The
night bus from Trujillo took the expected 13hrs and we reached Chachapoyas as
the first of the day’s light was dawning.
It’s only a small town so it was a short walk down to the main square
where we were soon checked into Hostel Plaza.
At Soles40 a night for an en suite double it was very good value as we
were in an old colonial building directly facing Plaza de Armas. As we went in search of breakfast the bloke
behind reception asked if we were interested in a tour and promptly started
telling us about the very one we were wanted to do. Next thing you know we’d signed up and paid
for that morning’s 8.30am tour and we still hadn’t had a brew! However, by now the restaurant downstairs,
Chacha, had opened and since it was part of the same courtyard style building
as the hotel it fitted the bill perfectly.
Don’t
forget we’d been on a bus all night and by 8.30am we were back on a tourist van
and on our way to Kuelap some 70kms (3hrs) away. As we’d moved up from the coast we’d
encountered more cloud but up until then had only witnessed drizzle. It was definitely chilly back up in the hills
with Chachapoyas standing at 2300m. This
area of the Andes is very much of the rolling hills variety with distinctly
verdant valleys. Anyway let’s get to the
wonder / distraction that was part of our alternative route into Ecuador.
Kuelap
was built by the Chachapoyas peoples who pre date the Incas and in fact this
site is considered Peru’s second in historical and touristic value after Machu
Picchu. Being off the beaten track it
doesn’t get the hordes of visitors its lucky cousin does and therefore lacks
the funding to restore it to its former glory.
Obviously it was lovely not sharing the place with 2500 other visitors
but it would be great if the place was more popular as it deserves the
attention. The restoration work that has
been carried out looks carefully and lovingly done to our untrained eyes but at
the same time it’s interesting to see how the plants have taken over leading to
the place being ‘lost’.
Once
again little is known about these warrior people but they certainly found a good,
safe spot to build their city and they were great builders. The outer walls are massive and they
incorporated a narrow entrance to prevent the enemy being able to enter en
masse. Plus this system was built in a
double layer just to make sure no one penetrated the heart of their city. Interestingly the homes were build circular
and it looks like the resulting gaps between the buildings served as
passageways and water channels. The
stones aren’t decorated as with many other ancient cultures but they did use
flat, slender stones to adorn their homes with a rhomboid patterned
frieze. Steve was astounded to find out
that the Humphreys brothers had travelled all the way to Peru to gain the
inspiration for the Umbro logo!!
From
the ticket office (Soles15 each to get in by the way) there’s about a 20min
walk to the wonder and by the time we reached the outer walls we realised that
we’d lost our group and guide. We
weren’t bothered and had a good look around the place ourselves and it was
impressive enough to keep us entertained for well over an hour. We kept expecting our group to catch up with
us but of course they never did – how much can you say about piles of stones? By this time the dark clouds had blown
towards us, it was getting colder and the drizzle was developing so we legged
it back to the van. Unbelievably the
rest of the group didn’t return for another hour and a half and we were
starving. We’d pre-booked lunch in the
nearest village on the way up but by the time it was put in front of us it was
past 3pm; that’s not lunch time in anyone’s book. I think we were just tired after being on a
bus all night then spending the bulk of the day sitting in another van.
Kuelap
was well worth a visit and I hope it gets more funding so the excellent
restoration work can be continued; they could bill it as the poor man’s Machu
Picchu. Well, Peru already boasts the
poor man’s Galapagos so why not?!
