Raiding the lost city of Kuelap

Please listen to this while reading!

In 2012, the BBC broadcast a programme led by Dr Cooper which explored the Lost Kingdoms of South America. We were already off on our adventure by then, but recieved a fair few e-mails from people recommending sites for us! We decided it would be pretty terrible if we missed the city of Kuelap, especially having already missed Tiwanaku in Bolivia due to riots - even though its location seemed somewhat trecherous! 

 

We headed North and to a higher altitude to the city of Chachapoyas, translated as 'Warriors of the clouds'. All the accounts we had read of people previously exploring the site of Kuelap involved broken journeys and long difficult hikes, so we expected the town to be relatively desolate and untouched by tourism. However, when we got there we were greeted by people offering us their hostels to lay our bags, and a row of tourist agencies offering tours. We settled in to a private room and proceeded to sleep for the whole day, as the overnight bus journey to the isolated city had been pretty turbulant and uncomfortable. We had intended to bypass the tourist agencies and make our own way to Kuelap, stopping in various un named villages and making good use of the camping poles, but when we spoke to others that had done the tour we found it would actually be cheaper for us to combine our transport and guide and go with the tour - so we arranged one for the next day. 

The tour left early, and was a group of about 10 people. The journey was long, and we didn't see a single one of the promised collectivos transporting groups of DIYers, so were happy we'd chosen the security of the tour! When we arrived it was clear that the site does not recieve many visitors - there was no ticket office, or hoards of tourists, it was pleasantly peaceful and undisturbed. As we walked up the grassy hill discussing various things we had heard - Kuelap was the original inspiration for Indianna Jones, Raiders of the Lost Arc...and therefore the inspiration for Temple Run...The Grandfather of Machu Picchu... our guide told us a little of the brief history of the site. It has been dated back to the 6th century AD, and has mostly been described as a type of fortress - possibly used as defence against Huari people, and various other hostile groups. There are very little accounts describing the uses of Kuelap, or the people that inhabited it.

Soon our eyes were met with the looming outside walls of the fortress. Overlooking the Utcubamba Valley, the structure looms over 19m high and stretches across 600m across the clifftop. It is both intimidating and inviting, and we felt so lucky to be there. When we entered it only got better - the ancient passageways were overgrown with moss and crumbling away in parts, adding to the overal sense of mysticism and ancient wonder. The air was ripe with the feeling of discovery, and with each new turn our imaginations were fuelled by the dazzling surroundings - high up in the cloud forest, everything covered in a thick coating of living green, birds of the amazon perching and skwalking from their trees, the sun beating hot upon our backs but the thick felt of rain in the air. 

 

The site is so lacking in information that speculation and imagiation run wild among the ancient stone walls. Decorations and wall carvings can be interpreted in any way you chose (though it is easy to see themes running through the ancient civilisations of South America - snakes, pumas and triangles are everywhere!) There have been numerous human remains, both mumified and left alone found deposited in a couple of areas in the site, though it seems most of them have been moved several times before they were found and so it is difficult to find any real evidence for what happened at the site. 

 

 

At one area there are structures which have been reconstructed to how archaeologists believe they would have all looked when Kuelap was inhabited in its hey day. The roundhouses are adorned with tall straw roofs. The houses are in close proximity, and to imagine them all with the rooves atop of them really brings a different view again to the place and makes it easier to imagine as a hub of people interacting together. The combination of this picture of a defensive fort and a place where people lived together in harmony is strange, but to be expected of a place so thick in the forest.

 

 

 After a couple of hours wandering around, we exited the site through the South Side, the high walls reaching over us and the corridor narrowing sharply so that we had to walk single file - an ancient self defence mechanism which was pretty effective!

 

And then, as we left, it started to rain.

 

The Lord of Sipan

We had been told accounts of the best Museum in South America being in the city of Chiclayo by various sources, so this was the next point we marked on our map. Located further up the Northern coast of Peru, we arrived in the city in the late afternoon, and quickly booked a tour of the archaeological sites and museums for the next day. It didn't take us long to realise that not many tourists visit this city, as people were staring at our white faces, and on the tour the next day we were the only English speakers  Our tour guide, like most of the guides we have had across the continent, was extremely proud of his culture and heritage, and had a tendency when talking about the ancient civilisations that had inhabited the land as 'we' and 'my ancestors'. 
 

The tour took us firstly to the Túcume Pyramids; a site where 26 pyramids lie scattered across a phenomenal 540 acres of arid land. It sounds a lot more impressive than it looks today, muddy mounds which don't look carefully constructed, or like the mental image you get when someone says 'pyramid'. Pretty unimpressive at a glance, but our guide painted a beautiful picture of what had been homes for ritual and healing centres for Shamans of the ancient Sican, Chimú and Inca civilisations. Across the sites we visited in these few weeks, it was interesting to learn of the various inhabitants of Peru - having only really heard of the Incas before we left, to learn they were only in power for little over 100 years was pretty mind blowing. Our guide informed us that the culture of Chiclayo is still ripe with witch doctors and Shamans, and that healing ceremonies are still held at the sacred site of the pyramids on certain nights. 

We were then taken to the famed museum, The Royal Tombs museum of Sipan. Our guide took us on an excellent tour of the incredible displays - the sheer amount of immaculate artefacts was breath taking; gold head dresses, bangles and jewellery, ornately carved pottery and intricately detailed masks were beautifully displayed, in both an aestetically pleasing and contextual way. The guide was so proud of the spoils of the museum, and kept comparing the era to those ongoing in Europe at the time (for our benefit only), such as saying the level of goldwork produced by the Moche civilisation was superior to all of Europe. We bit our tongues and decided not to point out the years of literacy, aqueducts or buildings such as the Coliseum, because the goldwork really was impressive. He also stated that the museum was head and shoulders above the British Museum, because 90% of the artefacts housed there are stolen - a fair point, really. 

The focus of the museum is the tomb of the Lord of Sipan; which was found within the last 30 years extremely well preserved, and untouched by robbers. It dates back to the period of the Moche culture, who ruled the Northern coast of Peru 1AD-700AD. The museum holds replicas of the tombs, which show how the Lord was buried with his riches, and with guards who had their feet amputated to stop them from leaving. Further above, on another level, a watchman was buried alive above the tomb to ensure the Lord was undisturbed. One of the most interesting displays, similar to that of the Chinese Terracotta Army, was one of more than 80 ceramic pots, each decorated with an individual face - those were representations of the Lords friends, family and important people who he wished to take with him to the afterlife, but without killing them. 

Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside the museum, but here is one of the outside - we agree it was the best museum we have visited so far (although we prefer the British Museum...thievery aside!)

The next stop of the tour took us to the actual site of Sipan - where we were shown to the tombs, which were shown with reconstructions of the skeletons and the way they were found within the tombs, and some replica pottery and artefacts. Compared with the brutal reconstruction of Chan Chan, we actually favoured the idea of these reconstructions, even though we had seen a more detailed version of it in the Museum, we felt it made it more interesting to a wider audience, and they were very well done. Here we watched the sunset over two more pyramids found at the site. 

Our second day in Chiclayo we dedicated to two interesting sounding aspects of the city described in the guidebook - the Market, and the King Kong biscuit, a speciality of the city. We went of in search of the market, and found it easily as it consists of the usual vibrant market stalls sprawling across four whole blocks of the city. One of our favourite aspects of the Continent we have travelled through has been the markets in each city, and at a glance there is nothing out of the ordinary with Chiclayo market; the fruits and vegetable aisles piled on top of each other, the vile stench of the meat aisle, the rows of clothes and bags in haphazardly arranged stalls - but towards the South West side of the market, it merges in to the witch doctor market. Similar to the witches market in La Paz, but altogether darker and devoid of tourists, the stalls blend together in a mix of medicinary herbs and cactuses, animal bones, viles of potions, voodoo dolls and hand carved crafts. We saw locals going with lists of their remedies to the Shamans, who supplied them with warnings and incantations. Completely taken up in the spell, we poured over the stalls, and fell in love with a very old looking hand carved wooden staff. We talked to the Shaman who informed us the staff is a depiction of the God of the Moon the Moche people believed in (picture to follow). 

The King Kong cookie was also not very hard to find, as there were rows upon rows of shops selling exactly the same boxed confectionary. It is a speciality of the Lambayeque City, and is made of cookies filled with an overpoweringly sweet fudge, some flavoured with pinapple or peanuts. We bought an original piece and also a pineapple one, and couldn't really see what all the fuss was about - it was so sickly sweet, and we are big sweet fans! I think my little brother Ollie would absolutely love it though, so if we see any close to the end of our travels I'll pick another one up and give you a second opinion!