KUELAP
Easily the second finest ruin in Peru after Machu Picchu, Kuelap is situated high on a bluff at about 9,900’ elevation. It dated from AD 500 and is extremely well preserved, having just been cleaned up and opened in the past 30 years. Part of it’s uniqueness and attraction is that so little is known and much is constantly being discovered as they research it more. The huge differentiation from the Incas is that everything is round, not rectangular or square. The most famous structure is known as the ink well, as it is a round inverted cone. Kuelap is totally walled in with only 3 entrances, each up a steep set of stairs that go from about 6’ wide at the entrance to less than 3’ at the top, insuring that only one could enter at a time, and they would be fully visible from above. Sitting on a bluff nearly 10,000′ high, with it’s 30′ high exterior walls, it was essentially impenetrable and even the mighty Inca’s could not conquer the Chachapoyas people there. As you probably know, I search out this sort of place and it was totally worth the long journey. Seeing something so world class so early in its development with essentially no other tourists was an unforgettable experience.
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| Nice view looking down the valley |
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| The walled exterior of Kuelap |
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| One of the entrances. Note how it narrows as you go up the steep steps. |
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| Loved this shot of the clouds moving in. |
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| The exterior of a structure. Unlike the Inca’s, the Chachapoyas used decorative elements. These are thought to be Puma eyes. |
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| The interior of a house. Far right is a food prep area, the other two are graves! They buried family members inside the house in the fetal position to make it easier for them to come back in the next life. |
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| The requisite llama shot. |
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| One house restored as to how they think the roofs might have been. |
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| The famous inverted cone structure of Kuelap. |
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| A sense of how it is perched high above the valley and inside the walls. |
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| Bromeliads |
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| Orchids |