Since Chiclayo, I have been to quite a few places so this post will be kind of a recap of some of the highlights. These are the places I've been in case you would like to learn more:
Cajamarca, Otuzco, Chachapoyas, Kuelap, Trujillo, Huanchaco, Chan Chan, Huaraz, Laguna 69 (hike) and Chavín de Huantar.
There is a lot so I will be brief.
Cajamarca is a smallish colonial looking town similar to Cuenca or the old town of Quito. It is a lovely small town but i didn't find many folks to hang out with there because I was staying in a small budget hotel. The city has a bunch of cool churches and a great view from the hill top, but I was a little frustrated because many of the buildings I wanted to visit were closed at the time I was there. The city is most famous for being the spot where the last Inca was held for ransom and assassinated by the Spanish- effectively cutting the empire off at its head.
While in Cajamarca there were a couple of tours I was interested in but I missed out on one by sleeping in (early bird gets breakfast).
I took a small tour to the Ventanillas de Otuzco which is a small village with an ancient history (not to be confused with the larger city of the same name). The Ventanillas are places for the dead, there are hundreds of small niches carved into the rocks and the site was probably used for a few thousand years. The guide only spoke Spanish but the majority of the information he shared was about the process of rediscovering the site, rather than info about the people who made it. I guess there is still a lot more to learn about the history of the area.
I took a small tour to the Ventanillas de Otuzco which is a small village with an ancient history (not to be confused with the larger city of the same name). The Ventanillas are places for the dead, there are hundreds of small niches carved into the rocks and the site was probably used for a few thousand years. The guide only spoke Spanish but the majority of the information he shared was about the process of rediscovering the site, rather than info about the people who made it. I guess there is still a lot more to learn about the history of the area.
While on the tour we also stopped at a dairy farm and a small crafts spot where they made local dishes from plants that grow in the area.
Chachapoyas is an even smaller town in the mountains of northern Peru. I took a notoriously dangerous road to get there and found that my day trip used the exact same road. The road is one lane thick, sometimes paved, and winds through the mountains. The sides of the road are the rock face of the mountain and usually a steep fall of what looks to be 1000 meters or more. The speed at which the drivers take the turns often leaves people car sick, so on every bus they give you a plastic bag before you start the journey(on one of my buses 1/3 of the people got sick).
The small town of chachapoyas doesn't have a whole lot going on. There are a few plazas, a pretty nice market and a bunch of restaurants for tourists. The main reason people go to Chachapoyas is day trips to historical sites, massive waterfalls and good hikes.
The mountain top city was once the seat of power in the region (~500ce to 1500ce) With massive thick walls and hundreds of buildings inside it is considered one of the second best preserved sites of the last few thousand years (Machu Picchu usually gets credit with being the best preserved site - but it is also the most recent). Kuelap used to be described as a fortress because of it's walls, but research now suggests it was probably just a big city. The people lived in round houses 1-2 stories high. They ate Andean staples like potatoes and corn. They used the river water in the valley below and probably used their waste as fertilizer for the local soil. The city had distinctive places for administration and storage in one corner. In another corner it has ritual places, temples, places for sacrifices. The site overall reminded me more of a European castle which I'm sure is why archeologists made the assumption it was a fortress. I am sure that there will be a slight resemblance when I get to Machu Picchu but to me it did not look anything like the other cities or sacred sites I have seen in South America or Central America from that time period.
I was really impressed and it made me question how on earth the Inca were able to conquer these regions.
My next stop was the beach town of Huanchaco. This small seaside surf town is beautiful and a little touristy but overall very welcoming. There is not much to do in Huanchaco other than chill on the beach but it is used as a safe place to jump to local historical sites (such as Chan Chan) as well as the city of Trujillo.
Trujillo is a mid sized university city. It has a historic center with painted buildings and churches, which is surrounded by a commercial shopping area, and some parks and stuff. Further out is the university with a beautiful mosaic wall around it, and the stadium and the mall. I was still feeling a little queesy from my run in with dairy in Chachapoyas (I am lactose intolerant) so I took it easy and went to the mall a couple times to get out of the sun and get some decent coffee. I also are a few too many donuts from Dunkin Donuts... Though I was only in the area for a couple of days I found Trujillo to be a lovely city, it was small enough to bus and walk around without feeling lost or uncomfortable, it has a mall with all my favorites, it has beautiful architecture and a very pretty university. It's near the beach AND the ancient city of Chan Chan... What's not to love? I would strongly consider getting a job there, or perhaps just providing English lessons to university students and working at a hostel or something.
Chan Chan is one of the biggest old cities I have ever seen. You can feel the spread of it while on the bus from Huanchaco to Trujillo(it basically takes up the entire area). This former capital of Chimu civilization is impressive! Except that it isn't presented well. The city is made of mud brick and in the middle of the desert, so it doesn't stand out very much. Only a portion of it is accessible to tourists(though you could easily sneak to other sections because it so big), the palaces all have these designs carved into the walls so you can imagine the place being pretty extravagant, but there isn't a lot at the site that gives you an impression of what it really looked like.
For that you go to the museum near by which is slightly better. A little history, some artifacts, some life size figurines... The museum could use some videos and interactive components but like the tranquil seaside town that resides next to it... It's chill, a little underwhelming if you don't use your imagination... But luckily I pride myself on mine - so If I do move to trujillo I am definitely gonna learn more and go back.
Huaraz - from sleepy seaside to sleepy moutain city. Huaraz is a little more up to date and certainly larger than Chachapoyas, but is still a fairly quiet mountain city. Because I have little to reference it by, it reminds me of Colorado. A city with major streets lined with stores and restaurants, and as you move further from those streets it gets quiet and dark. There isn't much to see, but the people are out and about. At least the mountains rise above in all directions and give you something pretty to look at...
Huaraz is in the middle of the mountain chains and is used as a jumping off point for tons of hikes an multi-day treks. I was not quite up for that so I went on he one day 6 hour hike to Laguna 69.
The glacier lakes are all beautiful, variations of greens and blues that don't seen natural and stun your eyes. They are surrounded by picturesque snow capped mountains and the whole area seems a little cliche and a little too unreal.
This area is drier than in the north, and the hike takes you through a couple of pasture valleys(caballos, vacas, y burros) and up the dry rocky hills on switch back after switchback until you reach the lake. It is super quiet except for the thousands of flies that want to land on you for no reason and make it hard to stay still.
Other than that you hear your own breathing in the ridiculous altitude(4600 meters) and worry that your heart will give out.
Along the way you see a few smaller lakes like this one Laguna 68?
Laguna 69 makes everything seem worth it, and on the way back though it was still tough going, I had a smile on my face and was trying to sing(which is difficult when you can't breath).
Another ridiculously old ruin. At around 3000 years old it's in surprisingly good shape, apparently people have been living there continuously for most of those 3000 years, but around 100 years ago foreign archeologists started carvings up the "hills" and discovering buildings underneath with cool rock carvings that predated a lot of the other historical sites. For awhile people looked at Chavin as the birthplace of Andean highland civilizations, but that viewpoint is not considers likely these days. The city museum has many of the monuments and the carved heads that lined the walls of the old ceremonial center. It is likely that Chavin was a religious and perhaps trade center, that drew people from the coast, the mountains and the amazon (because it is smack dab in the middle) this would mean it was the sort of nexus of spreading knowledge, beliefs and goods. The guide was super impressed with the mathematics of the city, and explained numerous times that the ceremonial plazas were perfectly square and circular, and used the sacred number 7 as their basis. He also explained that they had an incredible understanding of astronomy and used this for calendarical and religious purposes (which were probably the same thing).
That wraps up my last week or so and my time of travel in the North. Tomorrow I will wake up in Lima and after a few days head south to either Arequipa or Cuzco.
wow....laguna 69 exquisite....but the bus ride sounds like a flipping roller coaster/popa
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