Pueblo de los Muertos

Trip Start Feb 10, 2006
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Trip End Feb 01, 2007


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Flag of Peru  ,
Monday, October 9, 2006

Hummed and hawed over where to go as there is just to much to see and eventually settled on Pueblo de los Muertos - the village of the dead. Chachapoyas is full of tourist agencies desperate to send you out on one of their packages. Fair enough if youŽre strapped for time but I hate being told when, where and what to look at and often the guides give little room for manoeuvre. So we jumped in a combi (taxi cum bus) and drove out to Lamud where we found a tour guide who agreed to give us a key for a very small fee and let us head off on our own. Peruvians may be quite a tough group but they are incredibly helpful and no local would allow us to pass without checking that we were indeed on the right path. So off we set for another three hour walk up and over the hills. As we stomped over the final rise my jaw dropped open, across the valley was the highest waterfall I think IŽve ever seen. Turns out they only got round to measuring it a few months ago and it is supposedly the third highest in the world A) Waterfall in the mist
A) Waterfall in the mist
 . Not quite sure how they missed it before but, hey. A great surprise as I had no idea weŽd be able to see it on this route.

And so we headed down the cliff to find a wall and gate perched on the side of the cliff, so this is where the key came in. Saved us having to do some rather challenging rock climbing to get round. The site has been well looted but some of the walls remain and, clinging to ledges dotted round the cliffs are the sarcophagi that house the bones of the folk that used to live here. What a place to finish up...good view...

The next day we headed out to Karija for some even more colourful sarcophagi. Heck of a hike as we had our big bags with us and it had been raining so the muddy path down the hill turned into a ski slope. Met a couple of Spaniards who were heading to Kuelap the next day so we all pulled up in a taxi to Chachapoyas and agreed to meet at four the next morning, with the same taxi driver, and head out together ...
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