Pre-Incan Culture in Peru

[世岩 최삼송]

The Museo Leymebamba is a showcase of Chachapoyas culture


Chachapoya sarcophagi high up a cliff at Karajia.



The funnel-shaped main entrance and the 60-foot walls of the ancient fortress Ku?ap were designed to thwart invaders.



At Ku?ap, geometric friezes on ruins of two of about 400 houses in the fortress, the Machu Picchu of the north.



They still weave the traditional way in Karajia, in the remote Chachapoyas region.



A woman prepares to plant potatoes near Karajia



Mummies from the Laguna de los C?dores burial site on view at the museum.



The Sunday market in Yerbabuena.



The municipal building on the main square of the city of Chachapoyas.


THE itinerary was set: the Andes to the Amazon. Start out hiking through pre-Inca ruins in the Cloud Forest. Descend to a sultry paradise, spending the week's end in a romantic jungle hideaway.

But there are reasons that the Chachapoyas region of northern Peru - where orchids seem to pop from every crevice, and spectacular cliffside tombs reign over verdant valleys - is one of its least visited. For one, getting there is a pain.

Just one weekly flight leaves Lima for the city of Chachapoyas, which is also the name of the province and the larger territory of the ancient Chachapoya people. This being the ceja de selva (literally, eyebrow of the jungle), the flights are often rained out - as ours was, even though it was August, the height of the April-to-October dry season.

And so, I found myself with my boyfriend, Moico Yaker, a Peruvian painter, grounded in the Tarapoto airport.

What to do? Stay near Tarapoto, kick back in a bungalow and wander the waterfalls? No. Ku?ap, a Chachapoya fortress, known as the Machu Picchu of the North, awaited, an 11-hour drive west and thousands of feet uphill. We planned to get there by cab (it would end up costing us more than $100).

So in a taxi in the rain, we began ascending the hairpin one-lane road. On our right, bromeliads brushed the windows. On the left was a precipitous drop. Naturally, there was no guardrail.

As the rain let up, I conceded our driver's lifelong experience with sinuous curves and started to relax until the pavement ended. Eventually, I devised a judicious mix of Dramamine, energy bars and coca leaves - which, unlike the refined drug, are legal and quite common in the Andes - to ease the fear factor. Moico insisted on sitting up front, grim-faced and white-knuckled.

After two days and a couple of stops - at the greenhouse in Moyobamba, where sad jungle animals, including little boars and a couple of toucans, peered from tiny cages set amid orchids, and later at La Churuja, a majestic waterfall on the property of the charming C?eres family - we arrived in the quiet colonial town of Chachapoyas. We loved our elegant room in the hacienda-style Casa Vieja, a 12-room hotel in the city center, especially the adobe fireplace, since nighttime lows dropped to the 50's.

We walked two blocks to the Plaza de Armas and wandered into a tourist agency downstairs from the colorful and homey Hotel Revash. There, we met Carlos Burga, the genial proprietor of both, who patiently concocted and explained our itineraries for the next four days. The next morning, a driver, a guide and the ruins of the Chachapoya awaited.

Scant scholarship exists on the Chachapoya, who dominated almost 25,000 square miles in this region from about 800 to their conquest in the 1470's by the Inca, who were in turn vanquished by the Spaniards in the 1530's. Their stone hilltop fortresses and cliffside mausoleums, obscured for centuries by the jungle, have attracted increasing interest from archaeologists, who compete against looters (and one another) to find unpillaged sites.

It's hard to imagine how looters reached the mausoleums at Karajia, where we arrived after a two-hour drive northwest in a taxi from Chachapoyas and an hourlong hike down fields of corn, peas and alfalfa.

Peering up a sheer mountain cliff, we spotted a row of eight-foot-high sarcophagi, crafted from cane and mud in stylized human forms: oval faces, jutting chins, prominent noses, with red feather patterns painted on their chests. Nearby are similar figures with faces on their stomachs; evidently, our guide, Jes?, told us, tombs for less important people. Originally housing mummies and offerings, now they are empty shells.

Our prearranged horses saved us an unwelcome climb, but we were still too wiped out to make the hike to the next site on the itinerary, Valle de los Muertos. So after a filling meal of chicken and beer at a small restaurant in nearby Lamud, we headed back to the hotel, made a fire, and fell asleep by 9.

The next morning we headed south. We dropped our luggage at El Chillo, a bougainvillea-covered hacienda on the Utcubamba River, about an hour's drive from Chachapoyas, and started climbing again. Two hours later, we arrived in La Jalca Grande, a picturesque stone village at the 8,500-foot elevation that was founded by the Spaniards in 1538, and where almost every woman we saw was holding a spindle.

Where could we find weavings to buy? Friendly villagers led us to a courtyard display. A burnt-orange poncho, like those worn by the locals, was quite beautiful, but I chose a soft woolen red-and-white-striped blanket, perfect for winter TV watching, for about $40.

Next stop was Leymebamba, another scenic village, two hours south of La Jalca , that is the home of the three-year-old Museo Leymebamba, a showcase of Chachapoyas culture. Earlier, I had tried to contact Adriana von Hagen, the museum's co-director (she's the daughter of Victor von Hagen, an American explorer who wrote about his South American travels), but the museum has no phone or Internet access.

I found her in the patio of the apartment she inhabits part time behind the museum, having a beer with Keith Muscutt, whom I recognized as the author of a book about the Chachapoya past and present, 'Warriors of the Clouds.' Mr. Muscutt, who is assistant dean of the arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has been traveling the region for 22 years, was about to leave on a six-week journey deep into Chachapoya territory.

In 1999, Mr. Muscutt made a rare find - relatively intact Chachapoya tombs. As documented by The History Channel in 'Cliff Mummies of the Andes,' he excavated mummies dating to about 1100 from cliffside mausoleums on remote Lake Huayabamba.

The remains at another Chachapoya site, Laguna de los C?dores, fared worse. In 1996, looters seeking valuables ransacked the mausoleums at the 12,000-foot-high burial site, hacking mummies, strewing remains and destroying objects left as offerings. Adriana Von Hagen joined a team headed by the bioarchaeologist Sonia Guill? that trekked 10 hours by mule from Leymebamba to remove the tombs' contents, including 219 mummies, before they were lost forever. (This excavation was filmed by The Discovery Channel for another documentary, 'Lost Warriors of the Clouds.')

In June 2000, with a half-million dollars from the Bioanthropology Foundation of Peru, Austria and other donors - 'not a cent from the government' of Peru, Ms. von Hagen said - she and Dr. Guill? founded the Museo Leymebamba. The low-slung structure, built of packed earth and stone, houses many objects from Laguna de los C?dores, as well as an orchid garden with more than 100 species that grow in and around Leymebamba.

In the spare, white-walled galleries, Ms. von Hagen pointed out typical Chachapoya geometric motifs - zigzags, rhomboids, stylized animals - on brightly colored tapestries, ceramics, sandals, musical instruments, a feathered headdress and other objects left for the dead. Many carvings feature the same prominent noses we saw at Karajia. Khipus, the knotted cords that the Incas used to keep records, indicate that the tombs were also used by the Chachapoyas' conquerors.

A climate-controlled chamber, visible through a glass wall, displays the mummies, wrapped in textiles embroidered with childlike faces. While bodies Mr. Muscutt excavated were mummified naturally, those at Laguna de los C?dores had been eviscerated, their orifices plugged and skin treated. Whether the Incas introduced this method of mummification to the area remains a question, Dr. Guill? said.

In a section showcasing the Chachapoya of today, Mar? Elena del Solar, a Lima anthropologist, was installing the Sala Etnogr?ica. Financed partly by the Finnish Embassy in Peru, it is devoted to ceramics, weavings and baskets by local artisans whom Ms. del Solar has sought out in far-flung villages - some of the items are for show, others for sale.

I was devastated that the room wasn't ready yet (its opening is scheduled for early next year) - I had my eye on some waterproof baskets. We spent the next day around El Chillo, artfully decorated with the witty anthropomorphic sculptures of its owner, Oscar Arce Cac?es, a member of the clan we met at La Churuja. That meant we missed some ruins, but it was worth it.

We noshed on sweet lemons we'd bought in town, spied on parrots and hummingbirds with our binoculars, and waded in the river, after persuading farmers to let us cross their land. On the cliff, we spied a big black bird in a crevice. A condor? No, we were way too low. Just a vulture.

On Friday, after another harrowing hourlong drive and a short horseback ride, we finally made it to Ku?ap, the only Chachapoya site we visited to have any official presence or a fee (about $2.75, at 3.6 soles to the dollar). We entered the funnel-shaped main entrance, where the stones narrow to the width of one person between 60-foot-high walls - a clever strategy to thwart invasion - and there we were in the hilltop fortress.

In the rainy season, as befits the cloud forest, a dramatic mist envelopes the 10,000-foot-high site. When we visited, though, the weather was crisp and dry and the visibility was great.

Surveying the jaw-dropping expanse of mountains and canyons, we understood why it made sense to build a citadel here. But under the canopy, we had the sensation of being underwater, as bright-red bromeliads looping from the various trees reminded me of seaweed.

Before us were about 400 limestone houses dating from around 1200, their round shape a hallmark of Chachapoya architecture. Geometric friezes, representing the eyes of panthers and jaguars, ornamented the facades of what had once been upper-class homes. Their thatched roofs were long gone. Rotting trunks poked from stone walls; tiny white orchids popped out from moss between the stones.

But clearly this had been a grand city. It was one of the most spectacular sites I'd ever seen. Perhaps more spectacular still was the fact that we were the only ones there.

Jes? led us downhill to the home of Se?ra Floris, on whose balcony in her home overlooking the valley we had the best meal of our trip. She told us she was bringing us chicha, a local brew made from hongos, an edible fungus that grows in cornstalks.

'Like mushroom soup?' I asked to general hilarity.

Not quite, she answered; but it was very tasty.

The guinea pig, a local specialty, was terrific.

Early the next morning, we headed for the airport, but soon learned that we had been bumped from our flight. We hired our driver, Christian, for a seven-hour drive to the northern coastal city of Chiclayo to get another flight. This way, at least, the roads were paved and the mountain passes were low. By 10 p.m., we were back in Lima.

I wouldn't take a trip like this every time I visit Peru - too many early mornings, back-breaking hikes, hair-raising drives. But I'd like to return to see other spectacular Chachapoya sites we missed, like Revash, Gran Vilaya and the Valley of the Dead.

Besides, I really want those baskets.

Visitor's Information

Unlike more touristed regions of Peru, Chachapoyas is not a good place for dollars, credit cards or even cash machines. Take plenty of soles; the exchange rate is about 3.6 soles to the dollar.

Museo Leymebamba, Avenida Austria, Leymebamba, does not yet have phone service, but information is available from (51-41) 770-210. It is officially closed on Monday, but will often allow visitors then. Admission is $1.40, but will rise to $2.80 next year.

Getting There

LanPeru, (800) 526-7378, www.lanperu.com/English, has direct flights to Lima from Kennedy Airport nightly; round-trip fares range from $450 to $900 and up in summer and for major holidays.

AeroContinente, (305) 242-4242, www.aerocontinente.com, flies between Lima and Chachapoyas via Tarapoto on Friday mornings. A round-trip is $166.

Where to Stay

In Moyobamba, just west of Tarapoto, Puerto Mirador, Calle Sucre, (51-42) 562-050, is a family lodge with 32 rooms in a part of the jungle domesticated long ago. A double with hot bath and breakfast costs $50.

Three hours east of Chachapoyas, the 21-room Puerto Pumas Pomacochas Inn, Laguna Pomacochas, Florida Pomacochas, (51-1) 242-5550, is a three-star facility with a stunning lake view and an impressive collection of paintings by Juan Echenique, a local artist. Doubles, $80, with breakfast.

In Chachapoyas, the three-star Casa Vieja, Jir? Chincha Alta 569, (51-41) 777-353, www.casaviejaperu.com, has 12 rooms, costing from $18 to $26 for one with a fireplace (recommended). Breakfast is $1.50.

The charming Hotel Revash, Jir? Grau 517, (51-41) 777-391, fax (51-41) 777-365, on the main square, has 15 rooms ($15 for a double). The proprietor, Carlos Burga, organizes tours to archaeological sites, and rooms at El Chillo, at Kilometer 46 on the road from Chachapoyas to Cajamarca. The tour prices vary. We paid $150 for two days with a guide and driver to La Jalca, Leymebamba and Ku?ap. A day trip with a group from Chachapoyas to Ku?ap, Karajia or Leymebamba costs about $20 each.

Chachapoyas Tours, Jir? Grau 534, phone and fax (51-41) 778-078; in the United States (800) 743-0945; or by e-mail at kuelap@msn.com, arranges stays at the Choctamal Lodge, stunningly situated on the road to Ku?ap. It has seven rooms with private bath for $10 a person, breakfast and whirlpool included; $5 for backpackers.

Where to Eat

Regarding food safety, the primary warning is to avoid drinking from the tap.

In Chachapoyas, we enjoyed Chinese-style chicken at El Tejado, overlooking the Plaza de Armas, for about $4 for two.

Cely, Jir? de la Verdad 450, Leymebamba, (no phone), is adorned with handicrafts; meals - about $15 for two - come with a profusion of tasty side dishes.

Downhill from Ku?ap, go to the home of Se?ra Floris for great guinea pig. Two can eat for $3 to $4.


ROBIN CEMBALEST is executive editor of ARTnews.