Sites To See in Cajamarca, Peru
Cajamarca, another Peruvian paradise that you probably haven’t heard of, was my next stop.
There are so many sites to see in Cajamarca! I picked Cajamarca because I
have a buddy that lives there. His name is Jonatan. Jonatan and I met on our Missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Argentina. We first met in a place called Caleta Olivia in the southern part of Argentina and our paths crossed a few times after during my 18 months there. Our friendship sprouted rather quickly and when I told him that I was coming to Peru to visit him, he set up the best trip ever. He showed me all the sites to see in Cajamarca. But before we get into too many details about Cajamarca let’s talk about how I got there because THAT is a story.
My Journey to Huanuco to Cajamarca took a really long time…
Apparently there is a more logical way to get from Huanuco to Cajamarca, but I excel at complicating things. It’s definitely more fun that way! Anyways, in Huanuco I got a ride to the carro station from Olivia’s husband, Jose. I just hopped on the mo-ped with my back pack wedged in there somewhere and with minimal destruction in our wake, we made it safely to the station (although I can’t say that for the car accident we probably caused…)
My carro driver, Solomon was loco. I don’t know how we did not fall down the mountain in his car. He zoomed around hairpin, dirt roads, bipassed the mountain villagers road blocks… It was terrifying. It took almost three hours of this zooming to get to our destination, La Union. Solomon dropped me off at the very run down bus terminal where I bought my ticket for the bus to Huaraz. I had five hours before the bus got there and the lady told me to go check out the nearby ruins in Las Pampas de Huanuco.
From La Union I went to Huaraz, got a last minute room at a hostal to sleep for 4 hours before getting on a bus to Chimbote. From Chimbote I went to Trullijo. In Trullijo a very nice man named Jesus helped me get to the next station where I got a bus to Cajamarca!
My first impression of Cajamarca was fantastic.
I fell in love immediately. On my bus ride there, a very nice guy fell in love with my eyes and wrote a song about them. He asked if we could date and I said no. We said goodbye at the terminal and I waited for Jon.
Once Jon found me, the lone gringa traveler, he took me home and I got to meet some family. They showed me my room, let me clean up after my 2 days straight of buss and car rides and then took me out. I was simply mesmerized by the sites to see in Cajamarca. Some virgin or other was being celebrated that day and they were partying hard. There was music and dancing outside all the chapels. Of course we all danced. The chapels they showed me were in this plaza and they were all built from Inca slavery, forced by the Spaniards. One chapel, however, never got finished and they just left it that way.
One thing I observed by the Peruvians I talked to was that none of them seemed to hold much malice towards the Spaniards for destroying things. They celebrate their culture and appreciate their history together.
Anyways, after a night of listening to music and seeing chapels, I finally got to fall asleep. It was nice.
My second day in Cajamarca was so full of information and beauty.
They literally took my everywhere. Jon first took me to the Inca Garden. It is made of beautiful rocks and plants. You can walk up these stairs and paths that offer up amazing views of the whole city of Cajamarca. Jon had
hired the worlds most boring tour guide who explained to us this legendary Inca tunnel that went from Cajamarca to Cusco. It wasn’t used a lot due to the lack of oxygen and excess of toxic gasses. It is no longer accessible. But this is a little piece they kept open for historical purposes.
Travel hint:
There are flee markets everywhere.
You won’t have to worry about where
to get souvenirs.
Our second stop is one of the most profound sites to see in Cajamarca…
It is this indoor museum where they built a big bubble over one simple stone room ruin. When you enter, there are paintings to that tell the whole story. But I will tell the story from my own perspective.
When the Spanish got to Cajamarca, the Incans thought they were Gods. So they welcomed them. The Spanish thought this was foolishness and took complete advantage of them and their situation.
The Spanish people robbed, pillaged, and destroyed the Incan’s homes. As the destruction was happening the Inca king filled a huge room twice
with Silver and Gold to persuade the Spanish to leave his people be. The Spanish took the all the gold and silver and proceeded to murder all the Incans who wouldn’t convert to Christianity… Men, women, children, and babies. The paintings show that they would hang and then burn the people and rape the women.
The room that you can go look at is HUGE. I don’t know how the Spanish took so much treasure with them but they did, leaving destruction in their wake. Where that plaque is in that picture above is over 2 meters high. That is how high the Incan king filled the room to twice.
After hearing this tale, we were saddened and a bit hungry so we went to lunch. And let me tell you, this was one of the weirder things I’ve eaten. I ate Cuy; Guinea Pig, more ceviche with stomach and intestines in it and many potatoes. I was not feeling great by this time.
Jon took me to see the Banos de los Incas. The Incans had such an amazing bath system. They tapped into the thermal waters, channeled them into a big basin and would manage the temperature by stoppering the cold and hot waters.
That night, we went out for Pizza and Karaoke; Two of my favorite things.
The next day, I went to the modern Inca Baths.
While in Peru, I would advice doing this. You don’t get to actually hang out in the baths that the ancient Incans made, but it’s still fun, and you can still see them from where you sit. It’s a good place to go hang out with locals. I am pretty sure I was the only gringa there. In fact, as I look back on Cajamarca, I was definitely the only North American tourist I saw. NEAT!
Fortunately, for my writhing stomach pains from eating or drinking something bad, we had a way calmer day. After the baths, we ate cake and juice while waiting for one of the vans to come by, yelling our destination.
Travel Hint:
There are designated bus stops
in the cities and vans with young
people hanging out them will drive
by yelling destinations. You
have to be quick in asking
if they pass where you need
to go before you jump on.
We went to some of my favorite sites to see in Cajamarca that afternoon.
Jon took me to see this creepy old hospital that had been converted into an art museum. I loved the art here. They had art displayed from students from the local university as well as from famous artists from the area. In the far back corner of the museum, there was a cool nativity nestled into a cave area.
Travel Hint:
Peru in December is very
festive. They do not lack in
Christmas decorations or
nativity scenes to look at
Cathedral Belen is another really cool site to see in Cajamarca.
It is a cathedral that was built using Incan slave labor and it is made entirely of stone blocks and still has all it’s original carvings. Everything inside is gold plated and original. I believe it is one of the most expensive and sacred cathedrals in Cajamarca. Since it is so sacred, they asked us not to take pictures, so I did. Well actually I think Jon did. I think he stole my camera and snapped a shot. Which I will share with you. You should definitely go see this place simply for it’s artistic value. It is amazing.
After we got our fill of museums, we got onto one of those drive by yelling
vans and went to Llacanora. It’s a town about a half hour outside of Cajamarca with a beautiful little waterfall hike. The hike follows a river and is about one kilometro through little farm lands. As we walked, we passed a gaggle of Peruvian children splashing in the water and a Peruvian hipster singing his soul out with his guitar on a rock by the river. I am glad to know that hipsters are everywhere and not just in the USA.
We enjoyed the universally relaxing sounds of nature and water falling, decompressing from the rush of being in a city before heading back and dropping me off at the airport for my flight to Lima where I would be meeting up with my travel buddy, Kathryn to go to Cusco to begin the Salkantay trek to Macchu Picchu.
Thank you, Jon, for showing me your city and giving me the best tour I could ask for!
Happy Travels fellow travelers!
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