UJ #9 - Adventure in Peru

TREKKING IN PERU
Gihan Tubbeh
FROM DECEMBER TO
APRIL IS THE COOL
SEASON, WITH RAIN
THAT CAN FALL AS SNOW
ABOVE 4,500 METRES.
ON THE OTHER HAND THE
DRY SEASON RUNS FROM
APRIL TO DECEMBER,
WITH OCCASIONAL
SHOWERS, AND STRONGER
SUNSHINE AND SHARP
COLD SPELLS BETWEEN
JUNE AND SEPTEMBER
Gihan Tubbeh
CHOQUEQUIRAO:
THE ROAD TO THE JUNGLE
This route crosses the foothills of Mount Salkantay,
in a drier and warmer environment defined by the
river Apurimac and its deep canyons. The trail leads
to a huge, beautiful and important archaeological
site: Choquequirao, and then on to the Amazon basin;
it includes steep climbs and descents, but at
a lower altitude. The most popular starting point is
at Cachora, reached from the Southern Inter-Ocean
Highway at the turn-off located near Curahuasi and
Saywite.
Curahuasi, a wide and vivid-green valley, produces
the best anise in Peru, and at harvest time the scent
of aniseed pervades the whole area. Saywite, on the
other hand, is an archaeological site consisting of
terraces, stairs, open spaces and a rock, which is
the principal point of interest. An important place in
the Inca world and in an excellent location, the site
has no buildings, just this rock. It bears carvings
of some of the characteristic flora and fauna of the
country’s three regions: the coast, highlands and
the jungle. These regions are connected by delicately
carved channels along which chicha or blood
flowed during rituals performed by the Incas.
The first person to mention Choquequirao was the
Peruvian explorer Juan Arias Diaz Topete in 1710;
thereafter, for the whole of the 19th Century and the
Zacarias de Ugarte
first few decades of the 20th, it was the destination
for several expeditions led by Peruvians and Europeans,
who travelled the routes now offered by
the Country’s tour operators. Its construction was
apparently ordered by Inca Pachacutec in the mid
15th Century, to contain the rebellious Chancas from
Apurimac, Ayacucho and Huancavelica, or as an access
and link to the jungle. One of the pioneers in
opening up this route to tourism is explorer and businessman
Alfredo Ferreyros, who cleared the paths
to the ruins by hand in 1975.
It is 32 kilometres from Cachora, which can be covered
in four days, camping overnight. You frequently
see condors, which like to soar over the magical
canyons of the Department of Apurimac. The whole
route is at a lower altitude than other mountain or
Inca treks. The lowest camp is at 1,930 m.a.s.l. at
Chiquisca, and the highest is at Choquequirao, at
3,035 metres.
You can continue the trek to Vilcabamba or Santa
Teresa, where you can enjoy the thermal springs
or the zip lines before entering Machu Picchu from
the west, or you can even go as far as Ausangate.
A longer trip, designed by Ferreyros, between the
most emblematic mountains of Cusco, which takes
twenty one days.