Hello Friends of the Dominican Southern Province

Upon arrival to Lima, you will be met by an Inca Expert staff member and escorted to the AC Miraflores Hotel.

The AC Hotel Lima Miraflores rises above the Pacific palisade in a sculpted, slender tower. This ideally located hotel overlooks the ocean and offers stunning views from guestrooms, the AC Lounge and the rooftop Insumo restaurant. This hotel celebrates the modernity of the growing metropolis, references to indigenous traditions, and incorporates the artistic personality of Miraflores. With a compact floorplan of just ten rooms per floor, the interior feels like an intimate boutique hotel with artwork from Peruvian artists.

• Dinner not included. Feel free to ask your Travel Advisor for restaurant recommendations!

● Breakfast at the hotel

Spend the day exploring Lima on your own. For shopping, head to Miraflores. Search out murals and cozy cafes when wandering the streets of Barranco. Immerse yourself in Peruvian culture and history at a museum. Search out the best places to feast on Peruvian specialties and indulge in two of our Lima favorites, ceviche and pisco sours.

● Lunch is not included, but there are many great restaurants in Miraflores and Barranco where you can enjoy a traditional Peruvian meal!

• For our opening night together, we will gather for dinner at the hotel and a presentation on the lives of Martin de Porres and Rose of Lima.

● Breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Tour of St. Dominic Church and Convent
We will be greeted by our Peruvian Dominican brothers when we enter the doors of the oldest religious complex in Lima, the Church and Monastery of St. Dominic (Iglesia y Monasterio de Santo Domingo.) Construction of the church began in the 15th century and continued for five decades. There are five cloisters in the convent, two of which are open to visitors. The main cloister is surrounded by four two-story galleries and has peaceful gardens and a 17th century bronze fountain. The cloister galleries are covered with Seville tiles and paintings depicting scenes from the life of Saint Dominic. The ceilings are made of oak and are in the Moorish Mudejar style. The convent has one of the oldest libraries in the city with about 25,000 books and a magnificent carved oak
ceiling.

At this special site, we will visit and pray at the tombs of St. Martin de Porres, St. Rose of Lima, and see the beautiful stained-glass windows of Martin de Porres, Rose of Lima and Juan Macias.

● Lunch at Embarcdero 41 Restaurant

Afternoon: Visit the St. Rose of Lima Church and Museum and the birthplace of St. Martin DePorres
Our afternoon tour begins with a stop at the St. Sebastien Church where both Martin and Rose were baptized. We will then visit the Church and Sanctuary named in honor of St. Rose of Lima, which is located on the grounds of her parent’s home where Rose lived for all her life. Her father gave her space in their family home to open a hospital for Lima’s poor and outcasts, and the rooms where she and her Dominican brother, St. Martin de Porres, ministered and offered medical care to the poor are beautifully preserved. There is a lovely museum that tells the story of Rose’s life and holds the famous image of her that was painted shortly after her untimely death at thirty-three. The remains of her hermitage and a wishing well are on the grounds along with statues of Rose and Martin. Directly across the street, we will visit Casas St. Martin de Porres, the building thought to be the birthplace of Martin de Porres.

We will celebrate Mass in the Church named in memory of St. Rose and head back to our hotel for a little rest after a very special day.

● Our group will enjoy dinner amid pre-Inca ruins at the Huaca Pucllana restaurant.

After breakfast at the hotel, we will transfer to the Jorge Chavez International airport for our mid-morning, one and-a-half-hour flight to Cusco. Situated at 3,400 m (11,150 ft), Cusco is a beautiful city of whitewashed walls, red-tiled roofs, and soaring churches nestled in a fertile mountain basin. Upon arrival to Cusco, an Inca Expert Travel representative will meet you and accompany you to Casa Andina Premium Cusco Hotel.

Our hotel in Cusco is excellently situated with easy access to the city’s main attractions, best restaurants, and great shopping. Built in a large colonial house dating back to the 18th century, the hotel is ideally located in the center of Cusco, just a few blocks from the main square in the direction of Koricancha. Relax in the beautiful courtyard with its gurgling stone fountain, one of Cusco’s emblematic colonial sights, and get lost in the intriguing maze of corridors that lead you to the various patios. Casa Andina’s first upscale hotel in Cusco features 93 heated rooms with private bathrooms, cable television, telephones, hairdryers, and in-room safes. The hotel is equipped with a gourmet restaurant, a bar, and 3 courtyards.

We will have lunch at the hotel and a free afternoon to adjust to the altitude, do some shopping or explore the beautiful Plaza de Armas in the city center. We will gather before dinner for conversation and reflection and then enjoy a group dinner at Pachapapa Restaurant.

Note: As you may know, some people find adjusting to a high altitude difficult, and this can cause a variety of uncomfortable symptoms. Prior to the trip, Inca Expert will provide detailed information about the steps you can take to reduce and control the effects of the altitude change.

Machu Picchu Trip – Option #1

Your day begins with an early morning departure from the hotel to board the famous Vistadome train. Your train has full visibility through panoramic windows to enjoy the views of the surrounding valleys, adjustable leather seats, small snack on board, and air-conditioning and heating. Upon arrival in Aguas Calientes, you will board a 20-minute private bus ride to the ruins. Due to the large crowds, the allotted time allowed in the ruins is limited and closely monitored, and changes from day to day depending on the number of people visiting. Your private guide will assure you make the most of your time in the ruins and that are able to see all the important areas, and have time to enjoy and soak in the breathtaking views and cultural history. After your visit in the ruins, you will enjoy a buffet lunch at the famed Belmond Sanctuary Lodge, just outside the entrance to Machu Picchu, and then board the shuttle bus back to the train station to head back to Cusco to your hotel for a late supper. It will be long day but well-worth it as it is an experience you will never forget.

Free Day in Cusco - Option 2:

The best days in Cusco are those when you have time to get wonderfully lost exploring the narrow cobblestoned roads of the old Inca imperial capital. There are interesting museums in Cusco or can browse the artisan workshops and boutique shops of San Blas. Go to San Pedro Market to shop with the locals or spending some time people-watching on the Plaza de Armas while sipping a coffee or a cocktail.

Lunch and dinner are not included for those taking a free day in Cusco. Some suggestions of excellent restaurants will be provided.

Morning Tour: Qorikancha – Temple del Sol and St. Dominic Priory and Church

A UNESCO-recognized historic center that is often called one of the most interesting sites in the country, St. Dominic Church and Priory was built on top of a magnificent ancient Muslim site, the Temple of the Sun where some 4,000 of the highest-ranking priests were housed. Dedicated to the worship of the sun, it was a glittering massive palace. Its name, Qoricancha means "golden courtyard" in Quechua, and in addition to hundreds of gold panels lining its walls, there were life-size gold figures, solid-gold altars, and a huge golden sun disc. Like the Great Mosque in Córdoba, Spain, the temple of one culture sits atop and encloses the other. After the Spaniards ransacked the temple and emptied it of gold (which they melted down, of course), the exquisite polished stone walls were employed as the foundations of the Convent of Santo Domingo, constructed in the 17th century. Once the Spaniards took Cusco, Francisco Pizarro's brother Juan was given the eviscerated Temple of the Sun. He died soon afterward, at the battle at Sacsayhuamán, and he left the temple to the Dominicans, in whose hands it remains.

During our tour, we will visit with the Dominican community and tour their Church and Priory. Among the interesting things we will see is a large section of the cloister has been removed to reveal four original chambers of the temple, all smoothly tapered examples of Inca trapezoidal architecture. The 6m (20-ft.) curved wall beneath the west end of the church, visible from the street, remains undamaged by repeated earthquakes and is perhaps the greatest extant example of Inca stonework.

● Lunch at the Inkagrill Restaurant

Afternoon Tour: Monastery and Museum of Saint Catherine of Siena

In Inca times, the site of this monastery was occupied by a compound called Aqllawasi, which in Quechua means “house of chosen maidens.” Women of noble families chosen from all over the empire for their beauty and high lineage lived in the compound and were strictly forbidden to have any contact with men and were obliged to remain virgins until their death.

The Monastery of St. Catherine of Siena was founded in 1601 in Arequipa, but it was soon moved to Cusco. The foundation of the monastery was the initiative of Doña Lucía Rivera de Padilla, a wealthy widow from Arequipa. The first 25 nuns arrived in Cusco in 1605 and established their convent on the site of the ancient Aqllawasi compound. The earthquake of 1650 destroyed the monastery, and its reconstruction, including a new Church was completed within a few years. We will visit the lovely Church and a museum that houses an outstanding collection of colonial art and an interesting exhibit on religious life.

After our tour at St. Catherine’s Monastery, we will return to the hotel for some rest or perhaps a last-minute stroll or shopping. We will gather for Mass and then enjoy a farewell dinner at Calle de Medio restaurant.

Departure mid-morning from Cusco to Lima where you will catch your flight back to the states. Most of the international flights to the states leave Lima in the late afternoon or evening so there will be adequate time to transfer from Cusco to Lima to catch your flight. As soon as we have the departure time for each member of our group, we will select the flight time back to Lima. There are dozens of flights each day.