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Give generously as part of a Peruvian Christmas

To give to someone less needy at Christmas time is a special thing to do. To give generously in Peru is something that you will never forget.

Apus Peru Adventure Travel specialise in unique treks to little known places - their routes cross remote mountain ranges, skirt around snow capped peaks and visit out of the way communities. Yet their latest offerings - Christmas hikes - take the idea of participative tourism to a new level.

These hikes feature a day in a remote community bringing to these isolated, often undernourished, and unkempt children the most distinctive Christmas tradition - the Chocolatada. This tradition sees businesses or institutions giving to the less needy through giving out hot chocolate, bread and gifts.

In these special Christmas hikes, visitors to Peru, instead of merely hiking through communities, will assist in running the Christmas chocolatadas being held in Chaullacocha and Ancascocha. Both remote communities are not accessible by vehicle and tend to 'miss out' because everything needs to be brought in by mule.
The Chocolatadas are funded from the Apus Peru Community Projects Chest (5% of the price of each trek is goes to this trust) and trekkers on these special tours will be volunteers for a day.

They will assist in assembling gift bags prior to departure and while in the communities distributing the hot chocolate and gifts. "As this chocolatada is essentially being funded by foreigner's contributions I would like that the children and people of this community can actually receive the gifts from people who are not from Peru, " says Ariana Svenson, of Apus Peru Adventure Travel. "Not only is it symbolic but in doing so I believe we are crossing cultural bridges."

The Christmas Chocolatada tours can either be done as a trek or as part of a broader Christmas package designed for the thinking visitor to truly experience Peru.

For more information see
http://www.apus-peru.com/christmas_new_year_packages.htm

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BOOKING THE INCA TRAIL? We recommend you check out the Inca Porter Project which provides a list of suggested questions for when you are booking your Classic Inca Trail from your home country
If you are interested in a sustainable Inca Trail, we highly recommend paying a little more and going with a reputable company! We recommend Llama Path because we know that they treat the porters well!

GOOD PERU NEWS IN ENGLISH - we often read the regularly updated news on the Dos Manos newspage.

We recommend the Thorntree as a useful place to get up to date advice or comments about situations in Peru.

Scarcely trampled for centuries, these special Inca trails were once part of the Inca Empires road system, the “Qhapaq Nan” that formed an ancient super highway of over 23,000 kilometres and integrated nearly all of South America.

Now, as the most famous section of this spectacular road network – the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu - is becoming increasingly crowded, many equally amazing “Inca Trails” are becoming used once again.

“While the Inca trail is an adventure of a lifetime, it really now fits the category of mass tourism,” explains Ariana Svenson, director of Apus Peru Adventure Travel Specialists. “It has government funded campsites, with locals who sell Inca Kola for tourists who gawp and gasp at the authenticity of the sickly sweet yellow beverage of Peru!”

In 2004 the Inca Trail was regulated to 500 people a day meaning that places are hard to come by. Visitors are now advised to book 4 to 6 months in advance. This had an unexpected effect according to Ms. Svenson: “Travellers and travel agencies were forced to adapt quickly and the overflow trekkers headed towards a five day traverses of the Salkantay mountain range.”

Peruvian authorities responded quickly to increased numbers on the Salkantay trek by increasing the entry fee from free to $30 US. Restrictions on the number of visitors to Machu Picchu are mooted for 2007, with exact details of the implementation system hazy.

“We found that with the so-called alternative treks becoming more touristed, we needed to look further afield to offer our clients the experiences they were looking for: solitude, spectacular mountain scenes, adventure, authentic interaction with the locals and some Inca culture and history thrown in,” explains Ms. Svenson. “Today, we are launching these new treks.”

The management of Apus Peru Adventure Travel Specialists are passionate trekkers and they went in seek of authentic experiences: “When we visited the ruins of Puncuyoc, the local rural people, living a remote and isolated existence gave us shelter one cold night. They told us that the only other foreigners to have visited prior to our expedition were modern day explorers and Inca experts Gary Ziegler and Vincent Lee,” smiles Ariana. “I don’t know if that is true, but it was a very remote place”

“I must admit that our treks are generally tougher than the Inca Trail, with more hiking and higher altitude. Yet at the end of the day your group is completely isolated in the high mountains, accompanied only by the stars and the mysticism of the Andes,” says Ms.Svenson.

“These new treks that incorporate sections of old Inca trails are a once in a lifetime opportunity. It is so totally worth it to get off the beaten track and onto lesser known Inca Trails!”

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APUS PERU Adventure Travel Specialists - Email: apusperu@westnet.com.au

© A.Svenson 2005. The design, content and photographs (except where noted) are 100% original. The majority of our treks were designed by Apus Peru.