Kuelap is an ancient and truly magnificent structure. The only place that can really compare to its size, mystery and grandeur is the Sanctuary of MachuPicchu, but even then, Kuelap is at least twice as old and quite a bit bigger- it is estimated to contain 3 times more material than Egypt's largest pyramid!

It was built by the Chachapoyas (meaning the warriors of the clouds), which was what the Inkas called these people (the name they used to refer to themselves is unknown). Very little is currently known of this culture and since the Incas and the Spanish conquistadors were the principal sources of information on the Chachapoyas, unbiased, first-hand information of this indigenous culture remains scarce. Much of what we do know about them is based on archaeological evidence from ruins, pottery, tombs and other artifacts.

The Chachapoyas were an Andean people who lived in the cloud forests of the Amazonas region of present-day Peru and one of the most advanced civilizations to develop in this tropical jungle region.

Studies of pre-Inka Chachapoya skeletal remains from Salsipuedes and other burial Sites indicate that the Chachapoyas were of Andean stock but, on average, taller than their contemporaries in other parts of ancient Peru (1.59 meters for men and 1.46 meters for women).

Among the scattered colonial descriptions of Chachapoyas, almost all the Chroniclers commented on the beauty and white skin of the women. Even Father Calancha succumbed to their beauty, noting:

"These are the... most graceful Indians in all the Indies and the women are the most beautiful." The chronicler Pedro Cieza de León described them: "They are the... most handsome of all the people that I have seen in Indies, and their wives were so beautiful that because of their gentleness, many of them deserved to be the Incas' wives and to also be taken to the Sun Temple (...) The women and their husbands always dressed in woolen clothes and in their heads they wear their llautos, which are a sign they wear to be known everywhere." Their art style also reflects a mix of local and exotic influences. According to the analysis of the Chachapoyas objects, their cultural goods have Andean roots and do not exhibit Amazon cultural tradition. The well-preserved burial offerings found near the Laguna de los Cóndores (the lake of the condors) are playing a vital part in revealing answers regarding the genesis of the style. Recurring images found throughout the area in pictographs and in textiles and gourds display human figures sporting feathered headdresses, which suggests common narratives and beliefs and the myths they reflect. Another image found near the laguna is that of a feline-like animal with fanged teeth. Such representations may reflect aspects of Chachapoya symbolism, whose meaning has been lost in time.

Kuelap is the biggest and most famous of Chachapoya architectural sites, only one among hundreds of similarly constructed settlements straddling ridges and clinging to mountain tops. It is presumed to have taken at least 200 years to complete and was only brought to the world's attention in1843, when it was found in remarkably good condition by Juan Crisóstomo Nieto. It was built on top of a huge mountain peak using millions of cubic feet of stone and consists of massive exterior stone walls, which contain more than four hundred buildings inside. It is roughly (no comma) 584m long and 110m Wide, with 20 meter high walls. Inside the Kuelap fortress can be found various structures whose use, or purpose, is a complete mystery. One, known as " El Tintero," is a large stone structure built in the shape of an inverted cone, a real challenge to the laws of gravity, since the diameter of its top is much larger than that of its bottom. Some think it was a prison. Others think it was an oracle observatory where the shaman would go inside to observe a special star pass over "the lens" to signal an exact time or event of the year. Around the fortress, set inside each of the five walls, are gigantic open doorways or portals. The best preserved portal, and probably the principal one, is 10m high and 3m wide. As you go inside the entryway you'll see a passage that looks like a ramp with walls and if you continue along this passage it will start to narrow down to a small tunnel until, eventually, it will only allow the passage of one person at a time. This would have been an ideal place to fend off enemies; since the walls are too high to scale or raise ladders to access, the gigantic doors would seem the logical way for an enemy to storm inside. However, once they had started up the ramp, they would discover too late, that the passageway narrowed down to where only one person at a time could squeeze inside the citadel. Though it might seems that Kuelap was built for defensive purposes, the true reason for its construction remains unknown. Some have tried to demonstrate that it, was more than a fortress; it might have been a fortified place destined to serve as refuge to the population in emergency cases. Some say that the Chachapoyas didn't build their citadels on the tops of mountains for defensive reasons at all, but in order to make maximum use of the land for cultivation. Referred to as the 'Machu Picchu of the north,' there is still a great deal to discover and investigate about Kuelap. It has a veil of mystery that intrigues all those who visit it, although they are few due to its remote location, but many say that its beauty far outweighs the hardships of getting there. Over the past decade, the Peruvian government has been working on making it easier for tourists to access. Kuelap is a treasure of ancient secrets that deserves to be viewed and protected.

By: Laurel Thompson
Kuoda Tours brings people to visit remote regions of Peru, including Kuelap. Please visit us at http://www.inturkuoda.com.

Born in the US, Laurel has lived in Peru for three years. She is a bilingual travel design specialist and has traveled throughout much of South America. She has a strong interest in eco-tourism and voluntourism and loves nature, traveling and writing.

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I hadn't been to the jungle yet here in Peru so when my friends Claudia and Cindy invited me to go with them to help do some work at a children's camp in the central jungle, I eagerly accepted. I live in Southern Peru and had to take a 14 hour bus ride to Lima to meet them. From there we took a bus to Huancayo, a city of about 1/4 million people, up at 11,250 feet. We stopped there to visit the pastor who is in charge of the camp, and his family. I was told we would be traveling to the camp in the jungle with them, as well as a construction team from a church in Canada.

When I packed for this trip, I packed to go to the jungle. I didn't know that we would be spending New Years in the mountains at over 11,000 feet. There were a couple of nice days but the first two were cool and rainy, in the 50s, and there was no heat in the houses there. One night we went to an end of the year thanksgiving service at a church, the next night was a concert at another church. Then afterwards a turkey dinner! Interesting cultural differences. My stomach was rebelling a bit, not sure what the problem was but it gave me a good excuse not to eat some of the local food! I am a very fussy eater, even back in the US. No onions tops the list but there are many other items I don't like as well. Lunch one day was smothered in onions - I had salad. The scrambled eggs for breakfast the next morning were filled with onions, but they were cold anyway so I didn't mind passing them by. But the pineapple juice was warm, something seemed a little backwards!

After spending a few days there, I was told that we would leave on Monday morning for the jungle. I was looking forward to getting there and it being nice and warm. As long as I had some extra time, I went to the internet to send some emails and they asked me how long I wanted to use the internet. I said an hour but didn't finish by then so had to ask for more time. At the end of that time, I still hadn't finished but the timekeeper didn't seem to want to extend my time again so I left.

Travel is always an adventure here in Peru and our jungle trip was no exception. We left Huancayo with the Canadian construction team, the local pastor had left earlier. We took a 5 hour bus ride up over a 15,000 foot pass and then headed down to a canyon which took us to the central jungle area of Pichanaki. It was a beautiful drive following the river and canyon, watching the surroundings change from fairly dry and barren to lush green jungle. It was also good to feel the temperature rising as we continued lower, down to about 2,800 feet elevation. We arrived at the road to camp Shankivironi in the afternoon. Unable to find any available taxis, we started shuttling too much luggage and food up to the camp. We were soon met by a couple of the workers, one who took a large sack of food weighing about 75lbs. on his shoulders and another who took some of our bags in a wheelbarrow.

We went to help with the construction of a house for the new Peruvian missionary/pastor and his family. They are from the northern jungle area and after finishing 3 years of Bible training, were getting ready to move to Pichanaki. They arrived at Shankivironi a couple of days after us. The site for the house is on the side of a hill so our task was to dig out the hillside and make a level area for the house. We also used the removed dirt to build up the lower area so fortunately only had to dig a little over half of the total area. Then we dug about 12 holes to put rebar into and pour concrete pillars. We were working with a group of local church members who enjoyed laughing at all the breaks we took due to the heat and not being used to using pick and shovel. In spite of that, and the blisters, the site was almost ready when we finished our time there. The construction foreman did show up the last day and corrected the layout a bit, which added a lot more digging into the hillside where one corner of the building would stick out (the house will consist of 3 offset square sections).

On the afternoon of the first day, we had to stop working because it was raining and the ground was too muddy, so we went for a short jungle hike in the rain. I also went for a 2 hour hike late one afternoon which I really enjoyed, so different from the high desert area where I live. On the morning of the last day, we went to see a couple of waterfalls. When we arrived at the parking area it started raining, so we all bought "ponchos" made out of sheets of plastic (for $.50) so we wouldn't get wet. We hiked up about 10 minutes to the first falls and were enjoying the view when we noticed a sign that said "secret cave", with an arrow pointing towards the falls. Of course we had to check it out so took off our ponchos and waded out into the pond towards the falls. It turned out that the cave was under the waterfalls, so we dived in and enjoyed going behind the falls and playing in the water. Fortunately the water was fairly warm and in spite of the light rain on and off, it wasn't too cold, even though we were soaking wet.

We then went to another nearby falls and played in the river there also, as well as explored up river to see what was around the corner, as we were in a narrow steep canyon. There the current was so strong that we could just barely swim up stream. There were some shallow spots in the river so we were able to get some rest but we finally reached a spot where the current was too strong for me and I wasn't able to make it around the corner. A couple of others did make it but there wasn't anything different there. Then we had a very fast swim back down stream to the falls, which was coming from a second river high above us. It was such an amazingly beautiful place none of us wanted to leave, but as we were getting tired and hungry we finally did. It is definitely an area that I want to return to and spend more time exploring.

The following day we were to leave Pichanaki on a 9:00 am bus, to return to Lima. We used the wheelbarrow to get the luggage down again, and after waiting at the highway for over 20 minutes, finally caught a ride in the back of a truck into town. There we met the Canadian team, who had slept at a hostel in Pichanaki, and headed to the bus station with them. After waiting for about 30 minutes, we were told the bus would be an hour late. Then we were told that the bus we were waiting for was stuck on the other side of a 16,000 foot pass due to a snow storm at the pass. When they finally said the bus had turned around and gone back to Lima, we decided to try other options. Here we were, stranded in a warm jungle because of a snowstorm! The Canadian team of 10 needed to be back in Lima in time to catch a 6:30 am flight the next morning and Claudia, Cindy and I didn't feel like dragging our stuff back up to the camp so we checked all the other bus lines. One bus was leaving at 11:30 and had 4 seats available but that didn't do the team any good as they all needed to go together. Pastor Miguel found a combi (minivan type bus) that was willing to take them to Lima but there wasn't room for all of us in that. Claudia agreed to go with the team as they didn't speak Spanish, and Cindy and I went on the bus. We were hoping that the pass would be clear by the time we arrived there, about 6 hours later, and thankfully it was.

The rest of the team left in the combi before we did and in spite of all the stops the bus made, we passed them within a couple of hours. Their driver was very cautious about passing on the mountain road but our bus driver, who probably did the route every day, had no fear. We made it back it to Lima in 9 1/2 hours and it took them about 11 hours, crammed into a combi with hard seats and no leg room. I was very glad for the comfortable seats in the bus and that I wasn't in the combi. I also got in a lot of prayer time as it was snowing again when we went over the pass, and were passing large trucks all the way up and down the mountain, which was most of the trip, on a very busy 2 lane highway. The 4 lane highway was a very welcome site when we finally arrived in the Lima metro area that evening.

By: Vic Hanson
http://www.adventurecotahuasi.com.
Vic Hanson is the founder of Adventure Cotahuasi Tours, which offers pre-planned and custom adventure travel tours in Cotahuasi Canyon and other areas of Peru.

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Perhaps your plans to visit Bangkok have been shelved owing to reports of a military coup, bombings, and unrest in the south. Or maybe you think long-haul flights are not worth the hassle these days.

Think again. Bangkok is one of the world's safest cities. It's also one of the most pulsating and exotic. And there are treatments for your jet lag. This year is an especially good time to drop in. Here are just five great reasons to visit the Thai capital in 2007.

1. It's The Critics' Choice

Bangkok was voted best city in Asia by Travel & Leisure magazine ousting green Singapore and frantic Hong Kong. Bangkok was also selected by DestinAsia as Best Leisure City by virtue of it being cheap, safe and vibrant along with its good food.

2. Jet Cheaply Around the Region

Local and regional airfares are a bargain. The recent launch of many low-cost carriers has resulted in jaw-dropping fares for short hops to other Asian cities as well as the islands and beaches of Thailand. Check out the web sites of Air Asia and Nok Air among others for budget trips in the region.

3. Hook Into The Matrix

While still rooted in the past, this city of venerable temples and palaces is racing into the future. Bangkok is getting wired. Wifi is cheap and easily found. The whole of Siam Square is an outdoor Wifi zone and you can find a Starbucks on every corner. Geeks can spend their whole vacations in the IT paradise of Panthip Plaza with its staggering range of hardware and software.

4. Shop Till You Flop

Long a poor cousin of Hong Kong and Singapore, Bangkok can now rival those city-emporia for the range and quality of shopping. Prices are generally lower too. Other than old-style markets, there's a glut of trendy malls. The jewel in the crown is the new Paragon shopping center. It sprawls over 7 floors, each the size of a football field and offering every brand name imaginable.

5. Pamper Yourself At A Spa

Bangkok is the spa capital of Asia. With a long history of traditional massage and herbal therapies together with a gracious concept service rooted in ancient Siamese culture, Thailand can offer an unparalleled standard of spa and beauty services. In fact, Travel & Leisure magazine chose three Thai spas in its top five best resort spas. Whether it's a five-day total pampering or a one-hour jet-lag relief head massage, you can find what you want here.

If all this hasn't tempted you, remember the great hotels and the spicy, piquant food. And don't forget that Bangkok is one of the best places in the world for a sex change. Doctors are very experienced and prices are much lower than in the west.

By: Lloyd Morgan
If you've ever wondered how Bangkok developed into such a place of exotic contradictions, find out at http://insiders-bangkok.ampawan.com.

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