Chachapoyas, Peru by Kev

30.10.2025. We finally arrived at our next destination, at around 6am. Where are we, you might ask. Chachapoyas is the name. A small town high in the mountains of northern Peru. It has an elevation of almost 2,500m above sea level and has a population of around 32,000 people. It was founded in 1538 and is the capital of the Amazonas region.
It was a bit cold and seemed deserted except for us people getting off the bus. We said “no gracious” to the waiting taxis. The owner of our next stay said they would pick us up, but it's a bit early. So instead we grabbed our gear and headed towards an open square area on GMaps. We walked a few streets of this small quiet town. Narrow, mostly one way streets with small footpaths. We found the square and a bakery. There were some seats outside the bakery, so we waited for them to open. I walked over to an ATM and topped up my wallet while we waited. There were a few joggers and dogs wandering around, but as the day grew later it got busier. School starts at 7am here so it wasn't long before there were kids and parents moving about. The bakery had opened and we all selected something to eat. I chose a pie looking thing that I believed to have fruit mince in it. I was right and it was delicious. We sent the owner, Louis, a message. Soon after that he picked us up and dropped us at our apartment. We headed away from the nice clean straight streets of the centre and headed towards the outskirts. Here the roads are more broken and dirt. Overgrown vegetation and tin fences. We weren't sure what we were getting into. The photos when we booked, looked nice. Rightfully so. We entered the yard and got shown to our apartment. Spacious, two bedrooms, big kitchen. Yep this will do. I was never worried. We got settled, then I went for a nap. After I got up, I found Mel on the couch, not wanting to wake me. I sent them to bed and made myself a coffee. In the early afternoon we headed out to visit the town and maybe book a few tours. We found a tour company and organised our next four days. They guy was helpful and spoke English (YAY!). We had a bit more of a look around, stopped at a supermarket for a few supplies, then headed back. I made dinner and we relaxed. Off to bed early as the last few days have been hectic and we have a tour tomorrow.
31.10.2025. Today we're heading to a place called Kuélap. A fortress city on top of a mountain, up in the clouds. We got picked up by a taxi and taken over to a bus. The bus got going and we headed out of town. An hour later we stopped and they took our lunch orders. Another stop very shortly after that and we hopped off the bus, onto another bus, and headed for a cable car. Peru's first cable car, one that would take us up onto the mountain. We were in the cable car for about 20mins. The views were amazing. Once on the mountain we hiked for 25-30mins to the site of Kuélap’s ruins. During the hike, I noticed the rock formations on another mountain. I have never seen rock bend, but that's what this looked like it had done. At some point, millions of years ago, the ground looked like it had been squeezed horizontally. Then at some point later, the whole thing was thrust up into the air. The amount of raw power this would take, truly boggles the mind. I find it absolutely amazing and beautiful. I may have commented on it once or twice, possibly annoying the others. But I don't care, it was something truly astounding to see. Anyway, onto the ruins. Construction started in the 6th century by the local people, the Chachapoyans. They built here and ruled the region, until the Incas overthrew them in the 16th century. Only to be colonized by the Spanish not long after. The Chachapoyans built Kuélap to be a fortress city, and it’s believed between 3000-4000 people lived on this mountain. As we walked up to the city, there was a lot of restoration work going on with the huge retaining walls on the outside. We entered the city through an entrance designed to narrow at the top to only allow one person at a time. I feel maybe this was in case of invasion, as it bottlenecked and there were defensive positions above. Once inside we saw the city. Round dwellings with old grind stones, guinea pig areas and food storage places. It was awesome to walk around this site. The old buildings, pathways and the view. They built retaining walls almost all the way around, stopping at one spot because there was a natural drop off that served the same purpose. On our way back to the main entrance to make our exit, a fresh excavation was pointed out to us. Human bones, found in a burial site beneath the floor of a house, had been unearthed. We were told that they had been found just today, and that the team had been carefully uncovering them most of the day. To see from a short distance, someone's skull and other bones was kinda special. Someone who may have been buried for over a thousand years. We then walked back down the mountain to the cable car, and rode it back to the bus. Our next stop was for “lunch”. Lunch? It's 4pm! No wonder I'm hungry. Emma had been grumpy and nibbling on me the whole way down the mountain. It all made sense now. We had our “lunch”, then back on the bus to Chachapoyas. We got back around 6:30 and asked to be dropped close to the centre. We needed to get some money out and since it was Halloween, Mel wanted to get the kids some lollies. We found some lollies at a small place that also sold beer, two birds, one stone. We had a quick walk through the town to see how they do Halloween. It was peeing down, but that didn't stop them. Kids were out and about, all dressed up. Some shops were decorated and were giving away sweets. Our kids were too shy to go get any. By the time we got back we were all pretty wet. One by one we hit the shower. More tomorrow.
1.11.2025. Today we have another tour booked. This time we're heading to a cave, Quiocta Caves to be more precise. We were picked up by the bus and we set off. We arrived at the caves, got out helmets and went on in. A stainless steel walkway has been installed the whole length of the cave, so you don't get mucky. There are lights set up strategically along said walkway. Where these lights are, there is greenery growing. Small ferns and moss. Our guide said “look, in this environment even plants grow”. Righto mate, that's because you don't turn the lights off. This far into caves there isn't much natural light, none actually, the only reason there is any green is because of all these lights you leave on. He pointed out some bats, when asked about them, he said that lots had left the cave because of the lights and people. Oh yeah I feel great about coming here now. The cave itself was spectacular. Stalagmites and stalactites all over the place. Huge open areas and water running past the walkway. I really like caves and this one was pretty cool. I just wish we'd been given torches instead of lights being on all the time. People may not like bats, but they are a crucial part of any environment, and to have just driven them out seems a bit short-sighted. Back to the bus and off to lunch. Lunch today was at a reasonable time of around 1pm. Afterwards, we headed off for our second outing of the day. We had a smallish hike down and around a mountain. What would we discover? Sarcophagi is what we found, placed high up on the mountain. It is believed that these were important people as to get them where they are would be dangerous and time consuming. They're not sure if they were built up there or carried up after. Either way, one slip and you get fitted for your own sarcophagus. Unless you weren't important of course. There was a group that we first saw, then another one by itself that had been damaged, and was pointed out to us. When we walked across the face and looked from the other side, we saw the last sarcophagus. This one looked a bit more covered and seemed relatively intact. The guide informed us that these sarcophagi were from the 15th century. I saw a few other places of interest also. There was another excavation near the main group. In here, there seemed to be a part of a sarcophagus. I asked the guide and he didn't really answer me, except to sort of say no. When we looked at the zoomed in picture from Mel's camera, it was definitely a broken sarcophagus. There was also another spot I saw, and when zoomed in, there was something in there. Again the guide didn't really answer my question. We did our walk back, up and around the mountain, back to the bus. It was now time to head back to Chachapoyas. We got back late, a little after seven. We hit the ATM again and went over to the tour office to settle our bill. Afterwards, we went to a restaurant the tour guy suggested and had dinner. The food was average, the prices not so. Mel's stir fry was more like a soup. My food was barely enough to feed me. Emma got lasagna, seriously, lasagna in Peru? Apparently it wasn't that great. Really? But Peru is world famous for its lasagna. No wait, that's Italy. On the upside, we got a Peruvian bottle of wine to share. It was a little sweet, neither of us like sweet wine, but it was ok. I wouldn't drink a second bottle tho. We wandered back and hit the sack.
2.11.2025. Today we're doing yet another tour. Tour 3 of 4 to be precise. We hopped into a taxi with our guide, no bus today as it's just us, and off we went. Today we're heading to see some mausoleums. After a fairly long taxi ride up into some mountains, we arrived at a small village. We then had a hike down and around the mountain to the place where these mausoleums were. On the way, we had some pointed out to us across the valley on the other side. Apparently, around 200 of these mausoleums were found in the area during an archeological study. We visited 2 today, and saw the one across the valley. Up close they were smaller than I expected, but no less impressive. To have survived centuries of weather on the mountain side and still be here, mostly intact, was a testament to the people who built them. After we'd had our fill of looking at mausoleums, we headed back to the taxi. I thought we were going to have lunch in this little town but no. We headed to our next stop, near a museum we are to visit and had lunch there. No complaints from anyone, as the food here was superb. I had cuy (guinea pig) for the second time. The first time was in Quito. The meat was a bit dry and the skin was a bit tough. At this little restaurant tho, the skin was done perfectly. A bit like thin pork crackle (drool), and the meat was juicy and tender (double drool). I shared some with the kids and they wholeheartedly agreed with me, it was fantastic. We ate our fill and then went to visit the museum. The museum itself was filled with 219 mummies and over 2000 artifacts from a nearby mausoleum. It was decided to build a museum and bring them here as they believed that now it had been found, the mummies would not be safe there anymore. They could not get any help from the government in regards to how to fund a museum. A group in Austria had heard of the discovery, and gave $500,000usd to build the museum. In exchange, 6 mummies would be sent to Austria to be displayed for 6 months. The mummies were then sent back to Peru. Inside we saw most of the mummies, kept in a room. We learnt how they used to send communications, with different coloured strings and knots. Finally, on the outside of the museum, we ate some of the forest fruits that our guide found for us in the small garden there. Our next stop was Chachapoyas, about 3hrs drive from here. Time to sit back and try not to fall asleep.
3.11.2025. Our last full day in Chachapoyas. Our last tour for the place. What are we doing today? Hiking to a waterfall. Not just any waterfall, Gocta waterfall. With a drop of 771 metres, it is the 18th tallest waterfall in the world and can be seen kilometres away. When we booked the tour, Mel asked if it was ok for kids to hike, or would it be too hard? The operator said it would be no problem for children. Alright then let's do it. We'd already walked a couple hundred metres to where you get tickets to enter. Here it said the waterfall was a 5.5klm walk. Our guide said it will take around 2.5hrs to get there. Sweet, what are we waiting for, let's go. We made it to the falls in a little under 2hrs, so we set a good time. We walked past many good spots to get a picture of the falls on the way. I noticed it got greener, more overgrown and obviously wetter the closer we got. Once there it was worth the walk. It is absolutely huge. A massive dead end with water pouring down it. The force of the water causes a constant wind and mist. After getting kinda hot on the walk here, it was nice to cool off. I put my jacket on because I was getting cool and wet. We spent some time here, looking around and climbing. We also found some fossils amongst the rocks. After some time at the Falls we started our way back. This time it took a little more than 2hrs to get back. Everyone did really well doing an 11klm hike, up and down through the jungle. We got back to the place we were to have lunch and grabbed a Powerade, well the Peruvian equivalent anyway. We got our “lunch”, it was 4pm again. Smashed it, grabbed an ice-cream and smashed that too. Then, with no mucking around we were back on the bus and off back to Chachapoyas. My feet and knees were not happy with me. I know they will be even grumpier tomorrow. Once back, everyone showered, no dinner. Went to bed.
4.11.2025. We had breakfast at a nearby market area. Bloody delicious, as you would expect. Back to the room and pack. We're off again today, headed to the capital, Lima. We loaded up our backpacks and headed out. Once we got there, early, we unloaded and Mel went to grab some supplies. Mel returned with some chips, bananas and mandarins. At midday we boarded our bus and for the next 24hrs that'll be us. See ya later.

10 months on the road!
Bloody hell, 10 months already. Before long it'll all be over. Which I'll be a little happy about to be honest. I am in two minds right now. While I am still enjoying discovering South America, I am missing home more and more. Being with my family 24/7 is still my favourite part of the trip. I am really gonna miss these people when we get home, and back to our day to day. My thirst for adventure has been quenched, my cup is running over a little. However, there have still been amazing sights, with more to come, so I shall carry on. Also, there are still so many beers left to try. Next follow up on my mental state in one month. Stay tuned.
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