Cajamarca and Surroundings
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Cajamarca and Surroundings
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The City of Cajamarca
Cajamarca,
the cathedral without towers
Cajamarca is a northern Peruvian city, home to approximately 135.000
people.
A city with mild dry climate, plenty of sunny days, but located very
high at about 2.700 m (8,900 ft) above sea level.
Cajamarca is home to several universities, it is an important cultural
center in the country.
Plaza de Armas
There is a little park and churches in the area, including the old
Iglesia San Francisco, which has two towers and the Catedral de Cajamarca.
Iglesia Belén
Beautiful old colonial era church in central
Cajamarca. A bit further southeast from the Plaza Central.
The Ransom Room
This is where Pizarro held
Inca ruler, Atahualpa hostage.
The Inca was blackmailed until he ordered his followers to fill the room
up with gold. Pizarro had promised to let him go, if this happens, but
instead, the conquistador had him executed.
The Inca Baths (Baños del Inca)
These are natural hot springs about 5 km (3.1 mi) east of Cajamarca in the town
called Baños del Inca.
Many travel agents take their clients to the area, so you have chances
to see more in the area than just the Inca Baths. There are some less
famous archaeological sites in the area too.
The Cumbe Mayo Aqueducts
A famous pre-Columbian aqueduct system. But the views around on the cliffs are
very beautiful. You get to see ancient carved aqueducts and a wonderful
mountain view in the Andes.
It is located at about 14 km (8.6 mi) from the city of Cajamarca,
behind some mountainous terrain. You will be able to get there by road
vehicle. Perhaps a travel agent will be your best choice for finding
transportation to the site.
The site of Cumbe Mayo is located at a height of approximately 3.300
meters.
The Cumbe Mayo or Kumpi Mayu is not an Inca site, but an ancient
pre-Incan site. It dates back to about 1500 B.C.
Some say that this is the oldest man-made structure in South America.
The Otuzco Windows (Ventanas de Otuzco)
A pre-Incan necropolis. Looks like a town constructed into cliffs with
windows cut into the rock and they served as tombs. You might know Cappadocia in Turkey... But this
is different. People didn't live here. This is a complex of tombs. Morbid
isn't it?
The Windows of Otuzco were most probably built by the Huari or Wari
people. A long time before the
Inca Empire.
Some Spanish-speakers call the site Ventanas de Otuzco, others will
call them Ventanillas de Otuzco. The word ventanilla is the
diminutive of ventana, meaning window.
From Cajamarca, Otuzco is at about 8 km (5 mi) distance. Road vehicles
can approach it.
The Combayo Windows (Ventanillas de Combayo/Combaya)
Poor quality infrastructure links the site of Combaya with Cajamarca.
This site is much better preserved than the one at Otuzco. The
"windows" are in much better condition. Unfortunately due to poor quality
infrastructure, very few people travel to this site.
Hundreds of niches are carved into the cliffs approximately 1200 years
ago. Archaeologists say that both the Otuzco and the Combayo (or Combaya)
Windows were built at around 800 A.D.
Combayo too is a system of tombs, a burial site.
Combayo is at about 30 km (18 mi) from Cajamarca. Transportation will
be difficult, you should better travel with an agency in group.
Llanacora
A picturesque little town southeast of Cajamarca.
Waterfalls are found here. A beautiful sight to the tourist arriving to
Llanacora.
Getting to Cajamarca
Cajamarca's airport links it with the capital,
Lima. In mid 2010 there
were flights exclusively to Lima and no other city within Peru.
There are no trains touching Cajamarca. In fact, there are no rail
lines anywhere close to it.
Travelling by road is the most popular way to get to Cajamarca from
anywhere in Peru.
A bus trip from Lima will take around 16 hours. Very exhausting. But
there are luxury buses too.
To Trujillo, for example, it takes about 7 hours.
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