Off the beaten track...

After a very long overnight bus ride from Chiclayo I made it to the little city of Chachopoyas high in the mountains. I got in at 5 am, signed up for a tour of the ruins at Kuelap (a pre-inca citadel constructed around AD 900), and found a hostal that was nice enough to let me "crash" in their lounge for a few hours. The ruins at Kuelap were just AMAZING. Supposedly, they are matched in grandeur only by Machu Pichu. The views were breathtaking, there were virtually NO other tourists visiting outside of my group, and the ruins are really different than any other I´ve seen so far in Peru (built in circles, rather than squares).

The HUGE outer wall...Hurry up..take the picture...before I get spit on!Llamas, llamas everywhere!Heading in...Remains of one of the houses in the "village."Original designs in the walls...As with all ruins, there are burial areas! At chochopoyas they built tombs into the walls. A peek at some bones!!!On top of the world! They definately knew how to pick a beautiful setting for their civilization. Now THIS is why I came to Peru!