Located in the ceja de la selva (jungle's eyebrow, i.e., where the Andes backs up onto the Amazon), Chachapoyas is the capital of Peru's Amazonas region. The town is a good jumping-off point for exploring some of Peru's most fascinating and least-visited pre-Inca ruins. The giant fortress at Kuélap, the Gocta waterfall, the Karajía sarcophagi, and the ruins of Purunllacta and Gran Vilaya are nearby. Despite the Amazonas moniker, there's nothing jungle-like about the area around Chachapoyas. The surrounding greenery constitutes what most people would call a highland cloud forest. Farther east, in the region of Loreto (won by Peru in the 1941 border dispute with Ecuador), you'll find true jungle.
Chachapoyas is a sleepy little town of 32,000. It has a well-preserved colonial center and one small archaeological museum outside town. Difficult to reach because of the poor roads through the mountains, it is most easily accessed from Chiclayo.
