Hostal Estancia Chillo Chachapoyas

... surrounding area and Utcabamba valley, the ruins are about 3000m above see level and are huge. Kuelap was built by the Chachapoyan culture and consist of massive exterior stone walls which reach up to about 19m in height, inside the walls contains more than 400 buildings. The whole site is about 600m long and 110m wide and used the huge stone wall as defence against other hostile tribes. Dating of the site suggests that construction was started in the 6th century AD ...

... ve been on during the whole trip and I was even able to straighten my legs (just) by squeezing them under the seat in front. <br><br>I was expecting a bit of a rough ride and was a little skeptical as to the state of the road. Buses do not travel this route every day and it's not suitable for large coaches, only minibuses... Hmmm. As a result, I was a little disappointed when, after half an hour, the scenery had barely changed from the arid hills that surround ...

... 3,500 people. Although the Chachapoyans were fierce warriors they were conquered by the Incas around 1500&#8217;s and the site was later captured again by the Spaniard conquistadors who looted and eventually burned the place down. Most of the structure was made of stone and withstood the burning but had a tougher time withstanding the next 500 years of forgotten neglect. It was rediscovered some 30 years ago and restoration works are very slowly underway ...

... Pedro and Chacha is a winding mountain road and most of it is paved (but some of it not). It was dark. Now, dodgy winding mountain road plus darkness usually means that drivers take it easy. Unfortunately, my colectivo driver in this instance, was a complete loon and I really thought that we were going off the edge on several occasions. Or into oncoming traffic. I thought I was going to die crammed in the back of a rustbucket Hyundai ...

... pig runs". Yep, the South Americans were chowing down on our furry friends even back then! Interestingly, the Incas took it over hundreds of years later, and you can see their pretty average "Dodgy Brothers" extensions in a much worse state. Kuelap was a great send off to our "Ruin Tour" of Peru and we were ready to tackle the next adventure - Ecuador!

... superb views to be had from every angle! As an added bonus were were pretty much the only tour group there, so it was still wonderfully quiet, surrounded by trees and good views and ah it was lovely! <br>Our guide for the day (whose name i really can´t remember) spoke english (though not incredibly well so it was lucky i could understand most of what he said in spanish anyway!), and proceeded to ask me out dancing that evening within five minutes of conversation, haha ...

... been replaced with processions of people carrying caskets-- I assume representing the protesters who were killed by the police in recent days. It is a sad sight, and I´m sure there are complex issues that require resolution.<br><br>I started feeling sick the first day I arrived in Chachapoyas, and since it was cheap to eat and stay there, I decided to hang out for a while until I felt better. On the fifth or sixth day in ...

... an occasional creek crossing...and then the road started climbing and turned into a quagmire. Okay, I've driven on muddy roads and I know how the mud can whip your car around at any moment...now picture a road that is barely one lane wide with a precipitous drop-off of a few thousand feet...YIKES! There were a few hair raising moments for sure! And, I admit, prayer. I was grateful for our driver who was patient, calm and sure. We arrived ...

... of an amazing range of mountains. My main goal here was to visit the pre-Inca ruins of Kuelap. There are innumerable archeological sites in these mountains, Hundreds are known and who knows how many others are still undiscovered. This is an area of wild and difficult to navigate mountains with few roads. There are several tour agencies in town selling tours to the main sites but, being the independent soul that I am, I decided to head to the ...

... ledge some 100 feet above the precipitous mountain ridge you stand on to view them. There are about six and a half of these enclosures remaining intact, and a few pieces on other ledges, with some wall paintings thrown in as well. These are the kinds of relics that are almost impossible to maintain or restore in any way. It is quite likely that at some point in the ...