Advertisement
Published: August 8th 2012
Edit Blog Post
Chacha..Chachapoyas (sing it to the tune of 'Paparazzi´)
A change of plan and we ended up in Chachapoyas. Great decision as it´s a little gem! We stayed her for 6 nights in all but could have easily stayed for longer. We spent 5 of these nights in Hostal Amazonas on the main Plaza and it was the nicest place we´ve stayed so far. Really lovely owner, Eduardo and the hottest fastest shower in SA (although Mr P would disagree as the water seemed to run out when he got in)
Chachapoyas itself is a small, pretty town with just enough going on for a good vibe but still with that rural feel. We took the plunge and booked ourselves on a few organised tours from here:-
Sarcofagos at Karajia and the Cavernas at Quiota We (us and 10 peruvians) set off on our minibus on our 2.5 hour bus journey. The journey was tough and took ous over several mountain roads with bloomin huge drops either side. The Sarcofagos are basically ceramic tombs of different designs house high up in a cliff side. The tombs house the remains of VIP´s from pre-inca days (at least 600 years
ago) and are really well preserved. There are some tombs that have not managed to stand the test of time and there are several fallen human bones scattered on the footpaths below these tombs. The area surounding the tombs was stunning jungle and deep valleys and a suitable final resting place for the elite of the day.
Had almuerzo at a restaurant near a pretty little village called Luya. THE best food of the trip so far. We had Cesina which is a cured pork with mashed potato...scrumptious!
After lunch, we visited the caves at Quiota. The cave was completely dark, very long and high and we needed torches to find our way through. We were lucky enough to see baby bats and the most amazing and beautifully formed stalagmites/tites. Once deep into the cave, we all turned off the torches and stood in the dark, our guide played some meditating music on the hollowed stalagmites. Simply fantastic and an unforgettable experience.
Gocta (Cataratas) The best of the three trips. A shorter drive today, through stunning countryside and alongside the fast flowing rapids in the valley. Gocta stands at 777 meters high and is officially the
13th hightes in the world (or 3rd if you ask the locals) and was only discovered in 2005. Locals had been too scared to reveal it´s whereabouts as the fall is reportedly protected by the spirit of a blonde haired mermaid and locals feared her curse. To reach tghe waterfall, wer had a 2 hour trek on a well defined path through stunning and sometimes dense jungle and plant life. The path at times was tough passing through fields of sugar cane but the reward at the end was simply awesome and quite emotional. As it was dry season, therte wasn´t a huge volume of water but it was impressive nevertheless and the small lagoon which it formed and spray coming off the fall was equally impressive. We trekked back in blistering heat and our restaurant was a welcome sight. Chose to have Cesina again but it was a little on the tough side (think old trainers and you´ll be on the right path) Another great day and as we were completely exhausted, an early night was needed!
Kuelap 'Peru´s most impressive pre-Columbian archaelogical site' (and it was!)
Another tough 3 hour bus ride with some serious drops
either side of the roads. The place itself is a huge site and the outer walls are as high as 20m in parts. It was built pre-Inca time so again, at leaast 600 years old with approximately 3-4 thousand peeps living there at the time.They lived in round houses built of local stone and there are some really well preserved examples of the artwork on some of the ruined houses, really enjoyed the visit but it was a bit tiring (seen one stone house, seen um all)
On one of our days off from the trips, we visited Huancas, a neighbouring village. Huancas in Spanish is pronounced 'Wankas" and we were very juvenile and giggly about the name but luckily for us, the locals weren´t!! Huancas has views of an impressive canyon but nowt much else, enjoyed the 6 mile walk back to Chachapoyas though.
We´ll miss Chachapoyas but time waits for no man so off to the Amazon we go.
First stop Moyobamba after a stunning drive, if not a little on the scary side with our rally driving choffer! Lots of greenery on route, we felt as though we´d hit the jungle now, if not
yet the river.
Sometimes we´ve found somewhere and wanted to stay much longer than planned (Chivay, Chacas etc) and sometimes we not wanted to stay (Moyobamba!). Not that it´s a dump or anything, it´s just there was nothing to keep us there. Had to change hotels after the first one we booked into (Oliveria) was more like a prison, toilet paper on the floor in the hall (used!), no bedding and too many bars.
So off to tarapoto, hot, sticky and noisey (motorbikes and music provide the soundtrack here). Stayed in Alijamento July (pronounced Julie) whic is a cute jungle themed hostel with a colourful owner.
On our first night we sampled a couple of Amazonian liquors. Seite raices and viaborra which is made from snakes venom!
Had a pretty good day out with ´El mono y la gata´visiting waterfalls in the morning and the village of Lamas in the afternoon. The waterfalls were brilliant, we both took a dip/paddle, really stunning scenery. Stopped for lunch and had cesina (with grub!) and a juane and more seite raices.
Our timing was impeccable again as we happed to be in Tarapoto in time for another footy
game;
South American Football Tour Part 11 Union Commercial 0 Jose Galvez 3
Notable for the following;
1 - It was our first defeat, we always support the home team.
2 - It was the first time we´d seen people hanging out of tress to watch the match.
3 - It was the funniest mascot so far, a rather plump parrot that joined the team for the warm up, hilarious!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.13s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 11; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0483s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb