Chachapoyas, Peru

Anna with our two friends walking toward the landslide
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The journey to Chachapoyas, Peru quickly introduced us to the differences between Ecuador and its neighbor. It took 2 days and various modes of transportation, including the open-sided ranchera pictured in our Cuenca entry. When we took that photo Jan and I were not just the only gringos on the ranchera, but in fact the only 2 people period. It was a gorgeous ride through the upper reaches of the Andes and eventually we descended to a remote border crossing called Balsa. We passed quickly through Ecuadorian immigration--three uniformed officers asked us a few questions, provided us with an exit stamp, and directed us across the river to the Peruvian side. So far so good. We walked over to the Peruvian immigration office and were surprised to find it closed. After about 10 minutes We decided to ask a local if he knew where the immigration officials were. ¨He´s playing soccer,¨ the man said. Well that sort of put a wrench in our plans. While we waited for the lone immigration officer to finish his soccer game Anna decided to use the bathroom. She looked around and couldn´t find

The pulley system to get people across the river
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one. So again we turned to the local. Ït´s across the river,¨the man said. Ïn Ecuador?¨We asked. ¨Yes, across the river.¨ At this point we realized that Ecuador and Peru were two different animals. Half an hour later the immigration official appeared, still sweating and wearing his soccer uniform. He stamped our passports and we were off. But not very quickly. Our next mode of transportation was a Toyota Corolla station wagon from the 1980s. We managed to pack 9 people and 6 backpacks into this car, which we then drove for 2 hours into the darkness. During that time we saw some other interesting types of mountain transportation--tiny motorcycle taxis with 2 or 3 people that amazingly survived the bumpy roads, and better yet two guys on a motorcycle using a flashlight to see.

Anna in the basket crossing the river
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The next day we continued our trip, taking a mototaxi ourselves and various buses. Finally we got to a town called Jaen, which was just 3 hours away from Chachapoyas. After nearly 2 days of travel we were ecstatic to be so close. But then the next impediment emerged. Apparently there was a landslide on the only road to Chachapoyas. We were the only gringos around and did not want to spend the night in

Jaen. Fortunately, a young Quechuan couple took us under their wing. We all shared a car to the site of the landslide and started walking. The only way around it was to take a sort of basket across the river. Local workers had rigged up a kind of emergency pulley system that could accommodate 3 people at a time. Everything was pretty hectic but

Almost there...
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we managed to get across. Then just a 30 minute hike through the woods to the next basket across the river. By the time we finally got to Chachapoyas we realized why this amazing area is not exactly a tourist destination yet. There´s simply no easy way in or out. But man is it worth it. There are over 280 precolumbian ruins in the area and little to no tourists. There´s also the 4th tallest waterfall in the world, Gokta, and about a week after we left Chachapoyas the newspaper in Lima reported that a waterfall even higher than Gokta had been discovered. Unfortunately we only had 3 days to explore the area, but during that time we got to see some amazing sites. The sarcophaguses pictured were embedded in cliffs thousands of meters high. You could hike up

Can you see the sarcophaguses in the cliffs?
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literally 10 feet away from them, passing bones along the way. Chachapoyan culture consisted of 5 clans, and within each clan were a number of families. Each family had its own mountain in which to place its dead. The dead were mummified in the fetal position and placed high in the cliffs facing the East. Touring the sites was amazing but a bit scary owing to the cliffs. Apparently 2 tourists per year fall to their deaths. In addition to the sarcophaguses we saw Kuelap, the capital of Chachapoyan civilization. It was created when one clan, the Revash, conquered all the others and united the Chachapoyans. Situated high atop the mountains the ruins are breathtaking. When looking at the last ruins it´s easy to understand why the Chachapoyans were one of

Close up of the sarcophaguses
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only 2 precolumbian nations to stand up to the Incas. So began our archeological tour of Peru...next destination Chiclayo and Trujillo.