Peru

Starting Price:	£966.00
Trip Length:	4 days

Sarcophagi of The Chachapoyas

Ruins at Cajamarca

The Fortress of Kuelap

Classic Chachapoyas

Description Pricing Itinerary

This tour-expedition takes us to the Central Highland of Peru, a largely unvisited area of Peru: Chachapoyas and the impressive ruins of Kuelap, belonging to the pre-Inca civilization of the Chachapoyans. We will also observe the Mummies of the “Cloud Forest People” overlooking the Lake of the Condors, as featured in a documentary by the Discovery Channel.

Our Complete Chachapoyas tour will also take us to the beautiful city of Cajamarca, which played a very important role in the Spanish conquest of the Incas, to the world-famous Inca baths, where the last Inca was bathing when the Spaniards arrived, the “Ventanillas de Otuzco”, a pre-Inca necropolis, and the quaint and pleasant town of Celendin. The whole region is surrounded by beautiful countryside.

Go Back To Chachapoyas Mummies and Cajamarca

Day 1

Levanto
Flight from Lima to Chachapoyas. Pick-up at airport, followed by visit to ruins of Yalape in Levanto (one hour from Chachapoyas). Levanto was the most significant city of the zone at the time of the Inca invasion and also in the Spanish colonial era. We will see a colonial church 5 years older than Lima with its high carved alter. This is one of Peru’s oldest cities. We will go to the fortified ruins of Yalape overlooking the city and also see the 22-kilometer Inca Canal, which brought water to Levanto. Nearby is Colla Cruz (“Colla” refers to the loyal Inca residents who transferred here from the Colca Canyon area, and “Cruz” means cross roads). This was a major crossroads of the empire’s roads, with more than 2,000 miles of major roads going north to Ecuador and Colombia, south to Huanuco and Cuzco, and east to Cajamarca (where the Inca king Atahualpa was captured) to that central Andes highway system and on to the coastal highway system. We will see where the Inca military garrison guarded this intersection. This is the zone’s first restoration, which revealed a major defeat of the Incas by the Cloud people in the revolution against the Spanish. Night in Chachapoyas.

Day 2

Leymebamba
Drive to Leymebamba (3.5 hours); visit the Museum Centro Mallqui where 219 mummies were relocated. They were featured in October 1998 on the Discovery Channel documentary “Lost Warriors of the Clouds.” These were located in the gigantic zone south of here which 50 years ago was 15,000 square kilometers of unexplored Andes, with no road except the ancient Inca road to Cuzco. Ancient shamans got more medical plants from these mystic zones than from the lower rainforest. Overnight at the Choctamal Mountain Lodge.

Day 3

Kuelap
We will spend the day at Fortress Kuelap, known as the “Machu Picchu of the North.” Kuelap has more than 400 buildings inside five levels of walls and is the largest stone structure in all of South America. Orchids and bromeliads cover the walls and trees inside this fortress, which is estimated to have three times more volume of materials than Egypt’s largest pyramid. On the way to Chachapoyas, we will observe the burial Tower of Macro located on a cliff overlooking the Utcubamba River. Overnight at Colonial Adobe Mansion, a 3-star hostel.

Day 4

Lima
Transfer to the airport to take the flight to Lima. Optional extension to Northern Treasures excursion (please enquire).

Occupancy Type	Standard Occupancy
Double	£966
Single	£1117

Yampu Tours is a trading name of Yampu Tours & Travel Ltd – Registered in England, Company No: 6054303 ATOL Number: 9522 VAT Number 919 1679 90 – 0800 011 2424 – Email Us