Cusco to Lake Titicaca in 5 Days, with an Andean Ceremony
Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, then a night bus to Puno and two days on Lake Titicaca with a lakeshore water ceremony and a night with a family on Amantaní.
From, per personUS$917
Andean ceremonies
Cusco, Machu Picchu, a lake ceremony at Llachón and a night on Amantaní, 5 to 12 days. 4 packages, prices per person in a double room, free quote by email within 24 hours.
Aymara Ceremony Tour: Lima, Cusco and Lake Titicaca in 8 Days
Eight days from Lima: the city and the Paracas coast, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, then Lake Titicaca with a water ceremony and a night on Amantaní.
From, per personUS$1,097
Aymara Ceremony Tour: Lima, Cusco and Lake Titicaca in 10 Days
Ten days from Lima to Lake Titicaca: the coast, Cusco and Machu Picchu, a farming day with a Sacred Valley community, the daytime Sun Route to Puno and a lake ceremony.
From, per personUS$1,347
Aymara Ceremony Tour, Complete: Peru in 12 Days with Rainbow Mountain
Twelve days from Lima to Lake Titicaca: the coast, Cusco, Machu Picchu, a farming community, Rainbow Mountain, the Sun Route and two lake days with a water ceremony.
From, per personUS$1,377
About andean ceremonies
Last reviewed October 2026.
Four trips of 5 to 12 days, from US$917, combine Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu with two days on Lake Titicaca built around what the program calls the Aymara baptism: a water blessing and an offering to the earth and the lake at Llachón, on the Capachica peninsula, led by a ceremony leader from the community. The same afternoon you cross to Amantaní, climb to the Pachatata hilltop for a thanksgiving offering and sleep in a family's house. Hotels, guides, the Machu Picchu entrance, the train and the transfers are included, the same as on any multi-day package. The ceremony at Llachón is one morning of the trip.
Book the 5-day version if you are already coming to Cusco and want the lake added with the ceremony. The 8-day version starts in Lima and adds the city and a coastal day to the Ballestas Islands and Huacachina. The 10-day adds a farming day with a Sacred Valley community and the daytime bus to Puno instead of the night bus, and the 12-day adds the Apukunaq Tianan rock sculptures and Rainbow Mountain. If the ceremony is not the point, the same routes without it are in the Peru vacation packages and cost less.
What the ceremony involves
An Andean offering, called a pago or a despacho in Spanish, is a small bundle of coca leaves, sweets and grains, arranged on a cloth while the ceremony leader asks the Pachamama (the earth) and the lake for health and safe travel. At Llachón it comes with a blessing with lake water, which is where the program's name comes from. It is not a religious conversion and you do not need to share any belief to take part. You are handed coca leaves to add, and the offering is burned or placed at the end. It takes about an hour.
We describe it this way on purpose. There is no portal and no secret knowledge on offer. There is a community that makes these offerings for its own fields and animals, and a visitor who is welcome to watch and join.
Why the name says Aymara
Aymara baptism is the commercial name the program has always used, and we keep it so you can find it. The hosts at Llachón and on Amantaní are Quechua-speaking families. Aymara is spoken in many communities on the southern shore, and both peoples make similar offerings. Our guide tells you on the day whose ceremony you are joining.
Who leads it and how the community is paid
At Llachón, a ceremony leader from the host community leads the water blessing and the offering. On Amantaní, a local leader leads the thanksgiving offering on the Pachatata hill. They speak their own language and Spanish, and our guide translates into English. Each community receives a fixed payment per ceremony, included in your price and separate from the guide's wage. You are not asked for money during the ceremony. If you want to give something, the leader will say what is useful. Photographs are allowed only when the leader agrees, and we ask you to put the phone away during the prayers.
The four itineraries
The table compares the four by days, start city and what each adds around the lake. All are easy to moderate, with the usual altitude order: Cusco at 3,400 m (11,150 ft) first, Machu Picchu lower, then Puno at about 3,830 m (12,560 ft).
| Package | Days | Starts in | Lake days | Also includes | From (US$ per person, Essential) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cusco to Lake Titicaca in 5 days | 5 | Cusco | 2 | Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, night bus to Puno, Llachón ceremony, Amantaní homestay, Uros | US$917 |
| Aymara ceremony, Lima, Cusco and Puno, 8 days | 8 | Lima | 2 | Lima city tour, Ballestas and Huacachina, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, night bus, Llachón, Amantaní, Uros, free day in Puno | US$1,097 |
| Aymara ceremony, Lima, Cusco and Puno, 10 days | 10 | Lima | 2 | Lima, Ballestas and Huacachina, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, farming community day, Sun Route by day, Llachón, Amantaní, Uros | US$1,347 |
| Aymara ceremony complete, 12 days | 12 | Lima | 2 | Everything in the 10-day plus Apukunaq Tianan, the Huasao wetland and Rainbow Mountain | US$1,377 |
By the days you have
Five days: Cusco city tour, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, the night bus to Puno, then the Llachón ceremony and a night on Amantaní on day four, and the Uros reed islands on day five before the flight out of Juliaca. Eight days: Lima and the coastal day first, then the same Cusco and lake days with the night bus, and a free day in Puno at the end. Ten days: the 8-day route plus a farming day with a Sacred Valley community and the Sun Route bus to Puno by daylight. Twelve days: the 10-day route plus a half day to Apukunaq Tianan and the Huasao wetland, and a full day at Rainbow Mountain.
By budget
Essential tier: US$917 for 5 days, US$1,097 for 8, US$1,347 for 10 and US$1,377 for 12. Comfort Plus and Signature add the hotel upgrade only. The night on Amantaní is in a family home on every tier, and the ceremonies and the community payments are included in every tier.
What to expect on the lake days
Puno is cold, bright and high. The boat leaves the Puno port early, and the Llachón ceremony is held outdoors on the peninsula. The climb to the Pachatata temple on Amantaní takes about 45 minutes to 4,130 m (13,550 ft), and the offering there is at sunset when the timing works. The wind off the lake is sharp even in the dry season. Bring a warm layer, a hat, sunscreen and a bottle of water. Dinner and breakfast are with your host family on Amantaní, in simple rooms with cold nights, and the boat stops at the Uros reed islands on the way back to Puno.
Read before you book
Read what happens at a despacho ceremony, step by step and who the Aymara are before you book, so you arrive knowing what you are joining.
Destinations in these packages
Each place has its own page with altitude, how to get there and every package that includes it.
Machu PicchuThe Inca citadel at 2,430 m (7,970 ft) above the Urubamba River, 3.5 hours from Cusco by road and train, visited on a timed ticket with a guide.
CuscoThe Inca capital at 3,400 m (11,150 ft), 1 hour 20 minutes by air from Lima, where every Machu Picchu trip and every trek starts.
Sacred ValleyThe Urubamba River valley between Pisac and Ollantaytambo, about 2,870 m (9,416 ft), one hour north of Cusco and on the train line to Machu Picchu.
Lake Titicaca and PunoThe lake on the Peru and Bolivia border at 3,812 m (12,507 ft): the Uros reed islands, Taquile and the Aymara shore, reached from Puno.
Lima and the coastPeru's capital at sea level, where every trip lands, plus the desert coast to the south: Pachacamac, Paracas, Huacachina and the Nazca Lines.
Questions about andean ceremonies
What is an Andean offering ceremony?
A bundle of coca leaves, grains and sweets, arranged on a cloth by a ceremony leader while asking the Pachamama (the earth) and the lake for health and safe travel, then burned or placed at the end. Aymara and Quechua families do it for their own fields and animals. On these trips it is joined to a blessing with lake water at Llachón. It takes about an hour and asks nothing of your own beliefs.
Who leads the ceremony?
On the Capachica peninsula, at Llachón, a ceremony leader from the host community, and on Amantaní a local leader on the Pachatata hill. They speak their own language and Spanish while our guide translates. Each community is paid a fixed amount per ceremony, included in the package, and the leaders decide what is shown and what is photographed.
Is the ceremony really Aymara?
The program uses the name Aymara baptism. The families of Llachón and Amantaní speak Quechua, while many communities on the southern shore of the lake speak Aymara. Both peoples make similar offerings, and the guide explains whose ceremony you join.
Can I book the ceremony without a package?
No. The ceremony is sold inside these four packages because the family's time, the guide and the boat to Llachón and Amantaní are organized together around the lake days. If you are already in Puno and want only the ceremony, send us the dates through the quote form and we will say whether a community can receive you that week.
Do I need to prepare anything or follow a diet?
No diet and no preparation. Come rested, dressed warmly and without alcohol that day, out of respect for the family. The guide briefs you the evening before on what will happen, what you will be handed and when to stay quiet. The ceremony involves no plant medicine of any kind.
Is it respectful for a visitor to take part?
Yes, when it is done the way these trips do it: at the family's invitation, with a fixed payment agreed with them, with the guide translating and with photographs only when the leader says so. The ceremony is not performed as a show. If a community is busy with its own calendar that week, the date moves, and we tell you.
Not sure which one fits?
Send your dates and who is traveling. A planner on our team in Cusco replies with the package that makes sense, or a custom plan.