Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(LIP-wb) -- The colossal walls rise, imposing, defiant and superb. They seem to know that they are part of the great legacy of those mysterious lords of the clouds, those people who dominated the precipitous peaks of this mountainous region long ago.

We begin the ascent at eight o’ clock in the morning. Restless clouds try to hide the sun, but its warmth and brightness soon start to break through. After just fifteen minutes our breathing becomes labored and some of us begin to gasp for air. We are at three thousand meters above sea level.

The altitude takes its toll on us, but it is worth the effort. The brilliant light of the emerging sun bounces off the great wall, and we stand there for a long time, transfixed by the sight.

This is Kuélap, the marvelous legacy of the Chillao people, one of the many autonomous clans that rose to prominence in northern Peru and formed part of the Chachapoyan nation.

Gabriel, our guide, smiles at us as we stand there, astonished by the enormous extension of the city’s outer wall and the quality of the stonework. The questions and hypotheses start to fly. Kuélap overwhelms the visitor with its magnitude and stunning location.

The Imposing Wall

Best described as a fortified citadel, Kuélap stands on the peak of a strategically-located mountain, from where it dominates the surrounding valleys. To get here we have traveled for three hours along a rough road from Chachapoyas, through a dramatic and precipitous landscape.

According to scholars, Kuélap was occupied about a thousand years ago by some three thousand inhabitants. Neither the Incas nor the Spanish knew of the site’s existence, and it seems that the city was suddenly abandoned by its occupants. Several hypotheses exist to explain the sudden disappearance of the builders of this great fortress.

It has been theorized that a civil war or an epidemic decimated Kuélap’s population. But researchers can only speculate, and the reason for the sudden decline of such an apparently thriving culture looks set to remain lost in time.

Today the silent, impassive walls of the citadel stand as the only surviving witnesses of the sudden passing of this once powerful people.

The site covers an area of six hectares and is protected still by an outer wall more than nineteen meters high and almost eight hundred meters long.

We spent more than an hour admiring the magnificent entrance and the curving walls of the eastern section of the citadel, before finally deciding to go inside. Our attentive guide Gabriel led us through one of the entrances.

There are three entrances, two to the east and one to the west. As one enters the entranceway narrows considerably. The gateway had no door because it did not need one. As we advance the entrance becomes so narrow that we can only pass in single file, leaving us at the mercy of any would-be defenders inside the fortress.

We feel like discoverers. A strange sensation takes hold of us as we enter the city. We feel as if we are being watched. "The old inhabitants return often to check on their houses", says Gabriel, "Many visitors insist that they have seen them".

Once inside we are amazed by the high wall that divides Kuélap in two. Standing at about twelve meters, it is lower than the outer wall but no less impressive. This stone parapet separates the so-called "High City" from the "Lower City". According to archaeologists, the Higher City housed the priests and high ranking military personnel, a supposition based on the distinctly military aspect of the buildings in this part of the complex.

To the north we come across an observation tower, located at the highest point of the city. The view from here is simply overwhelming. Steeling ourselves, we stand on the edge and look out across the imposing valley of the Utcubamba river stretched out far below.

As we recover from that rush of adrenalin we make our way to the Lower City, where the majority of the circular stone houses are located. In total, 335 houses have been discovered so far in this corner of the city which probably once housed soldiers and civilians of all ranks.

Here, too, stand six houses decorated with beautiful friezes that probably once belonged to members of the city’s elite. The geometric designs on these friezes are said to have a religious significance.

Yet another surprise awaits us as we continue to explore the western area of the citadel. We discover an enormous inverted cone known as the Tintero, a strange building in every sense. Some scholars believe that it was a ceremonial centre, while others speculate that it was originally a prison.

The face we find emerging from one of its stone walls does not help us to decipher its mystery. Kuélap’s architecture is enigmatic and strange, and its secrets seem to defy analysis. The entire site is covered by a rugged forest which is itself covered in cloud and mist. Lichen, bromeliads and orchids have invaded the stonework, increasing the air of mystery.

As we slowly leave the city we reflect on what we have seen, and our thoughts drift to the builders of this place who used some one hundred thousand limestone blocks, each weighing hundreds of kilos, to erect their apparently impregnable fortress. Our thoughts go also to the judge Juan Crisóstomo Nieto, who discovered this marvelous site in 1843: "It is impressive, the largest construction known to exist in the Americas".

We continue our journey through the world of the Chachapoyans. We bid our guide Gabriel farewell with a handshake and he leaves us, heading for his little house on the green plain below the ruins.

Lords of the Mist

Kuélap is, perhaps, the most emblematic site in the entire department of Amazonas. The magnificent Chachapoyan culture ruled this great swathe of northern Peru from Bagua to Pataz in La Libertad, including the area between the Marañon river and the central range of the northern Peruvian Andes. Their sphere of influence ranged from the highlands to the jungles, where they tamed the tangled and impenetrable cloud forest more than a thousand years ago.

The Incas attempted to conquer the Chachapoyans and around the year 1475, under the Inca Túpac Yupanqui, they almost succeeded. The Chachapoyans who conquered this inhospitable land built their cities on its highest peaks, strategically-located and virtually immune to attack. This ancient culture honored its dead, placing them in ornate sarcophagi and laying them to rest in remote areas such as Revash and the Lagoon of the Condors.

Deciding to try to get close to one of those inaccessible necropolises, we traveled to Cruzpata, a picturesque little town nestled among green fields, and the point of departure for those visiting the sarcophagi of Karajia.
We began our walk to the burial site in splendid weather, heading downhill along a curving path. On arriving at these impassive funerary monuments we observe that they have resisted the merciless passage of time and remain standing.

"These Indians are the most beautiful people that I have seen on my travels through this land", said one of the Spanish chroniclers, referring to the extraordinary physical beauty of the natives of this region. Other chroniclers tell of how the Incas, captivated by the beauty of Chachapoyan women, ordered their removal to the Temple of the Sun in Cusco, where they served the nobility as Virgins of the Sun.

On our own journey to the department of Amazonas we were able to confirm that grace and beauty described by the chroniclers of old has not faded. Beautiful women unleash their coquettish smiles upon visitors still, and the courtesy and kindness of the local people is also still very much alive in this region which relies on fishing and sustainable tourism.

That afternoon we arrive in Chachapoyas, the capital of the department of Amazonas, a pleasant city of Spanish and mestiza character some 2,334 meters above sea level. That evening we dine on the mouthwatering local Chachapoyan cuisine and retire early.

We leave the city early the following morning. The first light of dawn fills the handful of clouds in the almost clear sky with red, and as we drive through the Utcubamba valley we look south towards the impassive remains of Kuélap.

Perplexed, we think we hear someone calling to us. Perhaps they are the ancient inhabitants of the citadel, offering to decipher its mysteries and inviting us to return to this bountiful land.

We will return soon. The lords of the mists have shown that we are welcome.

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