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, <strong>in</strong> a drier and warmer environment def<strong>in</strong>ed 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 bas<strong>in</strong>; it <strong>in</strong>cludes steep climbs and descents, but at a lower altitude. The most popular start<strong>in</strong>g po<strong>in</strong>t 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 <strong>in</strong> <strong>Peru</strong>, and at harvest time the scent of aniseed pervades the whole area. Saywite, on the other hand, is an archaeological site consist<strong>in</strong>g of terraces, stairs, open spaces and a rock, which is the pr<strong>in</strong>cipal po<strong>in</strong>t of <strong>in</strong>terest. An important place <strong>in</strong> the Inca world and <strong>in</strong> an excellent location, the site has no build<strong>in</strong>gs, just this rock. It bears carv<strong>in</strong>gs 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 dur<strong>in</strong>g rituals performed by the Incas. The first person to mention Choquequirao was the <strong>Peru</strong>vian explorer Juan Arias Diaz Topete <strong>in</strong> 1710; thereafter, for the whole of the 19th Century and the Zacarias de Ugarte first few decades of the 20th, it was the dest<strong>in</strong>ation for several expeditions led by <strong>Peru</strong>vians and Europeans, who travelled the routes now offered by the Country’s tour operators. Its construction was apparently ordered by Inca Pachacutec <strong>in</strong> the mid 15th Century, to conta<strong>in</strong> the rebellious Chancas from Apurimac, Ayacucho and Huancavelica, or as an access and l<strong>in</strong>k to the jungle. One of the pioneers <strong>in</strong> open<strong>in</strong>g up this route to tourism is explorer and bus<strong>in</strong>essman Alfredo Ferreyros, who cleared the paths to the ru<strong>in</strong>s by hand <strong>in</strong> 1975. It is 32 kilometres from Cachora, which can be covered <strong>in</strong> four days, camp<strong>in</strong>g 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 mounta<strong>in</strong> 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 cont<strong>in</strong>ue the trek to Vilcabamba or Santa Teresa, where you can enjoy the thermal spr<strong>in</strong>gs or the zip l<strong>in</strong>es before enter<strong>in</strong>g Machu Picchu from the west, or you can even go as far as Ausangate. A longer trip, designed by Ferreyros, between the most emblematic mounta<strong>in</strong>s of Cusco, which takes twenty one days.
Christian Declercq /57