My GPS shows a distance of only 13.5 miles (about 20 km) from Chachapoyas to Kuelap, but the trip will take more than three hours over tortuous dirt roads. We negotiate stretches under repair following recent mud and/or rock slides, some slides occurring less than an hour prior to our encountering their aftermath.
The road clings to one side of a steeply sloping valley. I estimate that at one point the valley may be 2,500 feet (800 m) from bottom to top, and about the same distance from one side to the other.
Our kombi continues on the road, actually getting farther and farther from our destination until we reach the end of one valley and double back, climbing up one slope, and then another, till we reach a parking area about a half-mile (800 m) from Kuelap.
Ah, Kuelap. Two months ago I´d never heard of the place. I´m still unsure how to pronounce it, but KWAY-lawp will probably do. Kuelap was built by the Chachapoyas (People of the Clouds) between 900-1100 AD, centuries before the development of Inca culture. It was constructed high (about 10,000 feet, or 3,300 meters) on a peak that provided it great defensive attributes.
Stone walls 30 feet (10 m) high added more protection for what may have been 2,500 or more residents living in 400 individual structures. There are estimates that more stone was utilized at Kuelap than in Egypt´s Great Pyramid.
Machu Pichu is, and always will be, Peru´s most visited archeological site. It deserves that status both for the magnificence of its structures and its unparalleled site on an aerie high above Rio Urubamba. Transportation to Machu Pichu is easy. If you can make it to Lourdes, you can probably make it to Machu Pichu. A daily train from Cusco is met by a flotilla of luxury coaches in the small town of Aguas Calientes. The thousands of pilgrims are transported up the steep switchbacks to the top in total comfort. On the other hand, Chachapoyas is not exactly on any major travel routes, and the ride from there to Kuelap is somewhat arduous. Consequently, less than 11,000 people visited Kuelap in all of 2006, a number likely matched at Machu Pichu in three days.
Not surprisingly, there are few other visitors to Kuelap
today. I´m sure there were not 50 visitors altogether for the day. Lush vegetation, including orchids, grows profusely within the site´s outer walls. Llamas graze and pose willingly. Our young guide provides non-stop information in Spanish. We spend about 2-1/2 hrs in all at Kuelap before returning down the short trail to our kombi.
Katty from Ulm, Germany
Rodolfo (left) and Mick at Kuelap
It begins to rain. A couple of small trucks with goods and commodoties are now parked in the lot, and dozens of indigenous people have come, on foot and horseback, to trade for or purchase essential items.
We start back to Chachapoyas at about 3 p.m., stopping at a small town at the e
nd of a valley. A restaurant there is situated next to a lively mountain stream. Our group had placed orders on the way up, and now we look forward to our meals. Many of us have fresh trucha (trout), potatoes, and salad; with a beer, about $2.50 USD. Only Javier, I think, opted for the Peruvian delicacy, cuy (guinea pig).
Dozing, sightseeing, chattering in Spanish, the group makes its way back to Chachapoyas, arriving well after dark at about 7 p.m. I pick up my laundry left yesterday, then spend more than an hour on the Internet.
I´m unspeakably tired now, but after a shower and packing up for tomorrow´s departure, I join Katty, Andy and Isaac next door at Hotel Revash at around 10 p.m. The three have made arrangements for another day tour in the area tomorrow. In the process, they have met Carlos who manages the hotel, oversee its tours, or both. In any case, he has broken out his guitar and a bottle of licor de mora which is described in a pamphlet as ¨made from cordial, blackberries, and syrup.¨ Salud!
Carlos is handsome, mid-40s, mustachioed, and seems not to have much concerned himself with adopting any false modesty. He plays exuberantly and well, serenading the four of us with native Peruvian songs for 30 minutes in the otherwise empty restaurant in the back of his hotel.
It´s Katty´s birthday today. I buy her a pisco sour at a nearby bar, endure some excruciating, dated music videos blaring from the bar monitors, talk a little. Then we return to the hostal for some blessed sleep.
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