Cajamarca - La Colpa & Llanacora (26 May 2006)

Our 3rd day in Cajamarca was really busy. We decided to see as much as we could, so we went to an old farm named "Hacienda La Colpa". Here we are in two nice places inside the farm: first the courtyard that has a colonial spanish style.

And then at a little lake inside the farm.



This farm is famous because each day at 4.30pm there is a "traditional cow call". The farmer calls each cow individually by name and the appropriate cow (who knows its name) walks from the yard to the shed and to its own stall in order to feed and be milked. Wow! We took a shot before the calling began.

Each cow under their own name. We liked it.


After the visit to "La Colpa" we went to a little town named "Llanacora" only to take a look at the main square and find the waterfall. Here we are (unfortunately it was too cold to swim).

Cajamarca - Baños del Inca & Otuzco (25 May 2006)

Another day in Cajamarca and plenty more to see. We started off with a visit to the "Baños del Inca" - natural hot springs that Atahualpa was visiting when Pizarro arrived. There are public hot baths although we hired a private one - and boy it was very relaxing!


Lorena and I standing by the hot water - 72 degrees. It is not possible to bathe in these!


Myself by the ruins of the original "Baños del Inca".


We went on a tour in the afternoon and the first stop was to sample some of the very rich dairy products for which the city is very proud. Yummmmy.

The "Jardin de Hortensias" (garden of hydrangeas) - a thriving local business.

And the main event - "Ventanillas del Otuzco". These "ventanillas" (windows) are actually pre-inca funerary niches which have been carved into the rock.

Cajamarca - city (24 May 2006)

Cajamarca! Finally we had arrived and we were not disappointed. What an attractive city. Lorena in front of the Cathedral in the centre of town.


It was a short walk up to Santa Apolonia - a prominent Cajamarca landmark. We continued up past the small Capilla to see the "Seat of the Inca".


Here we are on the Inca stone seats with the city behind.


But then we found some other "seat stones" which were more throne like.


Myself and a view of the city of Cajamarca.


There was plenty to see in Cajamarca. It was moving to visit the "Cuarto del Rescate" (Ransom chamber). This is the room that the Inca King Atahualpa promised the spanish that he would fill three times (once with gold and twice with silver) in return for his freedom. In the photo on the left the marker on the wall shows the height to which the room was filled. In the right hand photo the stone behind Lorena is the stone on which Atahualpa was killed (even after paying the ransom 6 tonnes gold and 12 tonnes of silver).

Kuelap - wall (21 May 2006)

Kuelap was really impressive but very hard to get to. The whole day from Chachapoyas was 11 hours, most of which was travelling. We spent 3.5 hours on a very rough road to get to Kuelap, we walked a short way and soon saw the marvelous city wall in front of us. Here we are.


The wall encompasses the entire city and is between 12 and 20 meters high. It would have been very difficult to assault.


There are only 3 entrances which are narrower once inside the fortress and permit only one person or animal to enter at a time. This is a view of the main entrance and "the classic shot" of Kuelap.


Kuelap means "city in the clouds" and it lived up to it's name because it was cloudy and rainy all day. There is a great view from the city, Kuelap is located on the top of a very prominent hill at 3,100 meters.

It is possible to find some stone work of the Chachapoyans in the big wall, however it has not survived well due to time and that the walls are of sand stone.

Let's go inside ! ! !

Kuelap - inside (21 May 2006)

Here I am just inside the city, the entrance is behind. You can see the circular form of the Chacahpoyan houses.


Lorena inside the ruins of a Chachapoyan house. She is standing in the cuy (guinea pig) area.


This is a reconstructed house with its distinctive conical roof.


The Chachapoyans used some imaginative designs in the stonework of the houses.

This is Lorena with a view of the inner wall. Above the wall - the upper city, was used primarily for religious and state activities.

A closer look at the the inner wall - it seems to have well withstood the tests of time.

Kuelap was great, we only wish it weren't so difficult to get to!

Chachapoyas (19 - 21 May 2006)

After a dramatic journey on rough roads, long distances, inept drivers and sharing with a rooster (ask Lorena) we finally arrived at Chachapoyas. It is hard to believe that the capital of Amazonas department is only connected to the rest of Peru by narrow rough dirt roads.

Here is John relaxing with our "San Juan" card-game at the hotel.

In almost all the town in the mountains of Peru there is a "mirador" (look-out place). We walked there to see the view. Here I am at the Mirador Guayamil with John's hat because it was a little cold. (My cold stuff is in Australia already)

A little further on we found the "Pozo de Yanahacu". This well is famous because of the legend that a couple who drink from it will fall in love and marry. If you are alone and drink then you will stay in Chachapoyas forever and marry a Chachapoyan.


A better view over the city.

It was nice to be in Chachapoyas together after such a long journey.

Tarapoto (17, 18 May 2006)

From Tarapoto we went to see the waterfalls of Ahuashiyacu. First we went by car for about 14 kilometers and then walked a short way up. Here is John crossing a small bridge.


And now Lorena almost invisible in the jungle. Spot her.


We could hear before we could see - but it was not the falls we heard, it was the sound of many people. We arrived and had to share the natural beauty with about one hundred other people. (Take a look to Lorena's smile, she was not so happy no?)


The falls are 35 metres high and the water plunges into a refreshing pool. Thankfully the crowds left, so we had the falls more or less to ourselves.


It was a pleasant outing.

Sauce and Blue Lake (16, 17 May 2006)

Wow, we actually have time to fit in another sight seeing holiday in Peru before the big move to Australia. After some discussion we decided to head for the Northern highlands. We flew to Tarapoto in the evening and had a rather poor night in a hotel (due to the constant motor taxi noise). It was necessary to get out into the countryside so the next morning we were on our way to Lago Azul (Blue lake) and the town of Sauce nearby.

A highlight of the trip was the crossing of the river Huallaga on a two vehicle punt.

Shortly afterwards: Lorena wanting to meet some local horses.


Here we are with a view of the Huallaga valley behind.


We arrived at Lago Azul after two hours on rough roads, it was a really pleasant sight to see. It was a lovely boat trip around the lake that afternoon.


The lodge we stayed at was really peaceful and nice. Here we are with the resident monkey named "Martin".

Sauce and Blue Lake - continued (16, 17 May 2006)

The next day began with my first kayak lesson. My, my it was not as easy as I thought. At first I kept going in circles but after a little bit it was fine. (I need more practice dear husband!!!!!)

We decided to go for a 20 minute walk from Sauce to see some waterfalls, so first we crossed the lake in the boat. It was beautifully calm.

The day was very hot and the walk was not easy, especially because it turned out to be considerably further than we had been told. It actually took an hour to reach the falls. Lorena liked the falls because the water was very refreshing.

Here we are on the return walk from the falls. You can see the "blue lake" in the background.

Lorena was playing with the camera and she took these two excellent shots. The first of the lodge and the second across the lake very early in the morning.

Mother's Day (14 May 2006)

The second sunday of May we celebrated the mother's day. All the family had lunch at "Granja Azul" which is located to the east of Lima. It was not so far away but the traffic and the road were terrible.

We had chicken and chips with salad because it was the only food available. Here we are from L to R: Tatiana, Alberto, John, Lorena, Carmen, Saul and Andrea.

The "salad" was very basic. It consisted of two bowls, one contained sliced tomato and the other just lettuce. We could not believe how simple the meal was.

Lorena wanted something more so we ordered a dessert of ice-cream. Two balls of ice-cream on a plate!!!!!!

The restaurant has simple food but at least we were in nice old farm buildings. The other shock was the price - very expensive. Somebody is doing very well to charge so much for such a simple meal and for it to be so "popular" and "in-mode" to be seen there.

Fortunately we think that Carmen ("the mother") enjoyed the day. Here we are from L to R: Lorena, John, Carmen and Saul.

After the lunch we had sometime to hang around, so John decided to try the rock climbing wall. Just take a look at the pics.