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Published: April 9th 2011
I've just showered (properly) for the first time in 5 days. Quite the effort I think. You see i've just returned from 4 days in the mountains around Chachapoyas. What a wonderful experience, challenging at times yes, but well worth the money and the effort.
Olga and I arrived in Chachapoyas after a big adventure from Vilacabamba across the border....a trip that took one and a half days probably because of the fact we needed 7 individual means of transport! The most relaxed border crossing I've crossed thus far included a ten year old girl entering our details into the computer system, in between completing her homework, and waking up a Peruvian official from his afternoon nap to stamp us in! Yep pretty damn relaxed!
Whilst it was a long journey, the views from Zumba, Ecuador to the border crossing in La Balsa were out of this world. Around every corner there was a different valley with different landscape...and whilst we were riding in the back of truck; which reminded me very much of the one that takes you around the Pioneer Settlement for the Light and Sound Show, it was worth the sore arse from all the bumps and it
more than made up for being accused of stealing a man's phone on the bus just hours before; oh the cheek of him!
So after one and a half days riding in trucks, on moto's, in taxis, being squashed in combi's and rattling along in old buses oh and after sleeping in the red light district where hotels are rented out per hour we arrived in Chachapoyas. A nice little town minus the fact for the entire evening and following day it rained like I've never seen rain before and we had no water...hence the no shower for 5 days thing!
Regardless we were off on our trek through the wonders of Chachapoyas and this was something to look forward to.
Friday came around fairly quickly and by 6.30 Olga was up and showered....she told me it was worth being clean to wash with the freezing cold rain water and so I agreed and within minutes I found myself washing from a bucket, a little more than a festival wash this time, I even managed, somehow, to wash my filthy hair and shave my disgustingly long leg hairs!
By 8.30 we had met our guide, Alcedes, I'd eaten some
more delicious beans from the market (my new, although no longer, obsession; corn, lentils, kidney and other random beans all thrown together in a bag, fresh and hot from the pots...mmmm breakfast!) and were on our way. First stop: Pueblo de los Martos a breathtaking ancient village sitting on the edge of a cliff. After walking downhill for about 3km we reached the ruins; yep bones included. Overlooking a national geographic worth valley, with the huge Gocta Waterfall in the distance we meandered our way through the trees and along the skinny paths to get a closer look at this piece of history. The houses were in fairly good shape, although unfortunately given how relaxed tourism is around here they had also been ruined with graffiti. However we were able to scale the cliff face and sit inside the houses, listen to Alcedes stories and gaze in wonderment at how amazingly talented these people were. I must say I wouldn't mind living there, on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a magnificant valley, wouldn't mind at all!
We were also lucky enough to see into some of the vases; a way for the ancient Peruvians to bury their loved ones;
although most of the time this was for people with more power, people of hierachy. These particular vases were moulded into shapes resembling humans and were very impressive; one had been broken apart and so yes we were able to play around with some ancient dead persons femur and teeth!
After about 2 hours of exploring we ventured back to the taxi (yes our transport was a local taxi driver!) and continued on to Sarcofagos Karajia which showcases the very impressive statues/tombs of some very important people. Unfortunately the photos don't do it justice, but when you're standing there, some 100meters below these 6 statues, which are positioned in an incredibly difficult position, on the edge of a cliff, it really puts into perspective how clever these people were and how important it was for them to honor their great leaders. There were six statues, each containing a mummy, one had been taken away to a museum and the other broken? Two of the tombs had skulls above them which Alcedes informed us meant the dead was some sort of warrior (the skull his prize!) They were all decorated differently and I'm sure Alcedes explained why, however I had become
very tired at this stage and my ability to understand Spanish was becoming harder and harder....did I mention that this entire four days were in SPanish?!!!
A quick history lesson for you; the Chachapoyas were Andean people living in the cloud forests of the Amazon region in today's Peru. They were conquered by the Incas, but not completely eliminated or assimilated. During the Spanish conquest wars, the conquistadores often had the Chachapoyas on their side against the Inca warriors...how about that?!!
Our final stop for the day was the awe inspiring Valle Huaylla Belen, so absolutely impressive I could have cried! Seriously, the tour company had shown us photos before we left and I thought oh yes this looks nice, but it was nothing, absolutely nothing compared to seeing it with your own eyes, and at the perfect time, about 5pm, as the sun was starting to set and the wild horses and cows were spread out alongside the river. Simply amazing. And as I said, the photos just won't do it justice but it was definitely the perfect end to a great day 1.
So after standing in awe of this natural 'snake inspired' river, we made our
way down the cliff to our bed for the night; a little shack with some dorm beds and a nice owner, a place where we were able to drink some much welcomed hot tea! and enjoy our delicious dinner prepared by Alcedes; I was going vego this trip so it was mash, rice and boiled brocolli, yummo! After making and enjoying the heat from the fire I retired to a very lumpy/saggy bed and enjoyed a relatively good sleep.
Up at the crack of dawn I gladly dragged myself out of the previously mentioned saggy bed and wandered around outside watching the fog rise from the valley and the spectacular views appear. As i was doing this I hear a "Buenos dias" it was Alcedes returning from an early morning fish, with yes his catch of the day; two super fresh trout, yummo!!!
We were off by 10, with our little packs, and instead of going the direct route we decided to wander through the valley, get chased by angry cows and attempt a spot of fishing! Unfortunately Olga and I failed to catch anything but Alcedes being the fisherman he is managed to catch two more fish, dinner for
tonight, bonus!
A lovely day, with the sun shining, and the insects buzzing, after giving up on Alcedes hopes of us catching any fish we crossed the ice cold river, next to some wild horses (awesome) and started our epic trek uphill to the jungle.
After about 4 intense hours of walking we made it to the tarzan swing Alcedes had been telling us about; the whole time I was trudging through thick ankle deep jungle mud I was thinking to myself, this better be worth it! But it was. A nature made tarzan swing, yep a jungle reed designed perfectly for two forgein tourists to swing on! If only it was bigger! Just as we'd finished having a swing and a giggle the sky opened up and it started pouring, this was the end of the sun and the beginning of fun?!
Slipping and sliding our way back to our now wet backpacks we continued our uphill slog on what was now slippery rocks and then continued down hill (far more stressful) until finally we arrived at our little hut for our picnic lunch; tuna, bread, advocado and tomato; not bad at all!
The rest didn't last all that
long and within 20 minutes we were putting our wet clothes, heavy packs and cold pnocho's back on ready for the long decent down to Congon, the village we'd be staying at.
After hmmm 30minutes of walking we reached the next archeological site 'Gran Vilaya' which I'm sure would have been much more impressive had it not been raining and had I not falling arse up on my way there, however yes it was an still pretty awesome to see this hand built, ancient ruin, and the fact that there is a whole village/s out there, yep pretty special. The best part about the last 3/4 hours of walking in the pouring rain, through mountains and over rocks, it was totally like something you'd see of Indiana Jones; going in search of treasure!! haha
I decided to change into my gum boots, which proved to be the best decision I'd made that day. It was just like being a kid again, no need to worry about my shoes getting muddy or stepping in a puddle too deep so as the water went into that one little hole in my shoe, life was looking a whole lot better now that my
pants had dried somewhat and my attitude had changed. By 4.30 we arrived at our home stay for the night, cold, wet and tired (yep the old legs were burning!) and oh we were blessed (or cursed as you'll soon find out) by the fact our family were the local bakerS! BINGO! Freshly made bread, straight from the mud brick oven; it was our lucky day!
It was so fantastic to be able to stay with a local family and see how they go about their daily lives. This town in particular was super interesting. There are no telephones in the whole town; one cell phone I think, that lives at the local shop (about the size of your toilet) for emergencies. Each family grows and distrubutes something different, whether it be coffee, coca, bread, milk, rice and as I said they sell it to each other. So after consuming our delcious bread we had several families coming to purchases....pretty neat idea and the fact this entire community literally lives off the land, very impressive indeed. The guinea pigs living in the kitchen eating the food scraps waiting to be killed and eaten, also very impressive and amusing when I
asked Alcedes what this wierd looking thing running around in the kitchen was!
The house was also home to two dogs, about 10 chooks, one crazy big rooster, huge pigs, a horse, coffee plants, a very effective outdoor laundry, the mud brick oven and a nice little bedroom for us to sleep oh and they had three borders living with them, all of whom were primary school teachers....my spanish failed me after the line that i taught children aged 6-8, unfortunate really. Althouh they did enjoy my stories about kangaroos and koala's, the very flat area that is the mallee and the fact that guinea pigs aren't eaten but in fact played with by children as pets!!
So after consuming far too much bread, telling stories and giving myself a much needed festival wash, forcing down some pasta and fish for dinner as instructed by our mother and climbing into bed I was asleep....but not for long, for tonight was the start of what has been an ongoing pain in my arse, well actually stomach, but you know what I mean. I was up the entire night with some of the worst pains I've ever experienced, terrible and the following
day after sipping on some home made tea and dreading the next 9 hours that would be our adventure to Choctamal, I was on a horse grimicing at the pain. It didn't last all that long as the fact it was super important to concentrate so as to not get your head taken off by low lying tree branches and crazy spiky, ouchy thorns. After cramping up more than twice I decided to get off and walk, but this didn't last long either, the trek was torturous, thick calf deep mud and vertical paths made it more difficult than bearing the pain of the cramps so I jumped back on. This uphill grind continued for 7 hours, 27 km, and yes Alcedes and our crazy horse man walked the entire way, and in the case of the horse man he did it without water or food, just coca leaves and lime! It proves they are effective after all!!
We stopped just before lunch to walk to some more ruins, another part of Gran Vilaya and this time we were able to appreciate it for what it was, an amazing ancient ruins in the middle of the thick jungle, in great
condition despite the fact it hadn't been restored. Apparently there are over 5,000 of these buildings in the Gran Vilaya area, some circular like the ones we were able to see and others rectangular, but mostly all made of limestone.
If it was at all possible I was starting to feel worse than before, it seems walking isn't the best at the moment, and so when I was asked to come in for lunch I almost hurled at the thought, however they had on offer some vegetarian soup and peppermint tea. I did my best with the soup, a couple of spoon fulls and devoured the tea; one thing I did learn growing up was that mint tea was great for an upset tummy; two cups please?!
Back on our horses and joining the two guys from the other tour we started what was the second part of the climb uphill and was it tough, yes I know that I was on a horse but it was constant (i had good training from the sheep mustering with my "chuaas" and "chhht's" which helped out my horse man greatly, he was so puffed he didn't have the energy to call out
and get my horse moving... I still don't know how these guys walked the whole way with minimal breaks, simply incredible, a good pre season training for any afl clubs out there!
By 3pm we arrived at the top of the moutain, after climbling over naturally formed jagged limestone rockfaces and along skinny paths, the view was amazing and as Alcedes said it was now time for a well deserved cigarette (We allowed him!) Within 5 minutes of getting our stuff unpacked the horse man was off again, back on his way to COngon, I'm not sure how long it was going to take to get down but this is one crazy m.f!
We had a short rest, drank some water and were on our way, a three hours hike to our bed for the night, thankfully in nice weather. The hike was fine, mostly down hill which although it sounds easy can be sometimes more straining than uphill.,..and after waiting for almost 20minutes for Olga and Alcedes to indulge in the fresh blackberries we arrived in Choctamal, to our little hostel with you guessed it no water!!!
I couldn't believe it, the one night I was actually looking forward
to a shower and the only place I had been provided with a towel and there was no water....hmmm festival wash it is, with the tiny bit of water collected from the down pouring rain....yes it had started to rain about 30minutes before arriving in the town, I guess we were lucky!
Dinner was served by 7 and I was ready to eat again (or so I thought) a delicious soup and vegetarian fritata, something different for once and gladly divulged!
After playing some cards and listening to some old school 80's music I was off to bed. It was cold but the pillow was minus lumps and the bed minus holes, so it was a good sleep. Pity I woke up feeling just as terrible as the previous day! We didn't leave until 10am, and at this point we had three others join our group from Chachapoyas, a lovely Mexican/Aussie couple and a German guy, oh and our transport this time was a very nice van, beats the taxi from the first day!
We were off to Kuelap, which is one of the largest stone structures in South America. It's situated on a ridge near the Utcubamba Valley and
is about 600 m long and 100m wide, yep pretty massive!
The Chachapoyas had built Kuelap in order to defend against the Huari people and other potential enemies and Alcedes told us a story about the Inca's finally intruding and taking over. It's believe that the complex of Kuelap dates back to the 6th century A.D which made walking around within its walls all the more special, to be inside a place with so much history, a lot of which isn't confirmed, was really cool.
The houses were amazing, none of the roofs were intact however a model has been remade as to how they used to look (see photo) the attention to detail was also very impressive, with decorative stone work on the insides and outsides of some of the houses. We also saw into what would have been a two story house, complete with little carved out windows and a long tunnel suspected to have been used for keeping guinea pigs.
All houses had a visible hole dug out and covered with stones; these were apparently graves/tombs for the decesased. Alcedes showed us around Kuelap for about 2-3 hours and I was oh so proud of myself for
being able to understand more of what he was saying today (immersion really is the best way to learn!) I had a fabulous day and it was topped off by being shown an apparently secret wall with bones hidden inside...whilst Olga and I had seen many bones throughout our 3 days the others found this super impressive! After walking back down we stopped back into our hostel for lunch before returning to Chachapoyas.
An amazing 4 days, not without effort, but with some amazing memories. If you get the chance you just have to visit Chachapoyas, the whole region is spectacular and there are so many opportunities for sight seeing. Unfortunately I just didn't have the time to stick around but honestly you should go there.
Two recommendations: the first comes with a warning! Hostel Revash is a great hostel and we got a great deal on our first two nights, 15sols each for a very nice and comfortable double room....however they are super super pushy about their tour. We decided to go with another agency and they simply wouldn't let up about it, up until the morning we were leaving for our tour they were dropping the price and
asking us to go with them; a little off putting. Oh and the night we returned we wanted to stay, but the owner said she couldn't give us the same price as she only lowered it in the first place because she thought we'd do the tour with her.....a little word of advice was spoken to the english speaking guide about treating the hostel and tour company separately or they'll get no tourists here.....i then ended up with a kiss on my departure!!
The second recommendation is to do the tour with Travel Chachapoyas, just along the main square, up from hostel Revash. Our guide Alcedes, whilst speaking Spanish, made it as easy as he could for us to understand, he spoke slowly and always repeated if we needed him to. He had a great sense of humour and zest for life and made our time enjoyable. The people you go through are also very friendly and enthusiastic about their tour which is why we chose them in the first place. As mentioned the home stay family was wonderful, such an experience and the food along the way was good. So if you're looking for a tour company I would
gladly recommend this one!
I am so happy I decided to spend the money and do this tour. It was a fabulous 4 days, which I would absolutely do again. As I've mentioned to many people since, the beauty of this area, especially at this time of year is that its quiet, super quiet. You don't see any other tourists (kuelap excluded) and on day two we only saw two men....so if you like to get off the beaten track and see something that I believe is once in a lifetime get yourself to Chachapoyas....direct buses to lima!!
Love, love, loved it and would love to return to explore more!
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