our intentions for the journey. We will do an opening despacho on the broad mountain of Pachatusan. For the Incas this mountain/Apu is the anchor of the world, supporting and guiding us on our life’s journey. We begin to create an energetic base of stability within ourselves to find our center and reconnect with our Divine self. After lunch in Pisaq we will visit an ancient site near Calca called Unu Urco for a second ceremony.
Day 3: Sacred Valley
In the early morning we will visit Ñaupa Iglesia, a powerful and ancient portal where we will share a ritual to connect with the Cosmos. Afterwards we will continue to Perolniyoq waterfall. The trail meanders past cultivated terraces that are still being farmed by local villagers. The trail then ascends into a lush canyon that is filled with several species of rare flora and fauna. We will take a break here to enjoy the scenery and presence of the spectacular waterfall. The paqos will offer you a ritual to connect with the spirit of the water Mama Serena Anchanchu.
Day 4: Chinchero - Moray - Sacred Valley
Today we will visit the Inca site of Chinchero that lies at an altitude of 3760 meters. In ancient times this was an important place for Incan ceremonies and rituals to connect with the stars. Here we will enjoy a beautiful ceremony to connect with ancestral wisdom through the stars constellations. After this ceremony, we may have time to see how local women express the Inca symbols in their colourful weavings. We will then head to the Incan site of Moray, with circular terraces hidden among the hills. Surrounded by an impressive backdrop of snow-covered mountains, Moray served as an open-air agricultural lab for adapting crops to different environmental condition. The paqos will lead a meditation to link you with the feminine energy of this site.
Day 5: Ollantaytambo to Machupicchu town
Today we visit the main temples of Ollantaytambo dedicated to different deities, and our guide will explain how important this arqueological site was for the Incas. This area was once the royal estate of Emperor Pachakuti who conquered the region and built the town and a ceremonial center. The historical site consists of rock walls of tightly fitted blocks weighing up to 150 tons each, and these building blocks were moved down the mountain from the other side of the river canyon, but no one knows how. Here we will visit the main temples dedicated to important Incan deities. In the afternoon we will head to the train station to travel to Machupicchu town.
Day 6: Machupicchu
For many people the highlight of this trip is the visit to the ‘lost city of the Incas’ Machu Picchu. Early in the morning we will head up to the ancient citadel. This site is one of the architectural and engineering marvels of the ancient world, in a mountain setting of staggering immensity. The Spaniards never found this city and the Incas left no record of it, so Machu Picchu remains a great enigma. The citadel is located at an altitude of 2490 meters. From here you can view sacred mountains (Apus) like Wayna Picchu, Putukusi, and Inti Punku. Machu Picchu is known for its astronomical alignments and observatory. The Intihuatana Stone or Hitching Post of the Sun is a precise indicator of the date of the two equinoxes, the summer and winter solstice, and other significant celestial periods. We will meditate in a quiet spot in the early morning sun to connect with the vibrant energy of this Crystal city. Return train in the afternoon to Ollantaytambo.
Day 7: Sacred Valley to Ausangate
Early in the morning we will drive from the Sacred Valley towards Pacchanta village (altitude 4100 m). This trip will take approximately 4 hours and on the way we will be treated with views of the spectacular Andean landscapes. After some rest at Pacchanta, we will start to hike over a gradually sloping mountain path that crosses green agricultural fields and terraces. Throughout this terrain, you will see little farms with shepherds guiding their herds of alpacas. The distance of this hike is 9 km. We will walk from 4200m to 4600m (optional: rent a horse to ride instead of walking) where we will camp. In the evening we will share a fire ceremony to connect deeply with energies of the Milky Way.
Day 8: Ausangate Lagoons
Apu Ausangate (the sacred mountain of Ausangate) is considered to be the highest apu in Cusco and also the most significant mountain for the Andean paqos. Another name for Apu Ausangate is “the Lord of Manifestation”. This mountain is related to grounding and to the sacred directions too. Ausangate and the holy lagoons in the surrounding area are well known as a powerful source of energy for the paqos. Here the paqos will offer a despacho ceremony to honour this powerful Nature being and to connect you to this awe-inspiring source of wisdom. We will camp here for a second night.
Day 9: Ausangate to Cusco
After a nice breakfast we take down our tents and all other camping equipment after which we descend to the village of Pacchanta, either by foot or on the horse you rented. From Pacchanta we will travel by van to Cusco, where we will stay in a nice hotel in the old part of the city.
Day 10: Free day in Cusco
Today has been left free to relax and to enjoy the many attractions of Cusco. It is possible to visit the Cathedral, the Qoricancha temple of the Sun with the museum with its temple of the Pleiades and amazing stonework, and San Pedro local market and the witches market.
Day 11: Sacsayhuaman, Q’enqo & Moon temple
Today we will wonder at the overwhelming megalithic structures of the Temple of Lightning called Sacsayhuaman. We will then continue to Q’enko, a beautiful and holy huaca or shrine with a temple to worship Pachamama and the Jaguar. We will pay a short visit to this site and then continue to the area of the temple of the Moon to do a deep and beautiful ceremony with the Paqos.
Day 12: Cusco to Puno at Lake Titicaca (3800m)
Today we drive through the valleys towards Puno that lies on the shores of Lake Titicaca. En route we have the opportunity to see some places that were important for the Incas to help break up the day as well as to appreciate the immensity of the Andean landscapes. These include La Raya Pass (4313m), the watershed and geographical dividing line between the altiplano, and the Vilcanota Valley where Raqchi - the Inca temple of Viracocha - is located. Here the paqos will share a ceremony to connect with the infinite light of Viracocha, the creator.
We arrive in Puno late in the afternoon where we will spend the night in a quiet place around Puno so we can share and assimilate all our experiences.
Day 13: Puno - Isla Amantani – Puno
On this beautiful day we will go by fast boat to the isle of Amantani, known as the island of the Kantuta flower. This island has two peaks with temples dedicated to earth deities. We will enjoy the quiet of this traffic-free island and see local people all of whom have maintained their traditions. A ceremony will be held to harmonize the sacred feminine and masculine energies in ourselves. We will return to Puno in the mid afternoon.
Day 14: Puno – Tiwanaku – Puno
Very early in the morning we will travel along the shores of the beautiful lake Titicaca (3800m) to one of the most mystical places in Lake Titicaca area called Hayumarca. Also called Amaru Muru, it consists of an enigmatic gate that has been carved in the middle of pink rock formations. This temple was a very important altar for ancient cultures like the Tiwanaku, Lupacas and Incas. We will then proceed to the Bolivian border for another highlight in our trip, the enigmatic monuments of Tiwanaku, supposedly one of the oldest civilizations in the Americas as well one of the most developed during its time. The Kalasasaya temple boasts the monolithic Sun Gate on which the creator Viracocha was carved while at Puma Punku the enormous stones lie jumbled as if after a huge storm. Hopefully we may see a glimpse of the elongated skulls that are sometimes on display. We will do a ceremony to connect with the original creators of this megalithic site and infuse ourselves with their wisdom before our return trip to Puno.
Day 15: Puno – Sillustani - Farewell Dinner
In the beautiful morning light we will leave for Sillustani, a mysterious pre-Incan site with so called chullpas sitting on the shores of lake Umayu. The area is vibrantly alive with the energy of the ancestors, with whom we will further deepen our connection. We will do a closing ceremony with a wrap-up of all our experiences in a ceremonial way, after which there is time to gently ease back into a more worldly state-of-mind. If you feel like it, you may want to find some alpaca clothes in Puno or some other items to take home. In the evening we will enjoy a final farewell dinner to celebrate the lovely journey we shared together.
Day 16: Puno to Juliaca airport – Lima
In the morning you will be taken to Juliaca airport for your return flight to Lima and return flight back to your home country.
Tour Leaders:
Saskia Kuipers MD PhD, inspirator (the Netherlands)
Luis Alejo, guide ( Peru)
Paqos from the Andes
Note: Although carefully anchored in an energetic “template” as well as in detailed practical advance planning, this itinerary remains “subject to reality.” It is the nature of pilgrimage and apprenticeship that some things may change at the last minute. In our experience, the few changes that occurred on our previous journeys often opened the door to unforeseen (and usually wonderful) opportunities. Thank you in advance for your flexibility and willingness to adapt, to take advantage of the ever-changing possibilities inherent in a fluid universe.
For more information on the trip and spiritual work please contact:
Saskia Kuipers MD PhD, the Netherlands – inspirator (the Netherlands)
kuipers.saskia@gmail.com
Phone: +31 650671230.
For more logistical information and bookings please contact:
Luis Alejo, Peru - tour guide (Peru)
luis@back2nature.com.pe
Peru Phone: +51 84 984001975.
Skype: luisqero
