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Published: March 6th 2007
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The trip to Kuelap was an adventure. We decided to go after hearing from a few travelers and our guide book about how amazing it was. We heard that it was recently rediscovered and is the future Macchu Picchu of northern Peru, just not as touristy and busy. So even though it wasnt in our original travel plans we decided to go for it anyway. The only problem was how we were going to get there. We were in Cajamarca when we decided to go, and there were two options to get there: rough it by jeep for 20+ hours on unpaved rocky roads that could possibly be flooded because it was rainy season in the mountains, or head back to Chiclayo by a confortable bus on a paved road and then take another comfy bus to Chachapoyas, which was the closest city to Kuelap. We decided to do the latter, and it worked out to be about the same time in travel, except this one was risk and pain-free.
We arrived in Chachapoyas early in the morning after a bumpy and swervy nightbus after passing through numerous waterfalls that we couldnt see but we could definitlely hear and feel.
It was so incredibly cold, and we could definitely feel the altitude. We were greeted by a young man our age who offered to take us to his hotel nearby, it was a blessing to have met him because we didnt have a clue as to where we would stay, and since it was 5am it would be forced to wait at the freezing bus station until a decent hour had we not met him. So he walked us to a very nice hotel right in front of the main plaza of armas that had its own courtyard and piping hot showers, much needed after a cold long night. We wanted to go to Kuelap that day and were told that a tour was leaving at 8:30am, giving us about 3 hours to sleep before another long day. We slept as best we could until we heard a loud knock at the door which felt like 15 minutes after we got there, it was the tour guide telling us that the group was waiting for us outside. We quickly showered, ate a quick bite of breakfast and was in the stationwagon ready to see Kuelap.
The first hour on
the road was nice and smooth, the beautiful morning sun shining on all of the green hills and trees along the road. Our guide/driver was playing really relaxing quechua music with flutes and calm chanting, which definitly set the vibes for our trip back in time. Then we hit gravel, and eventually hit dirt and rocks for the rest of the trip to get there. Immediately we could feel that this trip was really undeveloped for tourism, which was a big plus since we really wanted to get away from the gringo trail. The road to Kuelap was all uphill and windy, and we passed may indigineous communities along the way. Finally we got to the base of the final climb to Kuelap, and were in awe by the beauty of the ancient fortress that lies along the summit of a mountain crest, more than 1km in length.
Our guide was very informative and taught us everything he knew about Kuelap while walking us around and inside the pre-Inca stone walled city which was re-discovered in 1843. The city contains many circular small housed made of stone, and most of the area has been left in its original cloud
forest setting. There were many human and animal remains left inside some the the stone structures, we could even see old fossils and bones some by peeping through the cracks of the walls. Our guide sayed many people believe that Kuelap was built to house the remains of the important people in the nearby communities long before the spaniards or even the incans came around. It was a very sacred site, and we could feel the calm energy while we where there. The view from Kuelap down to the nearby valleys and mountain ranges was amazing.
We had a couple of hours to walk around before it started raining. We were some of the only tourists that came up that day, the only other people there were the local archeologists who were restoring some of the old buildings.
It was an incredible experience, the photos i have provided in know way do it justice. It was to be seen in person to really appreciate. We finished our day by eating organic food at a nearby house overlooking the beautiful sunset over the hills. A perfect ending to a great day.
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Shannon Davis
non-member comment
so is it as good as m.p.?
Is it really the next M.P.? Wondering if it's worth making the long journey out there or whether to spend the time at Chan-Chan.