Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sights
Though Chachapoyas is charming, sights are few. Most travelers in the area use it as a
base for exploring the surrounding countryside on day tours.
KUÉLAP
(adult/student/child S15/8/2; 8am-5pm)
Matched in grandeur only by the ruins of Machu
Picchu, this mountaintop citadel 2 ½ hours southwest of Chachapoyas is the best pre-
served and most accessible of the district's extraordinary archaeological sites. Bonus: this
monumental stone fortification, crowning a craggy limestone mountain, receives remark-
ably few visitors.
Constructed between AD 500 and 1493, and rediscovered in 1843, the site consists of a
700m-long fortress surrounded by an imposing, near-impenetrable wall that towers on av-
erage nearly 20m high. Though the stonework is not as elaborate as that of the Inca, there
are some incredible structures here. The most impressive is named
El Tintero
(Inkpot), in
the shape of a large inverted cone. There are also traditional
round houses
and a
lookout
tower
with excellent 360-degree vistas. The mountain summit on which the whole city
sits is surrounded by abundant greenery, towering bromeliad-covered trees and exotic
orchids.
| Ruins
KARAJÍA
(admission S5)
Less than an hour from Chachapoyas, a 45-minute hike from the village of
Cruz Pata, this extraordinary funerary site hosts six sarcophagi perched high up a sheer
cliff face. Each is constructed from wood, clay and straw and stares intently over the val-
ley below. Only important individuals, such as shamans, warriors and chieftains, were
buried with such reverence. The skulls on some sarcophagi are thought to have been
trophies of enemies or possibly human sacrifices.
| Ruins
CATARATA DE GOCTA
(adult/child S5/1; 6am-4pm)
This 771m waterfall (the fifth tallest in the world) is dripping
in lore about a mermaid who guards lost treasure. You might not see the mermaid, but you
might see the bizarre orange bird called the Andean Cock-of-the Rock or, better yet, the
rare and endemic Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey. The falls are less than two hours from
Chachapoyas.
| Waterfall
MUSEO LEIMEBAMBA
| Museum
