Vira Vira trek to Cajamarca (VIR)

10 days/9 nights

Start Lima/Chiclayo, end Cajamarca or Lima

On our trekking adventure you will see some of the copious magical spots of this amazing area. Towering Andes bow suddenly to verdant, choking jungle valleys. Mysterious fortresses crown desolate peaks, bequeathing their secrets of monumental battles and ancient inhabitants to only the hardiest explorers.

Vira Vira

Vira Vira is a highlight on the trek. No other site - not even the world-famous nearby citadel of Kuelap - can match the sheer scale of mystery shrouding this summit city in the clouds.

Vira Vira is quite the metropolis with more than 200 Chachapoya roundhouses enclosed by a defensive wall. To access this little-visited site, we'll trek along an ancient trade road. En route, we stop for a couple days to explore cliff tombs still containing mummies and artefacts while resting comfortably in our mountain lodge.

We spend a day exploring Vira Vira from our base camp by the sacred Huayabamba Lake - itself an archeological site ringed with cliff tombs. We then travel to the historic city of Cajamarca, site of the first battle between Spaniard and Inca over 450 years ago.

Background

Chachapoyas is the capital of the department of Amazonas, situated in the northeast of Peru. It is a remote area of sub-tropical valleys, half way down the eastern slopes of the Andes with vegetation typical of ceja de selva (eyebrow of the jungle). The jungle is impenetrable, dense with low trees, bromeliads, bamboos, orchids and mosses.

Despite its remoteness Chachapoyas is becoming increasingly popular with travellers. They come to see the archaeological remains of Kuélap, and the other amazing remains from the prehispanic Chachapoya culture. They have somehow survived in apparently unsuitable surroundings.

Cliff top living

Amazonas was the seat of the Chachapoya culture. It later became a part of the Inca Empire under Inca Túpac Yupanqui, and was then conquered by the Spanish.

The Chachapoya culture developed in this area around AD800. There is evidence that people lived in villages of up to several hundred people, in circular houses.

Archaeologists have found tombs on inaccessible cliff tops, and ancient agricultural terraces. The Chachapoya lived in small independent groups, fighting each other for resources. They built their cities on ridges in the cloud forest, and put their dead in cliff top mausoleums together with ceramics, textiles and other objects from their culture.

We also offer a short Tajopampa trek, or a stunning trek on the fabled Qapaq Ñan Inca Highway.