We knew that we had a trip of more than a hundred kilometers of travel ahead of us to reach Puno, from where we would be going on to Cusco in search of an encounter with the Manu National Park. But before that, the sun wished to make us witnesses to the sacred ritual of beaming its last rays before Lake Titicaca, announcing the end of that day. Our final adventure had started!

As the bus taking us to Puno advanced, our sights rested on an array of villages that have their own histories and traditions, on landscapes of valleys golden with barley, interspersed with herds of sheep and cattle.

As the moon prepared to bathe this Andean region of Peru in its light, time allowed us to get acquainted with Pomata, Puno’s first town. We were able to witness the beauty of its sixteenth and seventeenth century Santiago Apóstol Church, built of pink granite in a mestizo baroque style. With our last sip of coffee on this Puno night, our thoughts fixed on the fact that we would be leaving for Cusco at 6:00 a.m. the next morning.

At around 3:45 p.m. we arrived in Huancarani in the Province of Paucartambo (Cusco). A three and a half hour journey remained from that point to the opening to the Manu Park. Hugo Pepper, Manager of the Caimán Manu specialized tourist agency, went ahead as we transferred to another vehicle.

But what we had not been told about was the awesome cultural experience for any common human of travelling the Sacred Valley of the Incas, located 32 kilometers north of the city of Cusco at 3 850 meters above sea level.

Through the windows of our vehicle, we were able to see, on one side, huge mountains rising upwards and, on the other, almost bottomless depths sheltering landscapes filled with traditions that invited one to stitch together untold stories.

The silent trip that had turned into a factory churning out thoughts that transported us back to time immemorial, was interrupted by the cry of Leónidas Quiñones, the Manu National Park naturalist guide, calling us to "stop and look up at the chullpas!

In effect, gathered on the top of a mountain located at 3 750 masl were more than 14 Ninamarca chullpas (pre-Inca tombs) built between 1150 and 1250 from paja brava, a native grass, and earth. They stand in the heart of this Sacred Valley as mute witnesses to the Lupasa culture that sprang up north of Lake Titicaca. Still under the spell of our cultural contact with the Ninamarca chullpas, we reached the Acjanaco Abra, situated at 3 530 masl, practically in the foothills of the Manu National Park. One of Peru’s natural relics, it covers over 1.5 million hectares and enjoys an average temperature of 18 degrees centigrade.

Which would you prefer, Llama Trek or mountain bicycling? was the question that hung in the air for a few seconds, leading a group of the team of journalists to move off in search of the tourist product called Llama Trek, which is a ride in a cart pulled by one or two camelids, while the rest chose mountain cycling.

As we entered the route leading to the Manu Park, we found ourselves suddenly enveloped in clouds that floated down to rest in the zone known as the Cloud Forest, where they gave the impression of joining in an eternal embrace with the gigantic mountains. They were real! The clouds caressed the windows of the bus taking us to San Pedro in the foothills of the Manu, the world’s natural lungs that enfold a wealth of fauna and flora. Two lodges and four camps in the area are dedicated to tourism, the "industry without a smokestack."

Our watches read 8:00 p.m., showing once again that time does not stop. Even so, the feel of a gentle drizzle, combined with the sound of the natural cascade at the Manu Nature Tours lodge to dispel any feeling of tiredness caused by our 14-hour bus trip from Bolivian territory.

The next day, after visiting the lodges and inns in San Pedro, near midday, our throats tight with emotion, we boarded two inflatable boats. In less than two minutes, we were soaked by the waters of the Osñipata River, leading us to cling with teeth and nails to the vessels as we started our canoeing adventure (sailing a river in an inflatable boat).

Oars in hand, we confronted waves, which elicited our best efforts to move ahead. Without letting up, we rowed for almost an hour until we reached Atalaya Port, the entry to the town of Pilcopata. There, the Queros and Huacaria native communities showed us how they are becoming a part of the region’s ecotourism.

After moving through the enchantment of the Manu National Park, witnessing the morning rituals of the gallitos de las rocas, entering into contact with nature –in short, taking one of the most thrilling ecotours--, the time had come for our inevitable return. Leaving behind the cloud forest was like leaving the very entrails of the sky, in whose clouds we savored a veritable cocktail of unforgettable adventures.

Another of the favorite tourist sites, visited because of its wealth of different handicrafts, is Pisac, located only 33 kilometers from Cusco. We also inhaled Inca history at its purest on entering the Saqsaywaman archeological park, whose tourist sites include the staggered walls, religious sector, Inca cemetery and esplanade for the staging of the Inti Raymi.

In the epilogue to our return, the rumble of the bus taking us to Cusco seemed to be engulfed in a silence of complicity in having shared 20 days filled with unexpected and unforgettable experiences.

We eight journalists from the Andean Community (CAN) were about to see the end to our privilege of savoring a small portion of the magic of each Member Country (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru) willing to show the world its ecotourist wealth and to tell us its history in a thousand and one ways.