MedTreks Peru
Mountain Medicine & Cultural Tour
Join us on a hiker’s paradise trip through the beautiful Sacred Valley of Peru. A perfect mix of adventure, learning, service and exploration. The train trip to Machu Picchu allows travelers to enjoy the wonders of Peru through spectacular hikes by day and cozy lodge rooms by night. The trip combines a 2 day Global Health & Mountain Medicine Seminar into a 9 Day Multi-Sport Adventure, Cultural & Culinary Tour of Peru.
Highlights:
- Experience Peru’s magical landscape while visiting ancient Incan ruins, some of the most spectacular in the world
- Witness the vivid expression of cultural while strolling the mountainous farmlands and quaint villages of the Sacred Valley
- Enjoy the colorful ambience of local hand craft markets, especially the traditional Quechua textiles
- Explore the famous Inca Citadel of Machu Picchu, the great mountain-op city abandoned by the Inca Empire
- Engage in cross-cultural medical workshops, learn traditional uses of herbs & plants in the Andes
- Work side-by-side local community health professionals during a mountain health campaign
TRIP DETAILS
9 Day Peru Mountain Medicine & Cultural Tour
Dates: May 1-9, 2022
Exploring Machu Picchu & The Heart of the Sacred Valley
One of our top favorite places in the world- this trip combines it all: delicious food, incredible hikes, luxury lodges.
Peru is a country rich in history and culture. From the delicious Peruvian cuisine, artisan crafts, snow-capped mountains, friendly people and ancient ruins, Peru has something for every traveler. Many people have one destination on their mind when preparing an adventure to Peru: Machu Picchu. This mountain fortress should absolutely be on every traveler’s bucket list, however, after running several trips to Peru over the past 30 years, we have selected a few highlights that are worthwhile adding to your itinerary as you make the journey to Machu Picchu, whether it is by foot or by train.
We look forward to sharing this incredible country with you!
TRIP DETAILS
Global Health & Mountain Medicine
About the Course:
This trip is a 9-day cultural and hiking tour of the Sacred Valley of Peru & Machu Picchu combined with a 2 day Mountain Medicine Seminar. The Mountain Medicine Seminar is part of our MedTreks Health Campaign program where we partner with one of the local organizations to help teach and collaborate on medical skills. MedTreks partners with Sacred Valley Health for a 2 day Global Health & Mountain Medicine Seminar & Health Campaign. 10% of your trip costs gets donated to this program. We will also be helping to fundraise to bring over necessary medical & health equipment for the program.
Field Seminar Includes:
- 8 hrs of Mountain Medicine & Global Health Instruction
- 1/2 day mountain health campaign
- MedTreks T-shirts
- Certificate of Course Completion
- Global Health Topics include: Mountain medicine skills in remote settings, medicine
Global Health Topics include: Mountain Medicine skills in remote settings, Traditional Uses of Medicinal Plants, Strategies for sustainable medicine, Core Concepts in Global Health, Travel & Humanitarian Medicine, Wilderness First Aid, and Traveling & Staying Healthy Abroad.
The Mountain Medicine seminar combines topics in travel & mountain medicine, global health and humanitarian medicine. These lectures are combined with a hands-on immersive experience working with a local healthcare program of Peru, Sacred Valley Health who is doing incredible work in the indigenous cultures of the highlands of Peru. The idea is to help expand the scope of the public health services that this program provides, but also to equip the MedTreks participants to feel more confident in their skills and strategies when they global health work abroad in other regions.
MedTreks collaborates with Sacred Valley Health in Peru using a similar model to MedTreks, known as Train-The-Trainer, this organization specifically focuses on training community health workers or “Promotoras” to help improve the health of the communities living in the high mountain villages.Working side-by-side the local “Promotoras” or community health workers, our MedTreks teams will have an authentic service learning experience-sharing knowledge and collaborating in the global health arena.
***Nurses get 10 CEs for this Mountain Medicine Seminar course.
PEOPLE & PLACES
Most people who research traveling to Peru know the Sacred Valley as the entryway into Machu Picchu. Many travel itineraries pass directly through this incredible valley on a hasty mission to see Machu Picchu. There are so many incredible gems in this valley that we believe it is important to spend at least 3 days exploring the ancient sites, the quaint villages and witnessing the vivid expression of Andean culture. After running several trips to Peru, we have carefully selected our favorite hikes, markets, restaurants and local tours that provide a richly authentic Peruvian experience. To learn more about the highlights of our itinerary, read 8 Highlights of Exploring Machu Picchu & The Sacred Valley HERE
Improving Health through Education, Access & Empowerment
Formed in early 2012 to improve health care access and equity to Peru’s Sacred Valley. The program works to recruit, train and support community health workers (promotoras de salud) who live & work in their rural communities. The remote indigenous communities of the Ollantaytambo District are medically underserved for a variety of reasons. Rural communities lack access to primary medical care as a result of geographic isolation, poor road conditions, and irregular transportation. Poor socioeconomic conditions, malnutrition, lack of basic services, and poor education further worsen health outcomes.
The mission of Sacred Valley Health is to promote health in underserved rural communities of Peru’s Sacred Valley though our pillars of work: Access, Education, and Empowerment.
Peru Trip Highlights
Mountain Medicine & Cultural Tour
Pisac Market
Hacienda Sarampampa
Salt Fields of Maras
Chinchero, Centro de Textiles
The legendary ‘Lost City’ is without a doubt one of the world’s most impressive archaeological sites. Built by the Incas on the summit of “Machu Picchu” (old peak), overlooking the deep canyon of the Urubamba river in a semi-tropical area 120 Kms (75 miles) from the city of Cusco. It sits on a mountain site of extraordinary beauty, in the middle of a tropical mountain forest; Machu Picchu was probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its height, with its giant walls, terraces and ramps, which appear as though they have been cut naturally in the continuous rock escarpments.
DATES & PRICES
Cost: $3,695 (based on double occupancy)
Single supplement: $795
*3% of your trip costs is donated directly to the Sacred Valley Health program.
Included in the Cost:
- 8 nights lodging in 3-4 star lodges
- Airport transportation
- All breakfast & lunches
- 6 of the 8 nights include dinner
- All ground transportation
- All park entrance fees
- Local guides
- All tours noted in the itinerary
What is excluded in the cost?
- International airfare
- Tips & souvenirs
- Alcoholic beverages
- Travel Insurance
- Two evenings dinner on your own
Join us in Peru!
Upon registration you will receive a Welcome Package with a travel Itinerary, packing list, invitation to join online MedTreks community, course syllabus & helpful resources to plan for this adventure!
We look forward to sharing this experience with you!