Peru Vira Vira trek
Outline itinerary – day 1
We take a short flight from Lima to Chiclayo airport and then travel for 9 to 10 hours through some of Peru’s most varied and scenic landscapes. There is plenty of opportunity to photograph the desert, mountains and rivers we pass. Hotel
Day 2
We leave Chachapoyas early and drive to the magnificent fortress of Kuelap, South America's largest ancient stone construction. The towering walls and hundreds of round houses capped by the cloud forest at 9,900 feet (3000 metres) above sea level always amaze.
We'll explore the many ceremonial constructions, aqueducts and brilliant layout as a group and then on your own. We then continue our journey to Leymebamba. Hotel
Day 3
After breakfast we visit Peru's brand new Centro Mallqui Museum. The Austrians donated the museum to house the mummies found in a unique discovery in 1997, in the nearby Laguna de los Cóndores.
We continue trekking up a beautiful forested gorge carved out by the Atuen River. Taking a side valley we make a short climb up to Tajopampa, a stunning farmstead that held great importance to the Chachapoyas and Inca cultures.
Day 4
Close to Tajopampa are the mind-boggling cliff tombs of La Petaca and Diablo Huasi. The myriad constructions are situated high up on inaccessible cliffs. Sit and marvel at this tapestry of buildings and pictographs - it's not unusual to identify a new construction every trip. We can only speculate how the ancient people placed their dead in such a place.
We also have plenty of time to visit the ancient city of Boveda - a beautiful small Chachapoyan site that overlooks Tajopampa. Return to Tajopampa for the night.
Day 5
We leave Tajopampa in the morning, rejoin the Inca road and trek towards the village of Atuen. On the way we pass burial sites, some of which can be explored.
Atuen lies at the source of a river, rendering it instantly sacred by the Chachapoyas and Inca who resided here. The ancients even created a snake-shaped lake here by paving the bottom with rocks in the desired formation. At 11,600 feet (3,550 metres), this is a cold night and those brave enough can wash in the two Inca baths close by.
Day 6
We leave Atuen and follow Qapaq Ñan (the main trunk of the Inca's pan-empire highway) up and over a high 13,300-foot (4,000m) pass. Then we drop into a broad flat valley, ringed by jagged peaks.
Leaving the flat valley we climb up to another pass before dropping down to the Laguna Huayabamba. This is a round-as-an-orange lake watched over by the ancient summit city of Vira Vira. We camp nearby amidst the cloud-ringed summits.
Day 7
Today we explore the ruins of Vira Vira and with luck may spot Andean condors in this magical, forgotten settlement. The area was lifted from obscurity and introduced to explorers by Keith Muscutt, author of Chachapoyas: Warriors of the Clouds.
Day 8
We climb over the pass by which we arrived and descend via the mountain lake of Las Quinuas. A little further on we rejoin the Inca road. The trail makes a steep climb via a flight of a perfect Inca stairway. We can admire the stairway from below and traverse around a hillside to the village of Uchucmarca or take the up and over trail to Uchucmarca.
Day 9
In private transport we head out to the Marañon River, which formed the western boundary of the Chachapoyas realm. Crossing the river we head west to Celendin and onto Cajamarca (9 hours).
This beautiful colonial city witnessed a major turning point in world history when the Spanish captured the Inca Atahualpa and held him to ransom. We spend the night in a beautiful colonial hotel near the main plaza.
Day 10
After breakfast we transfer to Cajamarca airport for the flight to Lima.
What’s included
6 days trekking with all meals, private transport between locations, hotel accommodation in Cajamarca, hotel in Chachapoyas, hostal in Leymebamba, archaeological taxes and entrance fees, bilingual guides, archaeology taxes and entry fees, horses for transporting kit, cook and assistant guide, camping equipment and Vango Equinox 35, 2 man tents.
Not included
International flights (we can look for these for you), tips, alcoholic drinks with meals, sleeping bag, internal airfares Lima-Chiclayo and Cajamarca-Lima (we can provide these – at £120 per person total approx. depending on route availability and prices at the time), airport taxes, personal expenses.
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