CHACHAPOYAS (Land of the Clouds)
17 May 2003
Eventually we saw from the overnight bus a cluster of lights in the distance which turned out to be Chachapoyas. It was a typical mountain village which could have been Kullu or Old Manali in NW India, heavy carved wooden balconies with overhanging tiled roofs. Even at 4am, before sunrise, the cafes were full of Peruvians socialising. The bus was surrounded by touts as usual, a young man approached offering to take us to the Hotel Revash. I hesitated until I discovered that this was the one I had highlighted in the LP. It turned out to be a fine old building built around a courtyard including a couple of banana trees and our front room overlooked the main square. I checked the lav which flushed easily, the water in the shower was hot and agreed to take the room for 40s per night. They didn't serve breakfast so off to bed for 6 hours sleep, happy that I had carried the rucksack to the hotel without problem, so 2350m was not going to be a problem.
After a shower we locked the main rucksack, turned the key in at the desk where we found they were agents for Andes Tours and offered us a trip to Kuelap with an overnight stop at Tingo and then on to Leimebamba for 100s each. The young lad spoke clear slow Spanish and was easy to communicate with, but first I needed to feel better and time to investigate alternatives and become more knowledgeable about the earlier civilisations so we agreed to talk later.
There was a glorious view from our window onto the square which was always alive with Peruvians strolling, sitting, talking. We found the Matalache and although it was 11:30 went in for a breakfast of juice, a half pint glass full of hot milk and some coffee and a jam butty.We both felt a little breathless as we walked there (made much worse by our colds)but then went for a walk to a new petrol station on the edge of town - 8s per US gallon of diesel, 10s and 12s for 84 octane and 90 octane respectively. Everyone seemed very friendly and we were so far avoiding the tour guide pimps for the time being.
The sky was overcast but always moving with the sun breaking through as we sat in seats overlooking the square and the inner courtyard with it's lovely wooden balcony and staircases. We have grown used to the fact that a nine hour plane journey can transport us from Britain to an exotic land but now we see a bus can lead us from the irrigated fertile plains of Chiclayo to this high mountain refuge. It is simply laid back and charming, as Joan said the kids look like kids not young people in school uniform. There is a British rural atmosphere here and the weather is like a good spring day for within the last two minutes the sky has become largely blue. Only the line of tall aerials, satellite dishes and microwave repeaters on the hills opposite to the north or the electricity distribution wires in the square below betray that we are in the twenty first century.
There is very little traffic, just a few large white taxis, mini buses. This is a town of 20,000 pedestrians. The dress is still normal but almost all of the girls in trousers as elsewhere in the Peru we have seen. No sign of the top hats worn by Andean women, ponchos or other flamboyant forms of dress.
"What is this life if full of care there is no time to stand and stare". Chachapoyas would have suited W H Davies.
We have not seen a supermarket, not even a grocery store nor an Internet Cafe or a photocopy shop. Very comfortable heavy wooden furniture. We will be happy here. Eating Club Social biscuits and toasted almonds from Chiclayo we wonder if we will ever buy more here. Remembering the El Centro supermarket in Chiclayo with its range of goods as great as you would find in a British supermarket of similar size.
White houses, lovely windows, a church of unusual shape, wooden balconies, a plaza full of green lawns, shrubbery, wooden seats and people lazing time away. Feeling full of cold and with a sore throat - no me sento bien. Tengo un resfriado y anginas. Now the weather changes again to the same pitter-patter of light rain as on arrival.
19 May Kuelap
Accompanied by Yanic the Greek self styled Vagabond, met the previous day in the small museum in Chachapoyas plaza. I was low on confidence not really sure how to proceed in this true Latin America, he advised me to pluck up courage and go to talk to the numerous taxi drivers waiting endlessly for trade on the Plaza de Armas. 'You ask him' he instructed me in Spanish and in doing so kickstarted our trip accompanying me to the first taxi in the row waiting in the plaza. He was right it wasn't daunting and soon we had organised a trip together to Kuelap for the following morning.
The road was to Ting was closed 6am to 6pm for major road repairs except for their hour long lunch break. We set out a 10:30 and were soon waiting in the long queue for opening time.
The taxi was a newish Toyota Corollo estate fitted with reassuring crash bars driven by a very pleasant young driver. The route tortuous changing from high precipices to low sections just a couple of feet above a raging river, through lovely hills cultivated on 45 degree slopes with potatoes, maize and a pea green vegetable. We stopped in Tingo for petrol and a snack then he drove up the side track through Maria as far as possible and left us with a half hour walk to Kuelap. He would wait four hours.
Recently in 2015 there have been proposals of a cable car and of Kuelap (3100m) acquiring the same tourist status as Machu Picchu, it was very different then though has recently been the subject of another BBC4 program on the lost civilisations of South America. The taxi took us up the mountain to the end of the road and left us to complete the ascent by gentle footpath, the walk was delightful with a marvelous range of Autumn flowers.
There is absolutely no written recollection of the visit to the mountain fortress, though it was an unforgettable experience as I hope will be obvious once the photos have been added. The only written comments are 'my daily oiling' which I assume was the application of sun blocking lotion, and ATITIKI which apparently is honey from the Athens region sold in metallic jars - the significance of which alludes me.
We were greeted at the entrance hut by a few grazing llamas and had to sign the visitors book before entry. It was rarely visited and that day we were the only visitors. After walking together through the narrow defensible entrance in the impressive high stone wall Yanic left for his own exploration.
It was a wonderful experience in a magical mountain top full of the signs of ancient life and magnificent views, small wonder that we expected to be disappointed later
by the comparison between this remote unknown mountain paradise and
Machu Pichu.
20 May Lerido, Yalape and Coja Cruz
We are getting the habit of hiring taxis, this one around the above named places took 6 hours and cost just 40s. With luck the photos will carry the narrative I seem to remember one of Oxen ploughing a mountain side, another of a post mistress spinning wool as she walked along the mountain road. The day was notable for picking up Eduardo a Swedish tourist whose wife is working with Save The Children charity in Lima. He called himself a professional tourist with a special interest in birds and yesterday had seen a Variable Hawk, so called because they came in several different plumages.
Ed had many recommendations some of which we took up later
Huaraz, to Yungay and Yungay to Llanganulo Lakes by collectivo.
Pisco, El Chago is the port for boats to the Ballestas Islands
Nasca, the hotel El Nido del Condor with swimming pool
21 May Leimebamba
Another taxi to overnight in Leimebamba via Revash burial cliff , not mentioned in the LP. After we had made the booking the driver returned to ask if his wife and son, who had a day of holiday from school could come as passengers.
Just before arriving at Revash we went through a small hamlet and photographed a woman weaving outside her house.
Having just parked the taxi at Revash we met men collecting boomerang shaped pieces of wood from the woods near the torrential river with which they intended to build a water wheel to drive millstones to grind their maize. We also spoke to a Chilean who expressed great pleasure at the way Joan was moving following her recent knee replacement, his great friend was an English Doctor he had worked with in China 20 years earlier. I seem to remember he had mobility problems of his own and had not made it to the mountain cliff burials.
Joan wouldn't have either but for the friendly but determined help from the taxi driver's wife nor help from the woodsman who cut her a series of steps in the final slippery slope. That I didn't tip him for such a vital contribution, mainly because of wanting to hide my money from the taxi driver's family, is one of my great regrets of the trip. Getting there at all was a great achievement for us both, like Kuelap another highlight of the trip.
We had a nice Sopa de Galina (boiling hen) at Hospedaje de la Laguna de los Condores at Leimebamba
22 May
The main attraction was the fine new (1999) Austrian sponsored museum Centro Mallqui in Leimebamba, the LP says its Austrian, which housed over one hundred mummies recovered in 1997 from the Laguna de los Condores cliff site nearby. Numerous keen researchers were now currently making a detailed DNA study of the mummies. They were comparing DNA with the current population of the region in order to study migration and extinction.
We spent a good deal of time at the Raymi Pampa cafe in the main plaza. In particular we had a long chat with David a young engineer from Brunel and Cambridge Universities who had just started with a small management consultancy firm and Brian an Aussie who was travelling for a year in South America then Alaska and Europe. David had smashed his knee in a motor bike accident a year ago but was having great problems after walking down a cater with a heavy rucksack, Brian was now carrying both their rucksacks. They later left to be driven across the Andes to Celedin for 170s, by the owner of the cafe in his 4 wheel drive.
The owner had just moved his family from Arequipa an impressive southern city, see later on return from Machu Pichu. His 13 year old daughter Vanessa had been born in Arequipa as had her father but her mother was from Amazonas a vast largely low lying region of Peru, of which Chachapoyas was once the Capital. Vanessa helped a good deal with Spanish pronunciation, she not surprisingly missed her friends.
That evening in the plaza a high lorry with livestock arrived from Celedin and from their perch on top of the hay came N Mark and a Swiss girl. We had dinner together, the girl in particular was raving about the trip describing it as the best scenery of their trip in the Andes. We investigated the daily bus from the plaza to Celedin and came to the conclusion it would be crowded and uncomfortable and resolved to wait for the return of the owner.
23 May
The owner had not yet returned, because they had gone through to Cajamarca no doubt because of David's knee problems, and that required an unintended night's stop over. When we saw him at 3:30 he said there were problems with his car, Vanessa referred to it as un carro malgrado.
We set out on the Inca road to Congana 3200m, but turned back quite tired enough having climbed almost to the top. Not much activity though we saw a country woman bringing her washing in, the other locals were mainly on horseback, usually with a couple of other horses used as pack animals often huge bags of sand dug from the col being taken down to the town for use in construction, another with corn to be used as seed.
In town girls were washing their clothes in a stream which had been diverted to run along the street, and a group of boys were fighting with spinning tops. Put a lot of tops together on the road then throw a spinning top onto the top of the pile and at least one comes out spinning.
At 3:30 all the women were collecting their milk in large plastic bottles. The day had started clear blue but changeable as ever had turned to cloud , sun , then light rain but by 4:30 the sky was clear blue once more. A man on a horse stopped to exchange a few words, shake hands and continue on his way. People were always friendly in The Land of the Clouds.
24 May Across the Andes by 4 wheel drive
The owner finally agreed to take us but only to Celedin, not the whole way to Cajamarca - and for a slightly increased price compared to that paid by the two lads for the same distance. He undertook to drop us at a suitable hotel. Even so the crossing to 5000+ metres took him all day so he would have recrossed the Andes in the dark. The trip lived up to the Swiss girl's memory, another highlight of an exciting trip to Peru, one described inadequately by occasional photos taken on route.
The hotel at Celedin was not inspiring but quite good enough for a short night, for we had to leave by the 4am bus to Cajamarca, though it was 5:30 and a few passenger seeking trips around town before we finally left just before dawn with just 8 people. A feature was banter competition between combi drivers and the bus, they were offering the trip for 5s but the bus kept quiet for its fair was 10s
17 May 2003
Eventually we saw from the overnight bus a cluster of lights in the distance which turned out to be Chachapoyas. It was a typical mountain village which could have been Kullu or Old Manali in NW India, heavy carved wooden balconies with overhanging tiled roofs. Even at 4am, before sunrise, the cafes were full of Peruvians socialising. The bus was surrounded by touts as usual, a young man approached offering to take us to the Hotel Revash. I hesitated until I discovered that this was the one I had highlighted in the LP. It turned out to be a fine old building built around a courtyard including a couple of banana trees and our front room overlooked the main square. I checked the lav which flushed easily, the water in the shower was hot and agreed to take the room for 40s per night. They didn't serve breakfast so off to bed for 6 hours sleep, happy that I had carried the rucksack to the hotel without problem, so 2350m was not going to be a problem.
After a shower we locked the main rucksack, turned the key in at the desk where we found they were agents for Andes Tours and offered us a trip to Kuelap with an overnight stop at Tingo and then on to Leimebamba for 100s each. The young lad spoke clear slow Spanish and was easy to communicate with, but first I needed to feel better and time to investigate alternatives and become more knowledgeable about the earlier civilisations so we agreed to talk later.
 |
| CHACHAPOYAS, far side of Plaza de Armas |
The sky was overcast but always moving with the sun breaking through as we sat in seats overlooking the square and the inner courtyard with it's lovely wooden balcony and staircases. We have grown used to the fact that a nine hour plane journey can transport us from Britain to an exotic land but now we see a bus can lead us from the irrigated fertile plains of Chiclayo to this high mountain refuge. It is simply laid back and charming, as Joan said the kids look like kids not young people in school uniform. There is a British rural atmosphere here and the weather is like a good spring day for within the last two minutes the sky has become largely blue. Only the line of tall aerials, satellite dishes and microwave repeaters on the hills opposite to the north or the electricity distribution wires in the square below betray that we are in the twenty first century.
 |
| Our balcony at Hotel Revash overlooked the taxi rank |
"What is this life if full of care there is no time to stand and stare". Chachapoyas would have suited W H Davies.
We have not seen a supermarket, not even a grocery store nor an Internet Cafe or a photocopy shop. Very comfortable heavy wooden furniture. We will be happy here. Eating Club Social biscuits and toasted almonds from Chiclayo we wonder if we will ever buy more here. Remembering the El Centro supermarket in Chiclayo with its range of goods as great as you would find in a British supermarket of similar size.
White houses, lovely windows, a church of unusual shape, wooden balconies, a plaza full of green lawns, shrubbery, wooden seats and people lazing time away. Feeling full of cold and with a sore throat - no me sento bien. Tengo un resfriado y anginas. Now the weather changes again to the same pitter-patter of light rain as on arrival.
19 May Kuelap
Accompanied by Yanic the Greek self styled Vagabond, met the previous day in the small museum in Chachapoyas plaza. I was low on confidence not really sure how to proceed in this true Latin America, he advised me to pluck up courage and go to talk to the numerous taxi drivers waiting endlessly for trade on the Plaza de Armas. 'You ask him' he instructed me in Spanish and in doing so kickstarted our trip accompanying me to the first taxi in the row waiting in the plaza. He was right it wasn't daunting and soon we had organised a trip together to Kuelap for the following morning.
The road was to Ting was closed 6am to 6pm for major road repairs except for their hour long lunch break. We set out a 10:30 and were soon waiting in the long queue for opening time.
 |
| Road Block |
Recently in 2015 there have been proposals of a cable car and of Kuelap (3100m) acquiring the same tourist status as Machu Picchu, it was very different then though has recently been the subject of another BBC4 program on the lost civilisations of South America. The taxi took us up the mountain to the end of the road and left us to complete the ascent by gentle footpath, the walk was delightful with a marvelous range of Autumn flowers.
 |
| Taxi parked Joan starts the walk up to Kuelap |
 |
| LLAMA grazing by entrance to Kuelap |
 |
| Narrow uphill entrance track to Kuelap |
 |
| ENTER IF YOU DARE |
 |
| YANIC parts company at Kuelap |
 |
| Reconstructed Round House Base |
 |
| Reconstructed Round House |
 |
| KUELAP more typical scene |
We are getting the habit of hiring taxis, this one around the above named places took 6 hours and cost just 40s. With luck the photos will carry the narrative I seem to remember one of Oxen ploughing a mountain side, another of a post mistress spinning wool as she walked along the mountain road. The day was notable for picking up Eduardo a Swedish tourist whose wife is working with Save The Children charity in Lima. He called himself a professional tourist with a special interest in birds and yesterday had seen a Variable Hawk, so called because they came in several different plumages.
 |
| Oxen Plowing |
 |
| Postlady spins as she walks |
 |
| Finished a day's hard farm labour |
 |
| Near Chachapoyas Village scene |
Huaraz, to Yungay and Yungay to Llanganulo Lakes by collectivo.
Pisco, El Chago is the port for boats to the Ballestas Islands
Nasca, the hotel El Nido del Condor with swimming pool
21 May Leimebamba
Another taxi to overnight in Leimebamba via Revash burial cliff , not mentioned in the LP. After we had made the booking the driver returned to ask if his wife and son, who had a day of holiday from school could come as passengers.
 |
| Taxi Driver and family |
 |
| Woman weaving on street outside her home |
Having just parked the taxi at Revash we met men collecting boomerang shaped pieces of wood from the woods near the torrential river with which they intended to build a water wheel to drive millstones to grind their maize. We also spoke to a Chilean who expressed great pleasure at the way Joan was moving following her recent knee replacement, his great friend was an English Doctor he had worked with in China 20 years earlier. I seem to remember he had mobility problems of his own and had not made it to the mountain cliff burials.
Joan wouldn't have either but for the friendly but determined help from the taxi driver's wife nor help from the woodsman who cut her a series of steps in the final slippery slope. That I didn't tip him for such a vital contribution, mainly because of wanting to hide my money from the taxi driver's family, is one of my great regrets of the trip. Getting there at all was a great achievement for us both, like Kuelap another highlight of the trip.
 |
| The Burial Mountainside at Revash |
 |
| REVASH BURIAL HOUSE |
 |
| They got her there! |
22 May
 |
| MUMMIE STUDY MUSEUM at LEIMEBAMBA |
The main attraction was the fine new (1999) Austrian sponsored museum Centro Mallqui in Leimebamba, the LP says its Austrian, which housed over one hundred mummies recovered in 1997 from the Laguna de los Condores cliff site nearby. Numerous keen researchers were now currently making a detailed DNA study of the mummies. They were comparing DNA with the current population of the region in order to study migration and extinction.
We spent a good deal of time at the Raymi Pampa cafe in the main plaza. In particular we had a long chat with David a young engineer from Brunel and Cambridge Universities who had just started with a small management consultancy firm and Brian an Aussie who was travelling for a year in South America then Alaska and Europe. David had smashed his knee in a motor bike accident a year ago but was having great problems after walking down a cater with a heavy rucksack, Brian was now carrying both their rucksacks. They later left to be driven across the Andes to Celedin for 170s, by the owner of the cafe in his 4 wheel drive.
The owner had just moved his family from Arequipa an impressive southern city, see later on return from Machu Pichu. His 13 year old daughter Vanessa had been born in Arequipa as had her father but her mother was from Amazonas a vast largely low lying region of Peru, of which Chachapoyas was once the Capital. Vanessa helped a good deal with Spanish pronunciation, she not surprisingly missed her friends.
 |
| LEIMEBAMBA |
23 May
The owner had not yet returned, because they had gone through to Cajamarca no doubt because of David's knee problems, and that required an unintended night's stop over. When we saw him at 3:30 he said there were problems with his car, Vanessa referred to it as un carro malgrado.
We set out on the Inca road to Congana 3200m, but turned back quite tired enough having climbed almost to the top. Not much activity though we saw a country woman bringing her washing in, the other locals were mainly on horseback, usually with a couple of other horses used as pack animals often huge bags of sand dug from the col being taken down to the town for use in construction, another with corn to be used as seed.
 |
| Pack Horses carrying building sand |
 |
| Fighting with Spinning Tops |
 |
| Girls washing clothes in the street, thanks to diverted river |
 |
| CHICKENS , TO or FROM MARKET? |
24 May Across the Andes by 4 wheel drive
 |
| Crossing the high Andes |
 |
| CROSSING ANDES IN NORTH PERU |
The hotel at Celedin was not inspiring but quite good enough for a short night, for we had to leave by the 4am bus to Cajamarca, though it was 5:30 and a few passenger seeking trips around town before we finally left just before dawn with just 8 people. A feature was banter competition between combi drivers and the bus, they were offering the trip for 5s but the bus kept quiet for its fair was 10s
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