Today we hiked through the rest of the valley and then up through the cloud forest on a pre-Inca road (my guide says pre-Inca, my guide book says Inca - there's a pattern here - it seems that while most foreigners come to Peru on the look-out for anything Inca-related, the Peruvians are actually much more attached to, and interested in, their pre-Inca roots and cultures). The mist eerily arrived as we reached the top of the road, and shrouded the top of the forest in a thick white cloak. And as it did, the guide disappeared into the undergrowth and I thought he was up to his tricks again. But he was actually leading me to some ruins called Pirquilla that were discovered relatively recently and have not yet really been subjected to any archeological research or clean-up as such. The remains of the houses of this pre-Incan village are circular and the walls on which the houses are built are curved, reminiscent of the forms that the Chachapoyas revered so much. Indeed, this is a particularity of their culture. The discovery of archeological remains has enabled archaeologists and historians to deduce that all of the Chachapoya houses and buildings were built in this way in order to reflect the powerful symbols of the sun and water. The winding walls were built into the hill to provide flat tops on which to build the houses.
It was then a long trek down to a viewpoint where all the villages on the hills along the valley can be seen, each hill boasting archaeological remains and each village making their own coffee. We arrived at our stop for the night. There was no lock on my door, the window was just a big hole in the wall and the guide told me the house was haunted. Seriously, was he never going to give up?!
 |
| the hut I stayed the first night |
 |
| Pirquilla |
 |
| coffee beans drying |
 |
| the haunted house |
No comments:
Post a Comment