Experience sound healing in the Andes through LLamaterapia — an immersive Andean retreat combining llama therapy and ancestral music for deep emotional and spiritual healing.
It wasn’t cold. Not the kind of morning that bites your skin or makes you wish for gloves. Just overcast — a soft Andean gray that lay gently over the Sacred Valley. Karen looked at the forecast. “Cloudy all day,” she said.
I shrugged. “Maybe. But I have a feeling the mountains have other plans.”
And they did.
We left Urubamba around eight in the morning, heading toward Cuyo bajo, a remote mountain community perched above Pisac. It’s the kind of place you don’t find on a tour — the kind of place that finds you. We were on our way to meet Vicente, the heart behind a powerful ancestral healing project known as LLamaterapia and Sonido de Músicas Ancestrales.
Vicente’s experience is unlike anything else in Peru. It blends llama therapy in the Andes with ancient sound healing practices rooted in Andean cosmology. It’s not just a cultural experience — it’s a holistic therapy retreat in the Sacred Valley, where the elements, the animals, and the music all work in harmony.
He greeted us with two women from the community — warm, grounded, present. He later explained that about ten locals support the project, all from Cuyo bajo, but that morning it was just the three of them. That was all we needed.
From his home, we could see the Pisac ruins, quiet and watchful across the valley. Vicente laid out his instruments: flutes made of bone, clay, and bamboo. Panpipes that echoed like voices from another time. He didn’t just play — he explained. This wasn’t entertainment. It was education. It was transmission.
He told us about the years he spent traveling across Peru, visiting museums, speaking with elders, studying forgotten sounds. What he’s created with LLamaterapia isn’t a performance — it’s a living archive. And more than that, it’s healing.
After the initial sound healing in the Andes session, Vicente invited us to walk.
We descended slowly into the valley, accompanied by llamas — gentle, soft-eyed companions walking quietly at our sides. This is the heart of llama healing experiences in the Andes: a moment of deep connection, not just with the animals, but with the land. The llamas were calm, almost meditative. You felt different just being beside them.
Fifteen minutes into the descent, we reached a clearing. The sound of the nearby river added its voice to the ritual. Birds called. The wind shifted. And the llamas grazed as if they too were taking part in something sacred.
We sang with one of the women. A Quechua song. I fumbled the words; she smiled. We weren’t just guests. We were invited into the rhythm of the valley.
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Just below, Vicente had created a circle of cushions made from manta Andina, the sacred textile of the Andes. A llama was already seated in the center, still and relaxed. This was where the Andean sound healing ceremony began.
Vicente handed us three coca leaves — one for each of the cardinal directions we would honor: north, south, east, west. We whispered our intentions and placed our leaves in a small hole in the ground — a quiet offering to Pachamama.
Then we lay back, each of us resting our heads gently on the warm body of the llama. This moment — being held by the earth, by the animal, by the sound — was unlike anything I’ve ever known. It was the very essence of holistic therapy in Peru.
Vicente began to play — the beginning of a powerful sound healing in the Andes.
The instruments didn’t just make sound — they moved energy. The music wove around us like a river, blended with the wind, the birds, the breath of the llamas. It was as if the mountains themselves were singing.
My daughter had been carrying a personal sadness. But something shifted during the session. Her breath softened. Her eyes changed. She smiled — and it was real.
Karen sat up afterward, blinking as if she’d woken from a dream. “Everything’s more alive,” she whispered. “The trees. The colors. Even the sky.”
This wasn’t a tourist activity. This was one of those rare, true Andes healing retreats — the kind of journey that resets you from the inside out.
We walked back up slowly. No one said much. We didn’t have to.
Back at Vicente’s home, we drank tea and listened to him speak about his mission — not just to preserve tradition, but to share it, to let it evolve with care. What he offers through LLamaterapia y Sonido de Músicas Ancestrales is a new kind of wellness: grounded, cultural, ancestral.
This isn’t spa therapy. This is earth therapy. Animal therapy. Music that moves your bones and calms your nervous system.
I came expecting beauty. What I found was something transformational.
If this experience stirred something in you — if you’re craving deeper travel, the kind that connects you with real people, real traditions, and real transformation — we invite you to explore more. At Pie Experiences, we work hand in hand with local communities throughout the Sacred Valley and beyond to offer truly authentic journeys.
From hands-on weaving workshops in Chinchero to traditional cooking classes with Cusqueñan families, to spiritual ceremonies guided by local paqos, our curated experiences in and around Cusco go far beyond sightseeing.
👉 Visit our website to explore all of our local activities in Cusco — and let us help you build a journey that’s rooted, soulful, and unforgettable.
Want to experience this for yourself?
At Pie Experiences, we connect you to real, rooted experiences across South America. Join us in Cuyabajo for llama therapy in the Andes and an unforgettable session of sound healing in the Andes. This is more than a day trip — it’s a moment of awakening.
Contact us today to begin your Sacred Valley journey.
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