Choquequirao (Sometimes also written as Choquekiraw) is an Inka city ruin that was discovered in the 80s. Since a couple of years they have been clearing the ruins of the jungle that overtook the ruins when it was abandoned. It is believed that almost 2000 people lived there in its glory days.
I did a guided tour with only a small group of 2 other people plus the guide. The other 2 were a couple from London in their 30s.
The night before we left for the trek we had a briefing where we were supposed to be introduced to our guide but apparently there had been a change of plans and so we only got to know our guide the next day. We also received duffel bags to stash our belongings for the night which would be carried by mules.
At 3:30 in the morning we were picked up to drive to the trailhead from our hotels in Cusco. The drive took almost 5 hours and we stopped along the way so the Chef could buy some fresh bread and other supplies. Needless to say, I slept almost the entire drive.
At the trailhead in Capuliyoc we had a delicious breakfast with fresh fruit and bread and got to know our guide, Santiago.
The first day was relatively easy because we were just walking downhill from 3000m to the first campsite at 1800m just short of the bridge across the river. There we enjoyed a cold beer while overlooking the impressive landscape. Later there was tea time where we got to snack on some fresh popcorn just before dinner.
Day 2
The next day we were awoken at 5am with a hot cup of coca tea with sugar. An unusual but quite effective way to start the day. Before breakfast we packed our duffel bags so they could be loaded onto the mules while we were at breakfast. Later we hiked down to the river and then up the other side to Marampata again at 3000m. 1400m of tedious switchbacks. At least there was some good coffee along the way in Santa Rosa.
I had unzipped my zippers around my knee to cool off but I forgot to put insect repellant there. The next morning I counted at least 13 bites in that area. Judging by the look of the bites it could not just have been normal mosquitoes though.
Marampata is a small village on the same mountain as Choquiquerao. It consists mostly of guesthouses for the hikers that come here to visit the ruins but there is also some farming going on.
Before sunset we took a little peek at the ancient Inka terraces that they had reclaimed from the jungle to raise our anticipation of visiting the ruins the next day. It was quite the impressive sight with the low sun and the awesome surrounding mountains.
Day 3
In the morning we woke up first to the annoying rooster at 4am and later to clouds hanging in the valley but the sun soon cleared them out. By the time we were at the ruins it was beautiful weather.
The lower terraces
We we turned the corner to the ruins we saw the terraces that we peeked at yesterday evening. Santiago told us that they are so low because further up the coca leaves don’t grow anymore. So they had to put them down there to grow the plants that they wanted. The Llama terraces are on the backside of the mountain. The jungle above the terraces is currently being cleared. Supposedly there are still more terraces and storage buildings hidden in the jungle.
The upper terraces
It is thought that the city of Choquequirao was built in 2 phases. One slow phase where there was plenty of time to build sophisticated constructs and then a later phase during the spanish conquest when Inka fled to city and there was a quick need for more farming space. It was during the second phase that the lower terraces were presumably built.
The city itself
I didn’t take enough pictures to show off the city center properly. But as a center of wisdom where people came from all over the land for advice there is a central altar where people would supposedly convene with the wise people. In the upper part there are also community halls and big 2 story houses as well as fountains for bathing.
This was my first encounter with real Inka architecture and I was very impressed by the amount of thought and engineering prowess that they had put into this. It also must have been a huge amount of work to build this without any sophisticated machinery.
Plaza del Condor
From the plaza del condor where the Inka held the condor ceremony you have a great overview over the city. Supposedly they captured a condor for the ceremony and they would give them ayahuasca and the shaman would tell the condor their requests for the gods so the condor would bring their messages to the gods. After the 2 hour ceremony everyone would disperse and wait for the condor to finish their trip and fly off.
Personally I find the picture of a tripping condor quite funny.
Llama Terraces
Day 4
The next two days we made our way back to the trailhead. The last part of day 4 Emma (Ed’s fiancé) had to take the taxi horse because the sun was hammering us too hard on the way back up the opposite side of the mountain. It was a hard hike but we all made it there eventually. We had a delicious dinner and a cold beer to look forward to after all.
Day 5
On the last day we left early in the morning to avoid the sun’s heat and made it to the top at round 9am. It was too early for lunch so we just got a little snack at the restaurant and enjoyed the view. On the lookout a bunch of very casually dressed Brazilians asked us how long it was to hike to the ruins – apparently they were considering to go there – but when we told them that it is a multi-day journey they were a little disappointed that they couldn’t get there in an hour or 2.
When our rider arrived we loaded up our stuff and drove back to Cusco. On the way back we stopped at some hot springs to take a bath and enjoy lunch. Emma and Ed would continue on to visit Machu Picchu while I returned to Cusco.