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City Tour (CJA H100)
3-hour tour beginning with a visit to the
Cathedral on the Main Square, the church of San Francisco and the Ransom
Chamber which Atahualpa filled with gold and silver and offered to Pizarro
in order to secure his freedom. Then continue to Santa Apolonia hill for
a magnificent view of the city and finally the Inca Baths. (3h)
Otuzco
& Tres Molinos (CJA H101)
Tombs of the first inhabitants of the Cajamarca valley, which reveal
the way of life and customs of a people in their original state, named
the little windows of Otuzco because of their particular shape. Otuzco
is situated 5 miles NW of the city of Cajamarca. (3h)
Collpa
& Inka Baths (CJA H102)
Visit to the ex- farm ' La Collpa', district of Llanacora. We're going
to apréciate waterfalls, Callacpuna cave, the Inca's Baths, Inca's well,
'perolitos'. After lunch we will visit the ventanillas de Otuzco. On
Llanguil Hill, only 8 km northeast from the City of Cajamarca, there
are living rock excavations, appearing at a distance to be multiple
array of windows. The so-called Ventanillas (Niches) of Otuzco (2,850m.a.s.l.)
are actually part of an old cemetery of the Cajamarca Culture, which
niches are neatly arranged in rows. Apparently, this was an important
place for honoring ancestors, which remains may have been removed from
their original tombs to be deposited in this necropolis.(3h)
Cumbemayo
Ruins (CJA H103)
Located 19 km southwest of Cajamarca up a dirt switch back to 3,390
meters is Cumbemayo (8 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, $2), a shrine of carved water
canals that still confounds archaeologists. The canals are at least
2,000 years old, but the exact date—and the reason they were built—is
unknown. The lines are so perfect, and the rock ground so smooth, that
it is difficult to imagine these works of art being carved with obsidian
hammers, the state-of-the-art technology at the time. Because Cajamarca
has an abundant water supply, the canals were not necessary, so they
may have had a ceremonial or religious function. If you arrive at this
spot early in the morning, the religious explanation of Cumbemayo becomes
more plausible. The power and energy of the area, which is covered in
ichú grass and punctuated by bizarre volcanic formations, is palpable.
(3h)
Combayo
Ruins (CJA H104)
a three-hour drive from Cajamarca to the colonial town of Combayo, set
out on the best-preserved section of Inca highway near Cajamarca. First
stop is Ventanillas de Combayo, a larger and more remote example of
the cliff tombs at Ventanillas de Otuzco. The 10-km day hike includes
dramatic rock formations, rickety log bridges, and several homestays.
But the highlight is Cañon Sangal, formed by two thin rock ridges punctured
by the Río Chonta. (3h)
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