Chavin de Huantar, Ancash Dept. Peru

Over 10 hours drive fom Lima City, on the east side of the Cordillera Blanca, we descend into the Mosna Valley. Our destination is the modern town and ruins of Chavin de Huantar at 10,300'. A temple and religious center that was built over 3,000 years ago, these mysterious ruins with their underground labyrinths and entheogenically inspired rock carvings are considered one of the most important archaeological sites in the Andes. The local museum houses some of the spectacular artwork from the culture including a series of carved stone heads that show the entheogenically induced transformation from human into jaguar. We spend several days in the region, examining the flora and pondering the wonderful strangeness of the past.