|
|
From Tarapoto it was an all-day journey to Chachapoyas, the capital of the Amazonas region of Peru. We drove through stunning landscapes of mountains and cloud forest, passing through the towns of Lamas and Pomaconchas. At Lamas, a local shopkeeper let us try native indian concoctions with provocative, make-you-smile names such as "7 times without withdrawing" whose main active ingredient is young cockerel's testicles! <I'm thinking there must be a way of combining cock and balls in this story to achieve the maximum innuendo>. It was pitch black by the end of the journey, and stopping in the middle of nowhere, with no lights, we could see the stars as clear as I've ever seen them, and make out the faint scintillant scattering of the milky way. I remember feeling strangely lonely and small looking up at the night sky then. We stayed at the Casa Vieja, a hacienda-like hotel with interesting breakfasts. The town has plenty of shops, restaurants etc and also cheap internet access. |
Lunch break at the river.
We went for a 4hr walk through the cloud forest from Levanto to Magdelena. It was a bit of a hellish experience, as downhill, there was the constant tiring need to keep your footing on pretty steep tracks, and uphill, the climbs really knocked the breath out of you, aggravated by the high humidity, insufficient water and my lack of fitness. But looking back on it now, I feel contradictorily glad that I did it. |
|
Path to Kuelap.
To get to Kuelap early, we stayed the night at the great Chillo hostel (nr Tingo) - tasty Peruvian cuisine, outdoor bar, bougainvilia-ed surroundings, humming birds and a lovable lounging great dane. The road to Kuelap is an experience in itself, clinging perilously to the mountainside, continuously zigzagging and backtracking on itself. |
|
Kuelap ruins.
Kuelap is precariously perched on a mountain ridge at about 3000m, with magnificent panoramic views over the valley. The 20m high fortress walls are impressive with an entrance that is trapezoidal and narrows rapidly (as a defence). Inside there are the remains of many small round houses, some with a zigzag or diamond pattern. |
|
Kuelap ruins.
The site is partially cleared but is still overgrown with trees. For me, this added to the appeal of the ruins, creating a natural indigenous atmosphere. You wonder how the Inca people managed to get all that rock (more than it took to build the pyramids apparently) up the mountain side without knowledge of the wheel. |
|
Air plants at Kuelap.
Exotic flora that I've never seen before are bromeliads or epiphytes which are a widespread in Peruvian cloud forests. They are also known as air plants because they survive on what little nutrients they can extract from the air and rain, so they don't parasitise the trees on which they settle. |
|
|
