Peru: Lost Treasures Of The Cloud Warriors (Raymillacta Festival)

One of the country’s most eclectic and vibrant cities, Peru’s historic ‘City of Kings’ is a rich amalgam of contrasts and contradictions. One of the gastronomic centres of the Americas and home to the grand architecture of the Plaza de Armas, Lima can trace its colonial beginnings to the middle years of the 16th century, when the Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, founded the city and named it in honour of the Magi of biblical legend. Over the years Lima has survived earthquakes, pirate attacks and wars of independence, to become the capital of the country and the fourth largest city in Latin America - a fitting starting point for a journey that will take us back to the Pre-Columbian beginnings of this incredible land.

Depending on flight schedules there should be time this morning to explore some of Peru’s fascinating capital, a veritable melting pot of cultures, with the influences of Europe, Africa and Asia very much in evidence before we take an onward flight to Trujillo. This northern city is a colonial gem and is also home to the cultural remains of the Chimu and Moche civilisations and the largest adobe pyramids in Peru.

Just to the south of Trujillo lie the huge pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, towering testaments to one of the most remarkable pre-Inca cultures in the Americas. The Moche people were master craftsmen, whose pottery is still considered amongst the finest ever created by the ancient Peruvian civilisations. The Huaca del Sol was once the largest man-made structure in the western hemisphere, reaching a height of over 45 metres. Its neighbour, the smaller Huaca de la Luna was considered to be a ‘religious pyramid’ and the recent discovery of over 6,000 square metres of murals and reliefs provide an incredible legacy to a culture that died out over 1200 years ago. After a full morning’s visit to these remarkable sites, we’ll return to Trujillo for lunch. In the afternoon we visit the impressive Chimu ruins of Chan Chan. The remains of Chan Chan are far and away the most extensive of Trujillo’s archaeological ruins. This once great imperial city covers an area of some 28 square kilometres and, at its hiatus, was the largest adobe city on the planet. Today the nine meter high perimeter walls encircle the crumbling remains of palaces and temples, workshops and gardens that once lay at the heart of an empire that stretched along the coast for over 1,000 kilometres.

Today we head north along the Panamerican Highway to the city of Chiclayo. After lunch we head west to the entrance of the Chaparri Reserve: a private conservation area of 34,412 hectares that is a haven for Andean bears and condors. On arrival if time allows we will take a short walk to soak up the local atmosphere.

Largely dominated by sparse dry forest and semi-desert, this remote setting is the first privately owned reserve in the country. Run by the local community, this natural paradise is home to a wide variety of animal and birdlife including many species that are endemic to the Tumbesian dry forests. These include the Andean or spectacled bear (think Paddington Bear!), the guanaco and the Andean condor. Indeed, Chaparrí can boast the only dedicated Andean bear Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Peru, which comprises a specially designed facility that is currently home to seven bears. Later we drive on to the city of Chiclayo, our base for the next two nights.

Chiclayo began life as a rural community, founded by Spanish priests in the 1560s. Since then it has grown to be a major northern hub, lying at the centre of the country’s rice and sugar cane production. Today the town enjoys the benefits of a wonderfully ornate colonial heritage and a quite spectacular archaeological pedigree. In the morning we shall visit Ventarron – an astonishing small temple complex where construction started in 4000BC. One can see the oldest murals in the Americas that were painted around 2500BC. Then we carry on to Sipan (Huaca Rajada is the preferred name now) which lies some 35 kilometres to the south-east of the town to see the twin pyramid complex and Moche tombs. After lunch there is time to see the Royal Tombs Museum in Lambayeque which houses what is considered by many to be amongst the best examples of pre-Columbian art ever found. We return to Chiclayo later in the afternoon.

Today we head into the northern highlands and the lands of the Chachapoyans, the ‘Cloud People’ of legend, whose monumental cities and great fortresses testify to an archaeological legacy of incredible richness. The Chachapoyan Empire can be dated back to around 800AD, spreading across the jungle landscapes and developing major urban centres like Kuelap and Gran Pajaten, before finally being incorporated into the Incan Empire during the 15th century. To date there have been some 39 sites discovered throughout the region and it is believed to contains no fewer than five ‘lost’ cities, leading one author to describe it as “...overwhelming Machu Picchu in grandeur and mystery”. Our final destination for today is Chachapoyas, an important trading city that once lay at the crossroads between the coast and the jungle, providing an ideal base from which to explore this incredible cultural landscape.

Today coincides with the Raymillacta Festival - a local celebration that sees villagers from the surrounding communities converging on the city to commemorate the ancient traditions and customs of the people that they once called the ‘Warriors of the Clouds'. After watching the start of the colourful procession, we'll travel to the funerary site of Karajia, precariously located on a mountain ledge some 2,600 metres above the valley. This remarkable setting contains six anthropomorphic coffins, stylised human figures that contain the entombed bodies of the dead, gazing out across the valley to the western horizons beyond. Later we'll return to Chachapoyas for yet more festivities - whether dancing, food or music. A great opportunity to share in this annual celebration, the streets really come alive with a blaze of striking costumes.

Today we drive out to the majestic Gocta Falls, the third highest waterfall in the world (although this is a point of some debate at present). Only recently ‘discovered’, the falls cascade down through some 771 metres, flowing into the waters of the nearby Cocahuayco River. Given its impressive height, it is remarkable that these falls have remained unknown to the outside world for so long, but it wasn’t until 2005 that a team actually came across them. The area around the falls provides us with some stunning trekking today, leading us past fields of sugar cane and corn and along trails that echo to the sounds of yellow-tailed woolly monkeys. These forests are home to giant ferns and orchids and at the base of the falls a swimming hole is believed to contain the protective spirit of a white-haired mermaid.

Rediscovered in 1843, the spectacular pre-Incan fortress of Kuelap sits on a ridge overlooking the Utcubamba Valley. Begun during the 7th century, it is thought to have been under continuous construction spanning several hundred years until it's abandonment shortly after the Spanish conquest. Sprawled across the mountain summit and measuring over a kilometre in length, the site is considered one of the finest examples of Chachapoyan architecture left in the country, its formidable walls rising up to some 17 metres to protect the some 400 stone, cylindrical buildings within. By the time the Incas arrived in the 1470s, Kuelap had become little more than an isolated mountain fortress, but in its day it had been one of the most formidable pre-Columbian cities in the Americas. After visiting the site we continue on to Chillo and our overnight accommodation in the heart of the Utcubamba Canyon.

Today we pay a visit to the ruins of Revash and the pleasant town of Leymebamba, home to the Museo Leymebamba and the mummies of the Laguna de los Cóndores. The mausoleums at Revash date back to the middle years of the 13th century and lie amongst the calcareous rock formations of the Cerro Carbón, to the south of Chachapoyas. The walk up to the ruins takes us up along a trailing mountain path that climbs up to these impressive painted adobe houses and cave paintings. After our visit we then drive on to the town of Leymebamba, where we visit its stunning collection of over 200 mummies that were excavated from the late Inca burial grounds that once lay to the south.

The beautiful colonial town of Cajamarca lies to the south-west of us, across a landscape of wide canyons and mountain valleys. Set on the edge of a lush valley, in the heart of Peru’s dairy country, the town once lay at the centre of the Cajamarca culture (500-1000 AD), before being turned into an important Inca religious settlement. Its charming colonial centre belies the fact that this town is steeped in the blood of the Incas, being the spot where that once great empire came to a final, bloody end at the Battle of Cajamarca. It was here, in November 1532, that Francisco Pizarro launched a surprise attack on the entourage of the Inca Emperor, Atahualpa, capturing him and slaughtering thousands of his followers in the process, an event that the Incas failed to recover from. In 1986 the town was declared a ‘Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Americas’ by the Organisation of American States. Today’s full day drive is one of the most scenic in the entire country and is not for the fainthearted!

The town is home to a number of Catholic churches including the beautiful Complejo Belén and the baroque setting of its 18th century cathedral. We’ll have an opportunity this afternoon to spend some time exploring the town, after first paying a visit to the pre-Inca ruins at Cumbe Mayo, just to the south-west of the town. Set amongst the mountain landscapes and volcanic rock formations of Los Frailones (The Stone Monks), the aqueducts of Cumbe Mayo are said to be amongst the oldest man-made structures in South America and once collected water from the Atlantic watershed and carried it for some nine kilometres across the mountains to the Pacific watershed. On returning to Cajamarca we then have some time to enjoy the city at leisure, taking in the Plaza de Armas (where Atahualpa was executed) and perhaps visiting the old colonial maternity hospital, which is now the Archaeological and Ethnographical Museum.

A further morning in Cajamarca allows time for some final exploration before our afternoon flight (times subject to change) back to the ‘City of Kings’ today, where our journey ends.