After checking out all the weird stuff of the shaman's market in Chiclayo we headed out northeast to the small town of Chachapoyas in the northern Andes.
"Chachapoyas" which means People of the Clouds was also the name of an ancient civilization that used to live in the area. They were conquered by the more famous Incas sometime before the Spanish showed up in Perù.
Our mission was to visit their massive fortress that is hidden in the mountains at +3000 m overlooking the Utcubamba Valley. After a dodgy combi ride at dawn at 100 km/h in narrow gravel roads on the edges of the cliffs (I wish I had slept all the way like Marie, I would have been less tense !!) we got to the small pueblo Maria. A couple of hours walk and we got to Kuelap !
The size of the whole structure is impressive and it is hard to imagine the amount of work and time required to get all that up. It was pretty amazing to walk though the ruins on top of the mountains...it seemed to be a pretty well organized community. Plus they have the nicest views of the mountains so that was probably a sweet life up there !
Hope you enjoy the pictures and the next update will be Marie ripping the long walls of Pacasmayo !
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