Itinerary
- Peru
- Bus to Huancayo
- Bus to Ayacucho
- Bus to Colca
- Colca Canyon (hike down)
- Bus to Cuzco
- Cusco
- Machu Pichu (Huayna Picchu)
- Manu
- Puerto Maldonado
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Rio Branco
- Cruzeiro
- Peru
- Fly to Lima
- Train to Cerro de Pasco
- Pucallpa
- boat to Iquitos
- Jungle trekking (Rio Napo)
- Fly to Moyabamba
- Pajaten (Abiseo, between Chachapoyas and Cajamarca)
- Gran Vilaya (Chachapoyas to Kuelap)
- Pomabamba (lost city of Yaino, north of Chavin)
- Ayacaba (Aypate fortress, Ciudad Encantada, northeast of Piura, border with Ecuador)
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Notes
Trip Difficulty: moderate
Season: April to October
Length: 30 days
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The rain season lasts from December through April, but the rains are generally very light
The town of Pataz, an hour
above Chagual, is the gateway to the ruins at Gran Pajaten in Rio Abiseo.
Gene Savoy rediscovered the pre-Incan ruins of the Chachapoyan culture at
Gran Pajaten in 1960.
Charles Motley writes:
I would suggest perhaps one of the best treks in the world would be the "Inca Trail to Kuelap, the Machu
Picchu of Northern Peru".
This trek is about the same length and difficulty as the Inca Trail of southern Peru. However it follows
major Inca roads and not "trails" which don't connect major regions, but specific only to that one Inca
town. It starts with the funeral statues at Karajia high on a cliff. From there up to Belen, which is a huge
silted in glacial tarn, creating about the only huge flat spot of Peru, with a meandering river and sweeping
views where the first night camp is located. From there you cross the nightly freeze line of the Cordillera
Central, and descend a mile long Inca staircase into Gran Vilaya. In this zone, Gene Savoy claimed
discovery of thousands of stone ruins of the Chachapoyan Cloud People. Trekkers can stay in this "sea
of lost stone citadels" for as long as their trip allows. It is at a level of bananas, coffee & sugar cane,
with the ruins and funeral sarcophagus looming on almost every peak, of a tiny village named Vista
Hermosa (beautiful view). From there the ancient roads re-cross the mountain range and arrive at
Choctomal (gateway to Kuelap and Gran Vilaya), where there is a very comfortable lodge built as a coop
venture with the village to benefit them, (having donated a huge hydra-electric generator to electrify this
valley, etc.). From there the trek ends at Kuelap, the largest building structure of the Americas (more
building material than the NY World Trade Center had).
Check the Kuelap website.
From Kuelap you go east about 6 hours walk to Choctomal where they have
one of the lodges. This village is where the road makes a U turn, crossing
the river. The trek going in reverse would follow the river to the left
side, on up and over the Abra Yumal Pass. (This being one of the easiest
crossings because it is already very high up on the codillera). When you
drop down to the west, the Vilaya River goes down to the Marinon, but at
Vista Hermosa, (still up in the cloud forest), there are many peaks with
ruins. We should have a map up on our website in a very few weeks of the
area.
Another lodge is located at Levanto (Yelape).
Hiking down to Chacha, take the fantatic Inca Road
which comes out about 5 km west of Chacha at a place called La Molina? This
hike is really spectacular, 75% stone paved, and panaramic views all along
the way.
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