El Portal de Marquez Cajamarca

Ahoy!<br><br>So, after all the hassle of being ill and being robbed and being stuck in the god-awful city of Chiclayo I had to escape. We (still with Steve who failed to sort out Barclays) set off for the colonial mountain town of Cajamarca. The journey was long and slow and painful over rough bumpy roads but we eventually arrived.<br><br>The town itself reminds me a little of Cuenca in Ecuador, though a little more rough around the edges. The white-washed ...

... Cuarto de Rescate, Rescue Room. It should be called the Ransom Room since when the gold and silver promise was fulfilled Atahualpa was killed anyway. And the Inca empire fell during the rest of the 1500&#8217;s as the Spaniards came through, conquering more and more land &amp; people as they went. <br> We spent the rest of our time gift shopping for friends back home (Jen was planning a Lima run to drop off our stuff) and hanging out with the Bazan family. They were kind enough to ...

... the city. And indeed there is a throne-like rock from which you have a perfect view. I imagined the revered Inca leader sitting here observing the tens of thousands troops under his command. What a sight it must have been! When Pizarro marched into Cajamarca in November of 1532, the city was quiet because most of the 2000 inhabitants were at the nearby hot springs. The Spaniards spent an anxious night ...

... highlands. The walls consist of several layers of blocks with an occasional layer of rocks between them. You'll notice there are no windows. The rock layers are meant to absorb solar heat and without windows, the homes maintain their warmth longer into the cool nights. It is believed that the aqueduct was build around 1500 B.C. Its function seems to be for aesthetic and religious reasons ...

... of the trip. Most o the road until this point was narrow and scary, but this stretch was pure potholes and my insides could barely take the constant slamming and bouncing. Finally we saw the lights of Cajamarca and I knew it would be over soon...<br>Rough as it was, it was an absolutely amazing trip and I'm so glad I did it. But I have to admit, I did not envy Egnar and his family who would make the trip back two days later...once was enough!

we are now living a life of luxury buses, and we arrive feeling very well slept from the over night VIP bus. of course the day starts early grabbing a cab and doing the usual of trying to find a reasonable hostel/hotel. once one is found we head off to the main plaza to explore. cajamarca is really nice.again it has a lovely main plaza, where families, couples and old men and women hang out all day and night. it´s quite large and there are a number of hotels and small restaurants ...

Enjoyed an extended stay in Cajamarca and visited a few of the local attractions such as the Incan Baths, were the King Inca Atahualpa was bathing when the Spanish arrived. Other points of interest were Cumbe Mayo , a cave and ancient aqueducts from 1000 BC, very interesting and beautiful. Next was Granja Porcon, a collective Farming operation with an ...

Ok, lets bring this up to date... So last was the baths. The next day me and Ewa got up early and went to the Museum of Archaeology where we met Cynthia. A lovely lady that was most interested in Polish, since some Polish students had helped the museum with restoring its pieces about three years prior. Prior to that Ewa and Wojtek were the first Polish in Cajamarca in 20 years. They chatted in Spanish for half an hour as I ...

The Banos de Incas - The Baths of the Incas First of all, I´m sorry if the entries get a bit squeezed for a while. We are on the move again and we are trying tostay together abit and not do the anti-social Internet café thing. Some arguments have cropped up but we are doing our best to stick together. The days out are cool anyway. So the week in Cajamarca starting Tuesday with the Banos de Incas, a local hot spring that ...

... the planning of the days festivities. Originally the plan was to do all of the museums and churches in the city in a methodical, north to south order, finishing near the river for a slap up dinner at Siniorita Miggins´ pie shop. However as we finished breakfast the rain stopped and the sun came creeping out behind the clouds. Cajamarca isn´t your predictable ´sun in the morning, rain in the afternoon´ tropical city. You will get sun and you ...