Left: Andean lady Right: Machu Picchu Photos: Steve Berry Peru & Machu Picchu 61 tel: 0845 330 8579 (local call rate, UK only) international tel: +44 1453 844 400 www.himalayankingdoms.com Inca Trail permits warning • Now strictly controlled by the Peruvian Institute of Culture • Total of 500 Permits per day (incl. porters & staff) • Usually sold out months in advance • To secure your Permit, we therefore have to pay for it in advance, and supply your Full Name, Nationality, Passport Number, Date of Birth and Occupation Therefore, if your trek in Peru involves one of the trails (not just the Inca Trail) that leads to Machu Picchu please book early! Hugh Thomson Hugh Thomson is Britain’s foremost modern explorer of lost Inca settlements, and in 2004 we were delighted that he agreed to devise the itineraries for our first three treks in South America. This year he will lead the White Rock Trek. In 1982 Hugh first set off into the cloud forest to find a ruin that had been carelessly lost again after its initial discovery. This was his introduction to the curious and confusing world of Inca exploration. He has since travelled to the most remote Inca cities, both in the cloud forest and in the jungle, following in the footsteps of great explorers like Hiram Bingham who first hacked their way into the unknown, armed with machetes and boundless enthusiasm. In his acclaimed book, The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland (Phoenix), Hugh painted a compellingly different picture of the lost Inca empire of Tahuantinsuyo, drawing both on his own journeys and recent research by archaeologists. His most recent book, Cochineal Red: Travels through Ancient Peru, includes a description of the so-called ‘festival of the snows’. Hugh has made many award-winning films, including Indian Journeys with the writer William Dalrymple and Dancing in the Street: A Rock and Roll History for the BBC. He also collaborated with Himalayan Kingdoms to make the film in which Joanna Lumley travelled across Bhutan. Cochineal Red: Travels through Ancient Peru is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Classic Inca Trail The Inca trail is one of the best and most famous trails in the world, but is often spoiled for trekkers by poorly planned itineraries and cut-price compromises. Having walked it again in 2005, Hugh Thomson has now designed a carefully staged version which gives trekkers the best possible altitude acclimatisation and allows an extra full day at Machu Picchu to enjoy it once we’ve arrived. You are only going to do the Inca Trail once, so do it in the best possible style! The ancient paved Inca walkway leads past a fabulous sequence of Inca ruins in the cloud-forest to Machu Picchu itself, before returning to Cuzco, the old Inca capital and a fascinating destination in its own right. £2,395 £1,610 Dates: Tue 16 Sep – Fri 26 Sep land only Grade: Moderate/Vigorous On Trek: 4 days In-country Leader Nights’ Accommodation: Hotels: 3 Camping: 3 Hacienda/Family Inn: 3 Optional: Single Room £225 Single Tent £40 Insurance: £95 (Standard Policy) Days Itinerary Duration: 11 days –1 Fly to Lima –2 Fly to Cuzco, transfer direct to the Sacred Valley of the Incas at a lower altitude –3 An important extra day’s acclimatisation 4–7 Inca Trail Trek begins. Allowing four full days walking, we arrive at Machu Picchu –8 Return to Machu Picchu, train to Cuzco –9 Day in Cuzco –10 Return Cuzco to Lima –11 Arrive back in London Guaranteed to run for a minimum of clients Designed and researched by Hugh Thomson 6 The Hiram Bingham Trail A recently opened Inca trail follows the Urubamba River down its imposing granite gorge before climbing up Machu Picchu, passing through the beautiful Inca site Wiñay Wayna (‘forever young’) on the way. The route culminates with the stunning spectacle Machu Picchu viewed from the imposing sun-gate Intipunku, perched high above the ‘lost city’. Hugh Thomson designed this program for those who seek the essence of Inca Peru within limited time and budget, while avoiding the more strenuous Inca Trail, with its high-altitude passes. We trek for four days beside the roaring rapids of Urubamba visiting seldom seen ruins along the way. The trail passes through pristine cloud forest vegetation, hosting multitude of interesting and colourful birds. £2,395 £1,610 Dates: Wed 14 May – Sat 24 May, Wed 25 Jun – Sat 05 Jul, Wed 08 Oct – Sat 18 Oct land only Grade: Moderate On Trek: 4 days In-country Leader Nights’ Accommodation: Hotels: 3 Camping: 3 Hacienda/Family Inn: 3 Optional: Single Room £225 Single Tent £40 Insurance: £95 (Standard Policy) Days Itinerary Duration: 11 days 1–2 Fly to Cuzco, via Lima, drive to Sacred Valley –3 Visit nearby Sacred Valley of the Incas 4–7 Trek from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu –8 Additional day at Machu Picchu 9–11 Drive to Cuzco, at leisure, fly to London Guaranteed to run for a minimum of clients Designed and researched by Hugh Thomson This is the route taken by the American explorer Hiram Bingham when he discovered Machu Picchu in 1911 6

Left: Festival of the Snows Photo: Hugh Thomson Right: Peruvian lady with her llama Photo: Steve Berry 62 Download detailed itineraries from www.himalayankingdoms.com e: info@himalayankingdoms.com Peru & Machu Picchu The Royal Inca Trail This longer variant on the Inca Trail, follows a series of forgotten Inca roadways before joining the classic ‘Inca Trail’. It therefore combines the best of the ‘unknown’ Peru with the most famous of all South American treks. Hugh Thomson believes that this route was the original ‘Inca Trail’ that connected Machu Picchu with Cuzco. This spectacular trek will take us past remote Inca ruins and over 4,570m/15,000ft passes well above the tree line before we finally descend into the cloud forest. Along the way we will observe varieties of delicate orchids, rare birds and plants, together with what Hiram Bingham described as ‘the magnificent witchery’ of the Peruvian landscape. We begin our route along little known, seldom travelled Inca trails that once were the main arteries of the highland Inca homeland. We climb over high passes on steep trails that should satisfy the most enthusiastic of trekkers. Then we join the classic Inca trail for a final four days to arrive at Machu Picchu itself, a fitting end to a classic journey. £2,550 £1,760 Dates: Sat 26 Apr – Sat 10 May land only Grade: Vigorous On Trek: 8 days In-country Leader Nights’ Accommodation: Hotels: 3 Camping: 7 Hacienda/Family Inn: 3 Optional: Single Room £230 Single Tent £65 Insurance: £95 (Standard Policy) Days Itinerary Duration: 15 days 1–2 Fly Cuzco via Lima, drive to Sacred Valley –3 Visit nearby Sacred Valley of the Incas 4–11 Trek from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu, via highland route –12 Additional day at Machu Picchu 13–15 At leisure in Cuzco, fly to London Guaranteed to run for a minimum of clients Designed and researched by Hugh Thomson 6 The White Rock Trek – led this year by Hugh Thomson A magnificent trek between two great Inca ruins in the remote Vilcabamba cloud forest of the Peruvian Andes. Beyond Machu Picchu lies a remote, wild region of high mountain passes and hot tropical valleys, known as the Vilcabamba. Here the Incas built a network of roads connecting their settlements, shrines and ceremonial centres which Hugh Thomson and his American exploring partner, Gary Ziegler, have been locating and researching for many years. The trek starts at the capital of the Incas in exile, Vitcos, near the shrine of Yurak Rumi (the White Rock). This is where one of the last Inca emperors, Manco Inca, was stabbed to death by Spanish traitors in front of his son, Titu Cusi: it is an evocative ruin, situated on a hill in the centre of the beautiful Vilcabamba valley. From there the expedition will travel overland by some of the most dramatic Inca roads in the Andes to the large Inca ceremonial site of Choquequirao, a distant replication of its more famous sister site Machu Picchu. £3,250 £2,465 Dates: Tue 30 Sep – Fri 17 Oct land only Grade: Vigorous/Strenuous On Trek: 11 days European Leader: Hugh Thomson Nights’ Accommodation: Hotels: 5 Camping: 9 Hacienda/Family Inn: 2 Optional: Single Room £185 Single Tent £55 Insurance: £149 (Insurance Plus) Days Itinerary Duration: 18 days 1–2 Fly Cuzco via Lima, drive to Sacred Valley 3–4 Visit Sacred Valley, train to Machu Picchu 5–11 Drive to roadhead, trek from Vitcos to Choquequirao 12–13 Two days to explore Choquequirao 14–15 Trek and drive back to Cuzco 16–18 At leisure in Cuzco, fly to London Guaranteed to run for a minimum of clients Designed and researched by Hugh Thomson 6 Festival of the Snows Trek Every year 30,000 Andean Indians gather in a remote mountain bowl in the Andes for Qoyllurit’i, the so-called ‘festival of the snows’, an intense celebration of all that matters most in the Andean world, and one which draws on traditions that stretch back to pre-Columbian times. The festival ends with a spectacular torch-lit procession through the night over several 5,000m/16,400ft passes. Hugh Thomson has attended this extraordinary festival several times and has written about it in his most recent book, Cochineal Red: Travels through Ancient Peru. In 2007, Hugh led what was one of the first treks offered by a British company to visit the area, as the culmination of a 2-week tour of the 'sacred landscape of the Incas', which included plenty of time at Machu Picchu as well as some fabulous lesser known sites such as Huchuy Cuzco. The trek has also been carefully designed to allow acclimatisation before the festival, and maximum enjoyment of what is one of the great occasions in the Andes. £2,995 £2,180 Dates: Fri 09 May – Sat 24 May land only Grade: Vigorous On Trek: 4 days In-country Leader Nights’ Accommodation: Hotels: 6 Camping: 3 Hacienda/Family Inn: 5 Optional: Single Room £295 Single Tent £35 Insurance: £145 (Insurance Plus) Days Itinerary Duration: 16 days 1–2 Fly to Lima & Cuzco, transfer to Sacred Valley 3–8 Local fiesta, day walks to Inca sites and Machu Picchu, drive to Cuzco 9–10 At leisure, drive to Pacchanta 11–13 Festival of the Snows, return to Cuzco 14–16 At leisure, fly to Lima & London Guaranteed to run for a minimum of clients Designed and researched by Hugh Thomson 6