International flights arrive Lima, Peru. Transfer to the lovely Melodia Hotel in Lima.

Everyone, even those in wonderful shape, will find the air is rare up there. Said to be at just over 9,000 feet, every GPS I've ever used puts it at closer to 11,000. In any event, we don't move much the first day. Altitude sickness is not something to be toyed with-it can keep you off your feet 2-3 days, so I'd rather sacrifice part of one than lose you for three. To combat altitude sickness, I'll encourage people to either take two aspirin morning and night for two days before we arrive and at least the first two days in Cuzco, or to buy altitude sickness pills in Lima, which will basically do what aspirin does.

I recommend resting for a few hours. Then we will see the city of Cuzco on foot touring the religious circuit with our guide Santiago.

Andy, a curandero in an Incan tradition, will hold a Self-Healing with pre-hispanic instruments after which he will give us a reading of coca leaves. Though the drug made from coca leaves - cocaine - is illegal everywhere and absolutely verboten on my trip, the leaves are probably more responsible for helping every mountain civilization throughout the Andes live in an otherwise uninhabitable environment than anything else. They are not only the standard tea in the mountains, they are a medicinal curative, a divination tool, a digestive, an aid in childbirth, and they break down the potato-the primary staple in the Andes-to maximize human value from it-unlike anything else in the world. And with Peru being home to the potato, the tomato, most of the world's corn and a dozen other plants that are difficult to digest properly but which are vital in keeping humankind from starvation, getting nutritional value from your staples is imperative.

In the evening Andy will be making an offering to Mother Earth in ceremony to Balcon Del Diablo. Our guide Santiago will be with us all day and into the evening.

A free day to absorb and begin to understand the significance of the ritual we shared the previous night. Our city guide Santiago will be available for assistance for walking and shopping.

We will head out early to catch the train up the mountain to Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Inca. Built at nearly 7,500 feet from stone either found on the mountain or quarried several miles away, the hidden city is the single most visited archaeological site in South America. It is truly breathtaking and for many represents one of the places they have wanted to visit for a lifetime. Despite the number of people we'll run into there, its energy will speak clearly to anyone who can slow down enough to listen to it. We will check into our hotel Wiracocha at Agua Calientes Hotsprings. After getting settled we'll head out to the hotsprings with Andy where we will perform a coca ceremony.

Or, those who are eager to get up to Machu Picchu can go there on your own.

Full day to explore with our guide at Machu Picchu. Santiago will be on hand to answer any questions you might have regarding the ruins there.

Free day at Machu Picchu (entrance fee and bus not included.)

Those who wish can take another trip up the mountain to Machu Picchu but you'll have to come back a bit early as we've a train to catch back to Cuzco at about 4:30 PM and you'll need to collect your things from the Wiracocha Hotel first. Upon our return train trip to Cuzco we will be checking back into our Cuzco Hotel Garcilaso II.

Everyone will check out of the hotels and we'll catch a flight back to Lima.

Lima and Home — Morning flights back to Lima for the flights home.