Chacapoyas and Kuelap

After a hairy trip over the border I arrived in Chacapoyas about 6am. I was on a tour by 6.30am to Kuelap which is supposed to be the "2nd Machu Picchu." It was ashtonishing. It is a huge site with no tourists, we were the only group there. I really enjoyed the day and would definitely say the over night trip to get there was worth it!

These are the views on the way there:

On the way to Kuelap, another duelling:

The city has a huge exterior wall which encompassed 500 dwellings and an interior wall that encompassed the more important people and religious places and palaces.

Entrance to the main part:

Entrance to the inner part:

Crypt/tomb and bones:

Wall for internal palace:

Chacapoyas decorations, there are many ideas of what they may signify but no certainty:

The most well preserved house:

The external wall:

one of the three entrances:

Evidence of the Incas - square buildings:

The Sun Temple:

The view of Kuelap from across the valley:

On Thursday I went on another tour with the same company and people because Kuelap had been so good. We visited Caverna de Quiocta and the Sarcofagos. The Caverna de Quiocta was a sacred place for the local Chacapoyas where they performed a lot of scarafices before the Spanish came so there were skulls all over the place. Before we were allowed to enter we had to perform a ritual to ask for protection, it was very interesting.

Stone used to sacrafice chiefs from nearby tribes if they fought:

Skulls were just lying around all over the place:

including under our feet:

Afterwards we went to see the Sarcofagos:

These are they: (I was expecting something rather larger but I they are half way up a cliff face!)

each is a tomb and apparently contains a mummy and the things they were buried with.

They are hard to see but there are four groups of sarcofagos in this picture:

random human bones lying around:

Through binocolas:

Olivia being dress up by the local girls:

Beautiful Cuenca and Incapirca

I really liked Cuenca, it is a stunning old Colonial town with numerous shops, mainly containing beautiful shoes, lots of busy markets, stunning churches and some Inca sites! I spent all day Saturday wandering round, eating fresh fruit and getting burnt. Then had a nice meal out with Franzi who I met on the volunteering project.
This is the main cathedral.
Main market, one of many.

The locals still wash their clothes the river and leave them to dry on the banks.

The small Inca site in town:

Religious ceremony of some kind:

The blue domes of the cathedral:

View from my room:

On Sunday I visited Incapirca which is Ecuadors biggest Inca site. It was the most Northern site of the Incas I think and is about 50km outside Cuenca. The bus left at 9am, we arrived at 11.30am and had until 1pm to look round the site - not long! It was good though and I met a Japonise girl called Yoshika to go around with.

Me and Yoshika:
There was a walk away from the site that took us round some other important Inca places:
like the "Inca face:"
and the Sun rock (I think):
It was a pretty long day in the bus but worth seeing the site.

On Monday I went in the main cathedral which was the most astonishing building. It took my breath away it was so beautiful but it´s not an old building, in fact the Old Catherdral is the other side of the square, I didn`t even go in that one! The pictures don´t really do it justice:
I left Cuenca Monday afternoon and bumped into an Argentinia guy and an Ecuadorian guy, Lucas and Damian, who had been on my bus to Incapirca. They helped me get across the border to Peru safely. I was really glad to have them because it was night time and that border is really hard to do and notoriously dodgey. I wasn´t actually planning on attempting it at night. Unfortunately I got stuck in Tumbes which is the Peruvian border town and had to stay the night but I was on a bus to Chichlayo by 7am the next morning. I had about 6 hours to kill in Chichlayo which I spent wandering around the shopping centres before catching an over night bus to Chachapoyas. Mucho buses!