Chachapoyas, and why Kuelap is better than Machu Picchu

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Note that as is with anything, words can not discribe an experience, that goes double for this blog as I try my best to remember and recollect all that I have experienced while in the Chachapoyas area.

My first memory of Chachapoyas is arriving in the morning before any light and talking to the kid who walked me to my hostal about the area, and hearing for the first of many times how safe and tranquil the Chachapoyan streets are at all hours. Needless to say this is a good sign, and the fact that I stayed at the nicest hostel I have been in for half the normal price was also a perk. Of course coming in the low season also can backfire, since this means lots of rain, but what is a jungle trek without rain and mud?

My first day in Chachapoyas was spent wondering the town and signing up for a day trip to Kuelap, the main attraction in the area. This seemed fine until I started talking to the owner of my hostel (who is also a guide) about guided trips. I explained that I will also be guiding in Peru and wanted something I could do on my own. This started what was to be possible my best experience so far in South America. I switched my day trip to Kuelap for a different day trip and proceded to get instructions from the owner of my hostel on a self guided four day trek to Kuelap.

First I needed to go on the day trip that I had paid for, so interestingly enough I started the next day at 5am with a group that was also doing a four day trek to Kuelap. I just happened to be tagging along for a day while they were doing the driving part to two areas with sarcophaguses placed sheer cliffs. These places turned out to be very interesting as there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. The first place we visited I was very surprised that the taxi drivers station wagon could even get there as I have seen people who would not take their SUV´s on these types of roads. However we did make it and with a nice little walk we were within fifty meters or less of several sarcophaguses and mosoleums in the cliffs. There were also some bones, pieces of fabric and a human skull by the trail that you could walk up to and touch if you wanted. They had either fallen out of the cliffs or the broken ruins of sarcofigas that were below the still intact specimens in the cliff. On the way out we talked to a German archeologist who was on his way back to the road and I started to get an idea of the quantity number of ruins in the area. The second site the we visited is the most important of the sites with sarcophaguses, Karajía, has the sarcophaguses of the most important leaders of the Chachpoyan culture and are well protected in a larger cliff. The sarcophaguses themselves are very proud looking with human skulls hanging off of them and everything. After the walk in and out we started the last leg of the tour to the Valley Belen where the group would be sleeping in the night. The road in was bad, really bad, so muddy we pushed the car out once and the group had to start hiking to the Valley. The driver and I turned around to go back to Chachapoyas and I got to push the car out one more time before we got on back to any decent road.

The next day I woke up early enough to get the rest of my instructions for the trek to come, double check I knew what I was up against, head out to buy some supplies and catch a ride to the first stop. I arrived at Colcamar at about 11 am and after asking around found the head of the cultural center who arranged a local 18 year old named Julio who would guide me to the ruins of Sholon. I made sure to add the kids age because he is probably the first person in a while who put me to the test when it comes to hiking. We hiked hard to the ruins, which was some more sarcophaguses along with some round house structures covered in jungle. We then started the long hike to the Valley Belen and this is were the test began as we hiked hard uphill and as usual I was carrying the most wieght in my pack, but I gotta train some how. Also you have to love the fact that the kid carried a small boom box radio the whole trek which worked some of the time, but never was very clear. This hike itself was fairly scenic and the view we got of the valley was awesome. Once in the valley I jumped a lot of streams, while Julio crossed easily in sandals and shorts. The last spot required full boot removal as we arrived at the cabin of Senoir Aldo, where we had planned to stay the night. One small problem though, Senior Aldo was not there and the cabins that normally remained unlocked were very much locked. So with no tent or means to camp we had very few choices, we began hiking hard to where I was to spend the second night. This was exhuasting as the path was both steep, muddy, slick, rocky, and we had only so much day light left. The first house that we came too had rooms for guests, but already was full of family guests. This was right at dark, so out came the headlamp and we continued on in the dark. This was the sketchiest hour and a half as there was a thick fog that we walked through and even with the headlamp it was very hard to see. Also the kid seemed to think I wanted to run down the damn hill, but I kind of like my body intact and I did slip and kiss the ground a couple of times, so I went at a good pace, but the kid would just fly and have to wait occassionally. We did make it finally to the actual village of Congon and the first house had two guest beds with are names on them. The first night at the house was a lot for my tired mind as my guide and the woman of the household talked in a mixture of mainly Quechau and some Spanish, but I had some awesome coffee and warm food. We slept hard that night.

Julio left at five in the morning so he could get home in good timing. I also wonder if he was worried he might have to pay for the night. I on the other hand slept hard, despite the fact the bed was just a wooden frame and blankets over the wooden planks. The roosters had no effect until around 9:00, however once awake I was quickly ordered to have breakfast and coffee. I must explain this coffee that I drank during my stay, the family that I lived with are of course farmers as everyone is in Congon and they harvested coffee to sell. This coffee was all natural and the stuff I drank was also prepared naturally, making this coffee the only coffee I have every thought was truly tasty. The whole family drank coffee from the tiniest child to grandma, and as far as I can tell it was served at every meal. I am not a coffee conocier, but this coffee seemed to have a lot less caffiene, which I will attribute to the fact that it was as natural as coffee gets. While drinking my delcious brew I tried visting with the young woman that was my new host. The one success I had was explaining I wanted to see the ruins of Purquilla that we had past in the dark foggy night. So I ended up hiring her brother as a guide and we set off for the ruins some time in the late morning. Robeson was the name of my guide and he was more of a guides age, in his late twenties. We walked hard uphill, passing all the nasty stuff I had come tumbling down in the night until we started seeing ruins. The ruins themself were easy to find as the walls of some of the houses where located right next to the trail. The part where the guide came in handy, was in knowing the trails as these trails weaved in and out of the jungle on both sides of the road. We walked some burly stuff, and I could see why your normal traveler would not even be told of these ruins. Literally there were times I was clinging to and climbing over ruins to stay on the path and not fall down steep jungle covered hills. The ruins themself where most likely an old village that was slighty fortified, as some of the walls where twice as tall as I am. Nothing had been excavated of course, and everything was round which signifies personal dwellings for the Pre-Incan culture of the Chachapoyan people. It seemed like the camera just wanted to shoot, and I would have taken twice as long had I not had my guide waiting for my everytime I wanted to take a picture. Overall the days walk was not a long one, as we returned to Congon by early afternoon. Then we had some time to kill, so I tried to communicate, which worked more or less depending on which words they used Spanish or Quechua. I did become a celebrity with the pack of kids that the two young familys had. I had brought just enough random candy just for kids, along with some other snacks, that we spent a while trying out my crazy foriegn treats (which is funny becasue most of it was from Chachapoyas). After I had divied out enough food, the camera came out, this was a huge hit. The adults had seen some cameras, but nothing like a modern digital camera. With the kids who knows if they had any experience with electronics, but we spent hours taking pictures and then looking at them. The kids would try to show off and be movies stars for me so that I would snap a picture with them in the center spotlight and not the one next to them. This was entertaining as they posed with dolls, frolicked with the goat, caught bees, and generally acted like funny little kids. Even the adults got a kick out of the camera later on as I snapped a few more pictures, but when the battery died I had to save the last one for Kuelap. For dinner I busted out the tuna, bread, and peas that I had bought to cook with Senoir Aldo. So the family busted out some noodles and cooked some plantains and we had a very nice dinner. After dinner I got to look at a book that a group from Spain had made after a visit to Congon and sent one to the family. It had some very interesting reaserach on the area, and was also interesting to see what a long research type excursion was like. After all of that I again slept well as the next day would be the most challenging.

I woke up earlier on this third day as the walking was meant to be long and hard. It was looking to be easy as I thought I had made an agreement to rehire my giude from the day before to get me to the ruins of Lanche, but when I had breakfast and asked when he would be ready I found out he was in the field working. I will attribute this to a lack of commincation as the money that he would recieve for a day of guiding was far more than one day in the field. But in a way things worked out the better, I started this trip with God alone as my guide, and I might as well do the last big hike in the same manner. So I got some rough directions from my host, paid for the food and lodging and started walking. This would prove to be a challenge indeed, in the begginning not so much as I passed a lot of people and could verify my path. The head games came when there was a fork in the road, effectively crossing the river to go over one hill or continuing ahead. This would have not been a problem but no one told me about it. I went with my gut and what seemed right and continued ahead. The walk was hard, with tons of muddy, steep, horseridden mountain trail to cover. And of course all I had was rough lengths of time on how long it should be to reach the ruins. So I plunged ahead and covered a lot of groud over two to three hours without seeing a soul. The terrain was beautiful though, cloud rainforrest in every direction. Finally while having a snack I met a another local walking the trail fast in the other direction. He spoke very oddly, but I got enough information to verify that I was going the right way, that he knew the ruins where close. He gave me rough directions which I could only partially understand, and wanted a tip which he recieved in the form of random food, or Chachapoyan equivalant of a Slim Jim. I walked ahead and turned on to a trail that I thought had the ruins, got about a half an hour side tracked, and was cursing the guy who I had talked to as I arrived back where I started a half an hour later. YouI needed to remain confident though as I followed the trail ahead past some abandoned buildings and stood on top of a hill overlooking a field and the whole valley below. Farther ahead I found what I was looking for, the farmers house that lived by the ruins, and of course catered to the tourists coming by to check out the ruins. The couple was fairly elderly, but in great condition, and I hired the old man to take me through the ruins. These ruins where farther off of the trail, and a bit smaller. This would have been just a small village, with nothing but small walls and all in the same circular fashion. There were some nice examples of stones used for preparing food that had been worked hard and had the nice bowl shape of a mortar. Again we covered some sketchy terrain and I was impressed by how well the old man climbed over the walls, and vines and nasty trail. The funny part was when I got to see the part which another farmer was using as a field. It covered some ruins as he had worked the groud where there was walls, but the funny thing was I had stood on the edge of this field looking right at the direction of the ruins, and never noticed a thing. This gave me a good perspective on why things are still lost in the jungle, the jungle can hide anything with ease. After our walk I was sweating so I sat down with the couple, bought a drink and snack, and had a nice visit. This was a bit surreal as we conversed in the fog I watched the steam roll off of my body for what seemed like a half hour. I did feel quite proud though, the couple explained to me that I was crazy for going without a guide and expressed there concern, I was the first foriegner to do this trek without a guide. While visiting I explained how the people in the area where so friendly and with a bit of knowledge and Spanish I felt confident with God as my only guide. Lastly I took some pictures of some awesome orchids they were growing and started the last leg of the hike. This part was super surreal, walking through the foggy cloud resting on the mountain, checking out hummingbirds and orchids while hiking now the ridgeline of the mountain. I pushed hard through a rainy section at the end and finally dropped down into the town of Choctamal, which actually had a road for cars, electricity, and seemed like a metropolis despite the fact it was basically a one horse town. Dinner was great, and of course amplified by the full days hike. I finished the night listening to the owners son play guitar and again slept very hard.

My last day started very early as I had been told that I needed to be waiting outside at 6am in order to catch a ride to Kuelap. I am not sure if the cars came by earlier than 6 or if it was a hoax. I stopped a couple cars that where going to the wrong place, got offered a very overpriced ride by a cab, and finally hitched a ride in a semi-truck to the town of Maria. This was great as it cost next to nothing and got me within walking distance of Kuelap. From Maria I walked another hour and a half with a small break under a cliff to get out of some rain. I arrived in Kuelap by 9am and was the first visitor of the day. When you first walk up to Kuelap you see some outlying walls and think "ok big deal, this is like everything else", then you get closer and the immensity of the structure starts to sink in. Even the outer walls at first where not that satisfying for me, I had come a long way and this was suppose to be better than Machu Picchu. Then I entered the structure and as I was hiking the ancient stone walk way, peering up the sides of the old citadel fortress, I started to realize this was something special. The whole feeling was amplified by the fact I had about an hour and a half in the fortress, alone with nothing but llamas, before anyone else was there. The interesting thing about Kuelap is that most of it is still unescavated, even though it was discovered about a hundred years before Macu Picchu. There is an area where evacavation is taking place as we speak, and there is a plan to have the place looking like Machu Picchu down the road. Personally I think this is a mistake, there is something about looking at the structures still covered in jungle that is amazing. Also the giant walls that have stood for years upon years and still stand without any sort of upkeep since around the Incan-Colonization time is just spectacluar. The fact that you can actually still find human bones in the walls is something eerie, but a very authenitic part of the experience. I walked for hours and when I thought I was ready for the last leg of my hike back to civilization I was proven wrong. I was exchanging small talk with a guide that had just arrived with a Peruvian family and was invited for a free tour with a ride back to Chachapoyas as the kicker. This is when I was shown the bones in the wall, the carved figures in the entrance that I had missed, and was informed of things that I could not know from just reading signs. This is when I truly saw that self guiding is great, but supporting the local guides is essential to get the whole story and preserve the rest of the knowledge. I will let my pictures describe the rest of Kuelap, it is truly an experience of its own, and with a fraction of the tourism, bigger older structures, and more to see. I deem it more impressive than Machu Picchu. I finshed my day with a nice lunch with my new tour friends, an even nicer shower, and an awesome pizza in Chachapoyas.

I still have the hand drawn map that I took on the trip, which has given me so much confidence since I finished the trek. Its not much, and really is funny to look at now and think "how little I had, but how much I recieved by doing it without someone holding my hand", God led me through my Trek and with a bit of grace I will find even greater things as I work my way back to Huaraz to guide others.

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Photos

Chachapoyas
Sarcophaguse

Chachapoyas
Skull

Chachapoyas
The Sarcophaguses of Kings

Chachapoyas
Julio walking over ruins, with radio ofcourse

Chachapoyas
Looking good in the ruins of Sholon

Chachapoyas
The Valley Belen

Chachapoyas
All you need, bed, candle, giant wooden bowl to make bread.

Chachapoyas
Robeson with some of the ruins of Pirquilla

Chachapoyas
Its foggy in the cloud rain forest!

Chachapoyas
Part of my Congon Family

Chachapoyas
Kids love cameras.

Chachapoyas
Catching Bees

Chachapoyas
Candle light dinner.

Chachapoyas
Typical view during the trek.

Chachapoyas
Im sorry but I just love walking through jungle ruins.

Chachapoyas
Spider web on an orchid.

Chachapoyas
The trail.

Chachapoyas
Random Waterfall

Chachapoyas
Entrance to the citadel fortress Kuelap.

Kuelap
Circular home structres.

Kuelap
Jungle....Ruins

Comments

[Katheryn Culver]

Pictures
I finally figured out your emails! It is cool to read about all you have been doing. I really want to see your pictures but my computer is not showing them. I guess I will have to see them when you get back. It is below 0 right now, I bet you're worm! Latter, Kat