Cajamarca Things to Do

The thermal bath where the Inca Atahualpa is said to have cured a wound.

If your hostal don't have hot showers, this is the place to go for enjoying a hot bath !
You can even go to the Sauna which is quite good and where you might encounter workers of the Yanacocha mine who come here to relax after 4 painful days spend in the mine.

Aproximately an hour away drive from the city of Cajamarca you find this beautiful mountains with natural rock formations, they are amazing, and there are actually many theories and legends about them. Its quite a walk and its worth. Right there you will also find a very old water channel there are some old inca engravings on the rocks. I wish I would have had more time to stay there, probably camp over night, I found Cumbemayo the right place to connect with my soul, its is a place so peaceful and so energetic, you can almost here the voice of nature whispering through the wind.

Don't miss the Ventanillas del Combayo (Little Windows of Combayo). It´s about 20 km away from Cajamarca through some amazing winding unpaved roads that provide vistas of the valley and the Chonto River. The ventanillas is a necropolis from 500 years before Christ to 100 years after Christ where those of high social status or rich buried the bones of the dead along with ceramic pots and textiles (representing what would be needed in the afterlife). This site was chosen due to the volcanic rock and the ease of carving out the windows or niches.

Of the 500 plus windows, most have been looted unfortunately, but luckily they have not been destroyed. It´s quite eerie looking...all the windows face towards the sun in accordance to the religious beliefs of the pre-Inca civilizations. There is a much closer site at Otuzco (about 8 km away) but the site at Combayo is much better preserved, and there is (as we found out) the added thrill of climbing up 300 meters on a wet and often unmarked trail. We dodged some inquisitive cows and dogs in a private pasture on our way up, but had to deal with cow patties on the way back!

Cajamarca is an attractive colonial town in the north of Peru, surrounded by pretty mountains and countryside.

What marks Cajamarca apart from all the other run-of-the-mill colonial towns of Peru is its place in history. In 1532, the 2 Incas royal brothers Atahualpa and Huascar had fought a battle for the Inca's throne. Atahualpa beat his brother who was left in Quito (in Ecuador). He was returning to Cusco when he stopped at Cajamarca.

At that time, Francisco Pizarro and his 168 soldiers who had been marching for weeks, met Atahualpa there. The Spanish priests duly delivered the "Requirement" which was basically a document that Spanish conquistadores read to the native population before attacking them, giving them a brief history of the world, skewed towards the rise of Christianity, and demanded that the natives accept the King of Spain as their supreme ruler blahblahblah...

Naturally, 'no habla espanol' Atahualpa refused and Pizarro had him captured, and wholesale massacred several thousands of innocent Inca bystanders and soldiers for good measure.

Captured, Atahualpa offered them a ransom for his freedom - a room filled with gold and silver. The Spanish gleefully accepted the offer, but murdered Atahualpa after collecting the treasures.

In Cajamarca's city tour, a room, known as El Cuarto del Rescate, or "The Ransom Room" can be viewed. This was Atahualpa's cell, not the ransom room. There is a red mark on the wall, said to be drawn by Atahualpa, indicating how much the room would be filled up with treasure.

When you observe around you, you will notice that not far from the plaza stands a curious little hill that is right SMACK in the middle of the town.

The hill is Santa Apolonial hill. It can be accessed by road that goes round and round the hill. Or you can head there by walking from Calle Dos de Mayo. There is a steep stairway that prettily criss-crossed its way to the top of the hill.

From the summit, it is quite a captivating sight as you take in the charming town. Here, you can also visit the plaza where Atahualpa was ambushed.

Cumbe Mayo is magical magical magical!! I highly highly recommend people to visit this place.

It is a pampa in the mountain region up at 3,500m above sea level where the Cajamarca culture from 3,000 years ago had built canals. These aqueducts run for 9km along the mountain tops, collecting water from the Atlantic watershed and redirecting it on its way to the Pacific Ocean. It is understood that these were constructed in around 1500 B.C, making them the oldest man-made construction in South America.

The gradient at a certain point is flat. So, the Cajamarca people built canals with right angles, instead of canals in a straight line. These right angles in the canals interestingly served two purposes. Firstly, they actually SLOW down the water to reduce erosion of the canals. Secondly, they SPEED up the water as it hits the right-angled wall thereby moving the water through the flat ground. Isn't this interesting??

But it is not just 'ruins' that are interesting. The whole area is pure magic. There are many impressive 'stone forest' which are natural volcanic rocks which have been shaped by erosion. Hence, they all look like tightly-packed... er... phallic-shaped mountains.

Many of these strange rock formations do look like something (besides t-h-a-t), if you use your imagination. One group is called 'Los Frailones' (big monks), like a group of robed friars departing from you. Another is a massive face. Then, there are rooster, monkey, etc...

There is even a rock structure standing pretty much on its own, which has a tiny tunnel through it. We took turns to squeeze through it.

A simple half-day excursion you can do on your own is to take the micro from the market area of Cajamarca (around Calle Apurimac and Cal Jose Sabogal, ask the locals) to Ventanillas de Otuzco.

The Ventanillas de Otuzco are located just 8km from Cajamarca. These are a series of square or rectangular niches of 50-60cm in height, carved into the side of a cliff. Some of these niches reach a horizontal depth of 8 to 10 metres. These are actually part of an old cemetery of the Cajamarca culture.

Nice walk around the rock-face and you can appreciate the beautiful scenery around.

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Passing Otuzco, on the same highway is Combayo, a better conserved burial place because of its location. the Incas and Chachapoyas are thought to reach always for the altitudes to be closer to their Gods, for that reason Combayo is thought to be meant for royalty whereas Otuzco was meant for naturals.