Kuelap

The alarm went off at 4:30am sharp and I was up drinking hot instant coffee for a change because the stove was already set up from dinner. We were out the door with cameras, water, Oreo s, and headlamps to the trail head in Tingo. We followed the river for 2km then started climbing for the next 8km until we were 1000+ meters higher. The sun started coming up by 6am so we could turn off the headlamps and enjoy the sun rising on all the mountains we had yet to climb. The terrain changed from desert scrub to high sierra pastures as we passed through a stock gate. Small farms started to appear then passing through a small village the walls appeared. We made the hike in good time taking 2.5 hours, of course, everyone asked, it was a nice change up from the bike. The walls appeared as a cliff encircling the escarpment with a narrow gap entering the fortified city that would force enemy armies to single file into the city. . . and die.

The only other people present were excavating/restoring the site, though later we sighted “pockets,” a mumbling German I nicknamed for his pants. Otherwise we had the site to ourselves to crawl over for 2 hours until other people showed up.

Kuelap is only partially excavated and still over grown with bromiliads. Grazing alpacas help keep the grass down. My favorite archeology sites are generally lightly excavated. The complete restoration of a site strikes me less as reconstruction and more as erasure – a negation of time - a reflection of our own desire. The power of these sites is to see once dominant civilizations, no doubt assured of their own perpetuity just as we are, over grown and munched on by alpacas. This too shall pass. The site did not give much information about the Chachapoyan culture because not much is known and the information provided was fairly obvious, like this was where people lived or this is a big wall. Kuelap is noted for certain architecture and design features like the high walls, relief carvings, round structures, and commanding views of the surrounding countryside.

The ongoing restoration project was well funded with a joint grant from the Peruvian and Italian governments. People were bustling about digging, studying, hauling, and rebuilding.

After three hours or so, we headed down to the official entrance with the intent to catch a ride back down the road to Tingo – walking down is more painful than up and we had some hard days ahead. But our early start meant we were finishing up as everyone else was arriving which forced us to hang and wait for a few hours while people went up and came back down. We found a little shade, watched people arrive naming nationalities, talked with cab drivers, and watched the locals work. The real impact of Kuelap was on the local economy. The archeologists and workers at Kuelap all needed to be housed, fed, and supplied beer. Additionally, you cannot drive to the sight which meant everything had to hauled up. Horse load after horse load of sand for mixing mortar went up the mountain. 20 soles per horse per trip each horse

carrying roughly 200+lbs of sand. Locals were also selling snacks and water to hungry people like me. A large truck full of eucalyptus logs pulled up for the scaffolding. I am pretty sure they

would have to be carried up individually by people because horses could not haul them around the switch backs. Just watching the logs unloaded was entertainment enough for 45 minutes.

Eventually, we got a ride from the taxi driver we were chatting with and two other folks. The road down was a tortuous single lane dirt road for 35km that takes over 1.5 hours to drive because it is in rough shape and would have been far faster on a bike. We passed through a series of small farming villages (growing potatoes, coca, and corn) that are trying to capitalize on the tourism to Kuelap . . . but that seemed about as slow as the road. Reminded me of a Darwin quote, “we will now discuss in a little more detail the struggle for existence.”