Fri 2nd Jan: Kuelap

I was up at 3am and went out into the dark, almost deserted streets to find the collectivo. I find a driver who´s heading for Kuelap and take the front passenger seat in the car. We wait for about 30 mins while he rounds up fares and we leave with a full carload of 5 passengers.

Its a 2hr journey on increasingly narrow roads and then dirt tracks. The journey passes by in darkness. We´re heading up to over 3,000m and the driver whizzes along unnaturally fast for the size and condition of the roads. We seem to be the only vehicle in these parts maybe thats why the driver feels he can go at such speeds. As we approach the jump off point for the hike up to Kuelap the first streaks of light begin to show in the sky. I´m the last passenger in the car. A misty, foggy dawn breaks as I´m dropped off. I´m told the driver won´t be coming back here. If I want a lift back to Chachapoyas I´ll have to hike 15km down the other side of the mountain to Tingo, a small hamlet, where I can get a collectivo going my way.

I´m met by a guide at the foot of the slopes which lead up to the still-hidden Kuelap. We discuss and agree a price for the guide. Its 6 o´clock. I´m the only visitor onsite. Walking up through the fog we arrive at the southern edge of the city. The city is fortified by 25m high walls and runs for 600m North-South, 120m wide along the crest of a ridge which dominates the surrounding valleys. Its a pre-Incan city, built approximately 1,200yrs ago. It was later taken by the Incas and abandoned at the time of the conquistadores.

First impressions of the site weren´t great. We were hidden from the main entrance by the narrow southern city wall. THe guide toook me around to the main city gate and suddenly the full length of the main walls were revealed stretching away into the fog at the northern end. This was more like it. The main gate gave access to a long narrow cobbled passageway dominated by high walls on either side. We emerged into the centre of the settlement with circular house sites surrounding us all around. This was very different to Mach Picchu. The remains of buildings huddled together everywhere within the city walls. The place held a sizeable population of over 4,000 with the remains of houses in little suburbs scattered outside the walls.. It must have been a busy place in its heyday. There was a scared area with a small, pretty temple built in the shape of an urn. The rest of the city dwellings were organised on three ascending levels, following the contours of the ridge. At te northern end was a fortified citadel. The guide pointed out rectangular houses built by the incas after they took control of the city.

We spent over two hours wandering amongst the ruins as the fog flowed and ebbed like a tide. Sometimes clearing before rolling back in to cover the place in a damp twilight. The city has only been partially excavated and partially cleared from the trees and vegetation. So with the combination of fog and vegetation spilling over the site an air of tranquility and mystery pervaded the place. The only people onsite were myself and the guide. Even the ticket office hadn´t yet opened.

As I left I paid the entrance fee. I now had a 15km hike down to Tingo. The fog still clung to the hillsids so I couldn´t see very far ahead. I followed a narrow path . I had been instructed to keep following the path to the left as it twisted around the mountain and so I did but I wasn´t 100% confident I was following the right path. The fact that I couldn´t see the countryside ahead didn´t help. Scattered along the track were a number of homesteads. Each family was up and about. A gaggle of young kids seemed to be running around each home. I got a friendly "Hola, Buenos Dias" from each homestead I passed. Some of the menfolk were preparing their horses, obviously getting ready to ride down to Tingo for supplies. No vehicles can drive up to these homes. Everything has to brought up on horseback. The path is narrow and rough.

I kept following the path through the fog. By 9.30 the fog was lifting and I began to see the terrain I was passing through. It was a lot steeper than I had imagined. I could see a road far down in the valley bottom. Presumably this was lead me to Tingo. As The last of the fog burned away under a hot morning sun I met two couples hiking up to the city, A young peruvian couple and a pair of European girls. I was glad I was hiking down and not up. They had a long way to go.

By 11pm I reached Tingo, a tiny dusty hamlet. As I walked into the village I was met by a taxi driver who asked if I was going to Chachapoyas. I said yes and he ushered me to his car. I got into the back seat along with 4 other passengers and we left. I couldn´t believe my luck. I expected to have to wait a couple of hours before getting a collectivo but this guy seemed to be waiting for me. Perhaps he had been speaking to the driver who brought me up to Kuelap.

An hour later we were back in Chachapoyas after whizzing through some spectacular valleys. I was back in town for midday. Seeing as I was back so early I set about getting a seat to Lima. There are a number of bus companies in town but all were booked out for today. I did, however, manage to get the last seat out of town for tomorrow. It was in first class with one of the cheaper companies, Movil Tours, so it wasn´t too bad (130 soles). I haven´t gone in 1st class so far so I´m looking forward to seeing what this will be like.

Chachapoyas was busy today, everything back to normal after the New Year. The streets of the market area were thronged with people stocking up again after the festivities. People were going about with bags of groceries, large sacks of maize etc. Taxis were in big demand as families piled in with their shopping heading back out to the surrounding neighbourhoods. Old women sat alongside stalls or on the street beside their wares for sale, spread out on the footpaths on blankets or canvas sheets. The new year continued as the old one ended. Dark clouds drifted in over the town. Thunder rattled and rain began to fall. I went for a lie down.