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5 days/4 nights Program
The name Chachapoyas, means “People of the Clouds”. This remarkable culture resisted the invasion and expansion of the Inca Empire and the Spanish conquistadors from their high forest strongholds. One of the last kingdoms to succumb to the Inca, its legacy includes one of South America's archaeological wonders - the defensive fortress of Kuelap. Perched on the shoulder of a 10,000-foot mountain, this 9th Century citadel encompass an urban area of more than 400 stone edifices - homes, palaces and temples enclosed by a 70-foot-tall stone wall.
Their architecture demonstrates decidedly non-Inca features, such as protruding geometric patterns, cornices, and friezes. Kuelap's setting is unforgettably beautiful - a tropical cloud forest festooned with orchids and steeped in mystery.
The Revash Tombs, the Karajia Sarcophagi and the extensive network of Chachapoyas paved trails also serve as a reminder of the greatness of this vanished nation. Archaeologists just now are mapping and excavating many important Chachapoyas sites. The museum in Leymebamba, which displays 200 mummies recovered from the remote Lake of the Condors, describes the extraordinary embalming methods of the Chachapoya, their lifestyle and culture. The Museum also houses a collection of knotted Quipu, the record-keeping device of the Incas.
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Price per Person (US$) |
1 |
2-4 |
5 or more |
Single Sup. |
Public bus service |
1,090 |
990 |
950 |
120 |
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ITINERARY
Day 1
Chiclayo/Chachapoyas
In the morning you will depart from Chiclayo by private car, van or minibus with air conditioning. You will cross 4 different Peruvian departments: Lambayeque, south Piura, the North of Cajamarca and end in Amazonas, Starting in the coast and arriving in the late afternoon in the cloud forest of Chachapoyas. Box lunch and dinner included. Overnight at Hostal El Chillo.
L,D
Day 2
Chachapoyas
After breakfast you will enjoy an excursion by horse to visit the colorful funeral buildings of Revash perched on a ledge up high on a cliff. They overlook a valley and tributary of the Utcubamba, near the town of Santo Tomas. The Cliff walls at Revash are decorated with geometric designs and figures of cameloids. Some of the tombs are decorated with T and cross-shaped niches. Lunch box. Then you will continue to town of Leymebamba to visit an amazing collection of well-preserved pre-Inca mummies discovered in the Laguna de los Condores.
B,L,D
Day 3
Chachapoyas
After breakfast you will visit Kuelap, a spectacular pre-Inca walled city hidden atop a precipitous mountain. Although Kuelap was discovered 60 years before Machu Picchu, it is not as well-known to the outside world. Nevertheless recent amazing discoveries in nearby areas that relate to Kuelap and to its history have captured the attention of archaeologists, international magazines and film companies. Box Lunch. Following your visit to Kuelap, you will return to Chillo for the night. Dinner and overnight at Hostal El Chillo.
B,L,D
Day 4
Chachapoyas
Morning trek to Chachapoyas burial towers of Macro, an outpost of the Chachapoyas culture built into cliffs overlooking the Utcubamba River. Its unique location allowed for contact via signal fires with the fortress high above in the mountains and visible through a cleft in the valley hills. Then we continue to Chachapoyas city where we will spend a night at local hotel. Dinner.
B,L,D
Optional tour at extra cost: Karajia and the mysterious Sarcophagi carved into the hillside.
Day 5
Chachapoyas/Chiclayo
MAfter an early breakfast you will return to Chiclayo by road. Box Lunch included.
Late afternoon arrival and transfer to selected hotel.
Fixed departures operates every Monday and Thursday from May to October. |
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