Saturday, May 05, 2012

South America - part 15/17 - Ecuador

Summary 2012/4/23-5/5:
1. April is the most rainy month of a year in most part of Ecuador. June to September and Christmas, Easter is high season.
2. US$, US outlet.


3. Gasoline is $2/gl or less. ~$1 each hour of bus trip. $0.25 local buses.
4. Better roads, not as much trash as in Peru.
5. Every good size town has an iTur office, offering maps and local info. They are not nearly as nice as iPeru offices.

2012/4/23 Monday. Sunny.
Transporte Loja (9:30am, 9pm) S28/$10 from Piura to Loja Columbia. Crossed the border at midnight. 2 queues at the Peru side, 1 in Ecuador. Took almost an hour. Loud music all night long.

2012/4/24-26 Cuenca
4/24 Tuesday. Overcast.
Arrived in Loja shortly after 6am. There's an information booth that gives a colored brochure if the area. Seems that I've missed a fantasy castle El Cisne in Catamayo. Departure tax $0.1, toilet $0.1. I got on a Cuenca bus at 7am (~every hour, $7.5, Viajeros). More passengers than seats. They got off at villages along the way. Most got off at Saraguro (a long stopover, departed at 8:45). Green hills, cooler temperature (a light jacket is needed). Pleasant. At Cuenca's bus terminal, the girl at the information gave me a map and recommended Hostal Santa Fe 1 and the streets with many hotels. I took a short taxi ride to that area $2.

Cuenca has a beautiful historic center. UNESCO listed. The cathedral is massive, red granite. 2 other most imposing buildings close to Parque Calderon, the main plaza, are the provincial court and Galeria de la Alcaldia (contemporary exhibition. Free.). Some music event was going on this afternoon in the plaza. I limped about the town (my left calf had some muscle strain for unknown reason). Didn't go too far. Bought a stamp at the post office. $2 for a postcard to North America. More to other locations! Shipping $31 per kilo! Bought some fruits in the market 3. Good market.

4/25 Wednesday. Overcast.
Walked quite a bit today. My leg was almost back to normal. First the museo del Banco Central. Free. Ethnology and archeology. One floor was dedicated to money of Ecuador, but all in Spanish. Behind the modern bank is the Inca ruin of Tomebamba. The birthplace of Wayna-Kapac (Atahualpa's father), the capital of Tawantinsuyu empire. But it was already abandoned when the conquistadors came in 1557, because of the infight between Atawallpa and Huascar. The local Cañari sided with the Huasca. Ruins on a hill. A nice big garden bellow with a pond, Inca aqueduct, lots of trees and medicinal plants with educational panels. Many benches, ducks and hummingbirds. An aviary with Amazon macaws, toucans. Only one exit.


Walked along the Tomebamba river on the south side. Fast running water. Pleasant enough, not touristy. At the cross with Av. Fray Vicente Solano, bought some drink to break my notes. $0.25 for the bus. Exact change only. This Turi bus runs to and back from Mirador Turi. Had to wait a bit. The view up at the Turi overlook is very nice. The whole town and the surrounding hills. Back to town, I continued west along the river, passing the university. Then crossed the river to the modern art museum. Small, free, some interesting but weird drawing. 2 courtyards, clean toilet. Bought some food at the market before hotel. Dropped a postcard to dad, and visited the old cathedral. $2. Not worth it. Small, no stainless window, some restored fresco that looks too new, 2 sets of 18th century wood sculpture: Last Supper and Piedra.

4/26 Thursday. Cloudy - fog - rain.
Caught bus 19 3 on Calle Larga, to Terminal Terrestre, for the 9am bus ($2.5) to Ingapirca. Company Cañar. $0.1 departure fee. 2 gringos were waiting in the office when I was buying the ticket. I got seat #3. When we got on the bus, only 3 of us. 2 minutes before 9, locals filed in. The bus also picks up passengers along the road. 30 minutes later, half got off at the big terminal of Azogues. At ~10:45, El Tambo, where I'll have to catch a bus north. The next 8-10km road needs repair.

~11:10 arrive at the ticket office of Ingapirca. At ~3160m, it's cooler here. The site is small. You can see the whole thing and take decent photos without getting inside the fence. $6 foreigner. Free English guide. I was allowed to leave my backpack there. For smaller bags, there are many lockers. Needs ID to get a key. A small museum with photos of reconstruction and a few objects found there. Incas stayed here for less than 100 years. Cañari lived here for 1000 years, until united with Inca through marriage. Because Incas were great builders, not much of Cañani structures left except for the moon temple. Ingapirca means "wall of the Inca". It's in the shape of a puma, on a hill over river Cañar. Built by Wayna-Kapac. At the fall of the Inca empire, people took the stones to build their own houses. In 1960-70, restoration took place. There are still some random Inca stones collected in the area, and no one knows where they belonged. The only original standing structure is the elliptical sun castle wall. Perfectly padded andesite rocks, superimposed on a ceremonial Canari rock. The entire site has the shape of a puma. With 2 semi circular walls, it looks very pretty. This is supposed to be the best Inca site in Ecuador. I guess others are not worth going.

On exiting, I walked up to Baño de Inca and Silla de Inca. Not really worth the effort. But it's a short walk. When I returned to the ticket office, I ran into Gaby and David who I met 2 weeks ago in Cajamarca and again in Chachapoyas. We chatted for quite a bit.

Took the very same bus @13:10 back to Cuenca. I got off at El Tambo. $0.5. Waited on the road for north bound bus (not fun, misty and chilly). At 2:20 got on a Quito bus. $4 to Alausí (less than 2 hours). But the bus did not go into the town. I had to walk down from the highway for 10-15 minutes in rain. Train station's ticket office was already closed. Settled in Hostal San Pedro 4, because it was mention in some online review. The Riobamba bus terminal is just next door. I bought some bread for tomorrow.

Around Alausi
4/27 Friday. Sunny - rain.
Walked to the train station at 7am for the 8am train. Blue sky! Had to wait for 10+ minutes for them to get ready. Train via Nariz del Diablo, from 2300m to Sibambe @1800m. 12km 45 minutes down, 30 minutes up. RT + a small sandwich of one slice of ham, one piece of lettuce and 2 slices of tomato, a 250ml drink + a one room museum + 5 Nizag men and 5 Nizag women dance whenever tourists are there. $25! The cafe and museum is on a small hill next to the station, operated by Nizag. Clean toilet with everything. Good view. One French made head wagon, 3 Spanish passenger wagons (all very new, AC, LCD screen), 2 seats on the right, 1 on the left. One bilingual guide speaks into a cordless micro. My 8am train was half empty. So can easily move between left and right.

Pleasant scenery, but nothing exceptional. Green hills (not as pretty in dry season), narrow valley of Rio Alausí, which joins Rio Guasuntos at our destination and forms Rio Chanchán. Its claim to fame is the difficulty at the time (not only the topography, but also the lack of labor and the rainy weather). Failed to coerce the indigenous to work (including kidnapping on Sundays. But the weather wasn't always good on Sundays), 4000 Jamaican and others from English colonies in Caribbean (believed to be resistant to tropic climate and disease) were lured here by the promise of a better life. Over 2000 died during construction. 1900, train arrived at Sibambe and 1902, train arrived at Alausí, 1908 it reached Quito. Of course, the track we were on was completely redone last year after some fatal accidents earlier. The native name of the area is Condor Pununa. But all condors were killed during the construction.

In my opinion, not worth the money or time (1 day). Some of the road journey is equally if not more scenic. In my eyes of 100 years later, this track doesn't look difficult or dangerous. But a relaxing 2.5 hours to learn a bit of Ecuador history.

Hired a camioneta for Lagunas Ozogoche $30 (most likely I overpaid). Not worth the time or money. Nothing special. 2 bleak lakes set in steep hills that are not tall enough to have snow. But being the only one here has its appeal. A bit rain. Foggy on the way back. In September every year, flocks of migratory plover commit suicide here. No one knows why. There is a bus going to the village of Ozogoche, which is very close to the lake, but none coming back to Alausi today if I took the bus. Maybe there is bus going to Ambato. I should have asked more questions. 1.5 hour drive one way. But my driver is very slow, and loves to talk. He stopped twice to draw on a newspaper so I could understand that Peru robbed him a big chunk of territory. A proud Ecuadorian. To him, Ecuador has the best of everything, especially its Amazon region, which he emphasized many time to be the lung of the world.

Around Riobamba
Took the 3:30pm bus to Riobamba (every half an hour, $1.9). Arrived ~5:30. Walked to town. Visited iTur office, got a map that's almost unusable (small print). Stayed in Hotel Rocia at the corner next to iTur. $15. Modern, clean, wifi. Very nice, but it's a small hotel: no common area. Walked back to the bus station and inquired about buses to Chimborazo. Had dinner next to the terminal. I could see Chimborazo and something smoky (Tungurahua?) from the city. $1.75 menu. Checked the weather of the mountain.

4/28 Saturday. Cloudy - Sunny. Volcan Chimborazo.
I ignored my alarm at 6am for the 6:30 bus to Chimborazo. Arrived at the inter-provincial terminal at 7:20. Somehow in the confusion (the terminal was being reconstructed) missed the 7:30 10 Septiembre bus 5. Eventually got on a 2 Octubre bus to the community of Chimborazo in a different terminal. $0.5. 45 minutes. A bad idea: it's still 15km away, which I was told 5km. Walked along highway from sunshine into the clouds. Tried to hitch a ride and almost 10 vehicles passed me without stopping, including a bus. Eventually I was picked up by a gentleman from Guaranda who had 2 ladies in his truck. By then, I was sweating wearing just 2 T-shirts. He dropped me off at the park entrance. As custom, I gave him $1. Registered at the office, was given a very nice park map with photos and animal list. It was completely foggy, cold. I couldn't see far, so I followed the 8km dirt road towards the refugios. I put on all my clothes. 30 minutes later, a family gave me a short ride to where the dad was working on his antenna. He refused to take my money. So I left some coins to his 2 little girls. Then I walked up, huffing and puffing, and peeling off some layers. Shortcut the zigzag of the road, missed 2 chances of ride. The last 2km, I rode with 2 nuns and a bunch of teenage girls. They refused my money.

Clouds cleared a bit. The shape of Chimborazo reminds me of Rainier, but no trees, almost no grass either. Big, barren and cold. Not pretty. Vicunas! The girls an I headed to the second Refugio 200m higher @5000m. A bus load of tourists too. One of the 2 nuns gave up. At this altitude, even with Acetazolamida pills, I still had to walk very slowly. ~30 minutes to cover less than ~800m. The 2nd Refugio sells candies and hot drink, but its sleeping area and the toilet were closed. The girls walked further to play with the snow. When I was walking down, it started to rain/hail a bit. A bus load of bikers arrived and left.

I eventually came back to Riobamba with the catholic school van and left them the park map. One nun brought along a glass bottle of alcohol which she distributed in plastic cups in the refugio parking lot, including me. I got off when one nun got off, and walked to the direction they pointed me to. Without a city map, I wandered towards the center, passing many markets. Riobamba downtown is messy. Central plaza is nice, with a good looking but small and closed cathedral. The shops around the plaza were mostly closed. Just a block away are endless little stalls selling everyday wear in often rundown buildings. Saturday is supposed to be the big market day. But I couldn't tell. Mercado Alfonso had a whole row of women sitting on the floor selling potatoes and other produce. Maybe they are only here on Saturdays.

Taxi to terminal orient, where buses to the east start. $1. The market next to the buses sells puppies, kittens, chickens, geese, guinea fowl. Bus to Baños leave every ~30 minutes. $2, 2 hours. I got on a Puyo bound bus at 4pm. Saw volcano Tungurahua 6 that Baños is proud of. During my stay in Baños, however, never saw the volcano. Arrived too late for the iTur office (closes at 5:30). Baños seems to have an endless supply of hotels. Almost every block has 2 on each side. I checked 5+, and settled in Hostal D'Mathias. 7. So far my favorite accommodation. Food is a bit more expensive in Baños. Bustling at night (maybe only on Saturdays). The lit cathedral doesn't look sinister any more. Lots of paintings inside, not very old, no stainless glass. Internet $0.8/hour.

4/29-5/1 Baňos
4/29 Sunday. Overcast.
Walked up to the Cross (Mirador Bellavista). 1.2km. 30 min up, 20 down.
Good view of the town, but too cloudy to see the active volcano. Other than many short and long hiking trails, Baños is where you can do rafting (class 3-4 ~25), bungee jumping (puenting ~$20), climbing down waterfalls (canyoning ~$20-25) for cheap. Even though I initially didn't plan to come here, I ended staying 3 nights. I was tempted to stay longer, going to thermal baths everyday (5 in town). A perfect place to recharge. Temperature 12-20°C all year round. Washing and updating my blog. Tried Pony Malta, a malt drink, nonalcoholic. Don't like it.

1:30, Chiva truck to visit waterfall route. Green steep hills, narrow river valley. This is a very picturesque region. Crops are planted on some slopes of more than 45°. Chiva is a brightly colored open truck with roof and loud music. $3 booked from hotels, $5 from travel agencies.
10:30, 1:30, 3:30. More than one truck going at the same time, each can fit ~30 tourists. Different bus stops at different waterfalls along the road to Puyo (east). My bus first stopped for a $1.5 cable car across the river to get closer to Agoyan falls. 2nd stop, $2.5 cable car for the double falls of Manto de la Novia. Last stop, a $1 entrance fee to the suspension bridge for El Pailon Del Diablo. All very nice waterfalls. The better way is to rent a bike so can stopped as you wish. There are plenty photo ops along the road. Got quite a few mosquito bits.

After an early dinner, I walked to Terma de Virgen. $2 (5am-4pm), $3 (6-9pm). Walked up the few steps next to it under the waterfall. Gosh! Jam packed. Sunday night. May 1st long weekend? I decide not to enter.

4/30 Monday. Cloudy.
Terma Salado west of town in a river ravine. $3 (6am-4pm), $5 small warm pools of various temperature. 2 cold. 1.1-1.2m at one end, 0.8 or less at the other. Hard to swim when it's shallow and short. Dark change rooms with 2 big stalls for handicapped. Toilet and unisex shower. Free good size lockers. Ladies and men with long hair require to wear a shower cap, which is sold next door $0.3.

To get here: walk, bus $0.25 (infrequent, not worth the 20 minutes I waited. Pay as you get off. The drive has change.), taxi $1. When I left, one bus just pulled over. After I got on, it went to San Marin zoo ($2) and aquarium/aviary ($1.5), before returning to Banos. There were only 6 on the bus. No wonder infrequent. Maybe that's the only bus doing this round.

Contemplated on cayoning. But I was told there were no one signed up this afternoon. Seems I was traveling in the wrong season all the time.

5/1-3 around Latacunga
2012/5/1 Tuesday. Rain. Laguna Quilotoa.
Rain! 7am bus to Quito doesn't run. The next bus at 8:30 is too late for my Quilotoa bus. Got on an Ambato bus that was just pulling out. $0.8. Half empty. Needed to transfer to Latacunga. Had to ask a couple of people and walked a couple of blocks in drizzle to the correct spot to wait for a passing north bound bus. Didn't have to wait. I saw a Quito bus and ran! 8:10. $1. Again, no stopping at the terminal. Had to walk a couple of blocks. Got on a 10am Vivero bus at 9:15 to Quilotoa, already 3/4 full. I'm the only gringo. According to the lady who sat next to me, now there are buses every hour or two between Latacunga and Quilotoa throughout the day. No need to get up at 4am or try to ride the milk truck to Zumbahua (known for colorful Saturday market). My Quilotoa bus left at 9:50, with 8 people standing in the aisle. $2 for me, but the lady next to me paid $1.5. The road to Zumbahua is curvy, sometimes not paved (work was being done to the road), 2 hours. To Quilotoa is flat, then further up, good pavement. 30 minutes. A minute before the village gate (most passengers got off to their homes outside the gate), a guy came up the bus and sold us tickets: $2 for me, $1 for Ecuadorian. I checked in at 12:30 at Hostal Pachamama. Bad idea 8. Vivero bus returns at 1pm, and Illiniza bus at 2:30 (leaves from Latacunga @11:30). So it's possible to visit the lake in a day from Quito.

Quilotoa seems to be shrouded in clouds constantly. But the crater was clear. Lake Quilotoa has a beautiful green. Walking down is 30 minutes. Coming back up took 50. The trail is very sandy, at times steep and badly eroded. Many horses and donkeys to carry you up for $8. At 1:30, it started to rain a bit, so I headed back up. It stopped soon. But at 3 it started to rain hard. Luckily I was back in the hostel, sitting next to the small wood stove. Tourists came for hot tea or coffee $1. Local ladies wear white knee high socks, black velvet skirts with colorful embroidery, black felt hat with a peacock-like feather, solid but bright colored sweaters. I was the only overnight guest on this May 1st holiday. Watched some kunfu DVD with the family. They retired at 8pm. No more wood in the stove. So I went to my icy room. Wet wipes instead of shower tonight. Odd, no more water later that night.

5/2 Wednesday.
Agreed upon 7am, but still served at 7:30. Breakfast was good. Afterwards, i had to ask about water again. One of the boys went over and turned on a pump.

Hiked around the crater. 4.5 hours (could be 4). The trail is straight forward most places. Starts behind the restaurant with red tiled roof (the best looking building here). Good view on both sides, precipice on both sides too a better half the time. Up an down constantly. Steep and loose ground at times. I ran into a lady tying her 5 sheep, and 2 horses tied to some brush in the first 15 minutes. Then I was entirely alone. Flowers birds and wind. Very cloudy. All around the crater are villages and fields on slopes, some deeper ravines with no cultivation. The last peak, I took a wrong trail. Instead of heading straight up, I went around to the lake side. Ended up loosing too much elevation. I also met 2 ladies with their dogs. They insisted that I needed a guide, and led me further down to the lake. As soon as I saw a trail heading up, I left them, even they told me it was the wrong way. After I regained the elevating, I was in town 15 minutes later. I plugged the pump and washed a bit. Ate lunch.

Took the 1pm Vivero bus back to Latacunga. When I was on the ridge hiking, I saw a bus stopping outside of the village gate at 8am. So there might be more buses. Stayed at Residencia Amazones 9 next to the giant plaza El Salto (under reconstruction now).

Latacunga has a nice plaza, park Vincent Leon, fenced. Municipal building looks nice but austere. Anyone can walk in. The provincial building doesn't look impressive. Cathedral was closed when I was there (~5pm), so are other churches I visited. La Merced looks better than others. There's a market next to it, but was also closed. The famous Cotopaxi is no where to be seen. I ate dinner (called merianda here) a block from my hotel. The cheapest meal I had in Ecuador: $1.25. Not bad at all. Bought fruit and bread. Unable to find battery for my styripen. Internet $0.4-0.6/hour.

5/3 Thursday. Overcast.
Thursday market at Saquisili. Bus in the main terminal leaves every ~10 minutes. $0.30. Saquisili has more than one markets. The animal market outside of the town is more interesting. Most prominent is ginea pigs ~$3-5 each. A grown rabbit ~$15, a big goose sold for just $6. Chicks $2. Some rams, puppy, but not many. Lots of cocks. Truck loads of fruits. 25 oranges $1, 30-40 dragon fruits $1. I ate some corn pancakes in the market. I didn't like it. The main market sells grain, fruit, veggie, cheese, big wheels of brown cane sugar. Food and juice stalls. Next to the buses, one sells shoes only, one yarn only. Bus stop to come back is different from the arrival stop. I was back to hotel at 10am, consumed some of my purchase at the market. Visited Casa de Los Marqueses de Miraflores. A mall collection of furniture, paintings, 2 wagons of ~19th century. Free, but not interesting. Walked along calle Guayaquil, lots of tour operators advertising trips to Cotopaxi and Illinizai. The weather now is simply not good. Cannot see the mountains at all.

5/4-5 around Otavalo
Got on Quito bus before I arrived at the terminal. They are supposed to be every 10 minutes. $2. 1.5 hours. Decided to go to Otavalo straight, instead of checking out the Guitig plant in Machachi (half way to Quito), or the Quitsato Equator monument and Cochasqui ruin near Cayambe (70 km north of Quito). Carrying a backpack isn't convenient to make any stops. Quito bus terminal is modern and big. I was pointed to a San Cristobal bus to Otavalo $2.55 + $0.2 terminal fee. Bad idea. It took 3 hours, and didn't go to Otavalo's terminal. I walked to down town, settled at Hostal Santa Fe 10 2 blocks awaybon Roca. The terminal is at the other end of the town. More accommodation there. Talked to a tour company. No customers. Local women wear white lacy embroidered shirt, dark long skirt, wide colorful waistband. Garbage truck in Otavalo sounds like ice-cream truck.

5/4 Friday. Overcast.
Laguna Cuicocha (bus to Cotacachi or Quiroga every 15 minutes). $0.25, 20 minutes to Quiroga's main plaza, with many stops. Hired a camioneta $8 RT, with 30 minutes wait. ~20 minutes to drive there. 16 coming back. Cuicocha lake is in a crater. 2 green island in the middle. ~3km in diameter, Up to 200m deep. On a clear day, Volcano Cotacachi's snowy peak is right at front (not today). There is a red roof boat that ferries tourists to the island in the lake and back, no landing. I walked up to the Mirador restaurant for a better view. 7 minutes to walk up. 4 minutes down.

Peguche waterfalls is a nice park not far from Otavalo. I took a wrong bus. Two girls on the bus lead me to the shopping area before the park entrance. They walk fast. I was sweating try to catch up. The "forest park" has a nice walkway, a pool for swimming (dirty water), a few trails, lookouts on both side of the falls. No one collected admission. The falls is not high, but nice enough. There's even a camping area, pit for fire, locked toilet, and 3 huts for rent. I did see one tent outside of the camping area. There's a small untended museum in indigenous signs and legend. Got a couple of mosquito bites. I walked back towards Otavalo. When the "cascada" bus passed by, I got on.

Another place probably worth visiting is lagunas de Mojanda. But no public transportation. Need to hire a taxi. May run $25-30. Again, traveling alone sometimes has disadvantages.

5/5 Saturday. Cloudy with sun.
Famous Otavalo Saturday market. Not much more fruit. Animal market out of town is big. Lots of pigs, big and small. A whole lot of cattle/cow. Lots of chickens tightly packed in cages. Ginea pigs are mostly in sacks.saw some llamas and sheep, but not many. Didn't see fried bugs or strange food. From the main plaza all the way to the animal market on the west side of the river and Panamerica, peddlers are taking over, so are women selling more or less the same food. At least 10 sell sport socks 3 for $1. The so called artisan market in town is spreading everywhere. I got lost among the stalls. Had to ask direction to get back to hotel. Bought $20 of junk.

Heading to Columbia! Bus to Ibarra runs every few minutes. $0.45. 35-40 minutes. Just stand at the end of the only queue in the terminal. Bought a $0.3 sorbet cone while waiting. A long line, but moves pretty quickly as each bus pulls over. My backpack shared the same luggage bin with some tied chickens:(

Ibarra terminal is quite modern and nice. $0.05 departure fee. A bit confusion. The schedule posted is for reference only. My Expreso Turismo bus pulled in and out right away, before 12:15 written on my ticket (different again from the posted schedule, which is just a printout). $2.5, 2:40 hours.

Ibarra area saw Simon Bolivar. La Esperanza in it's neighborhood used to be Bolivar's army hideout.

Topiary garden in Tulcan cemetery. It's very cute. Sculptured trees. I'd be happy to be buried here. Taxi from the terminal $1. 1.5 blocks way, a good size plaza has taxis and minibus to the border. $0.75. 7km. The minibus filled up quickly. It drove across the bridge to the big parking lot. I had to walk back to Ecuador to get my exit stamp. Not many people seem to be bothered with the formality.

If staying longer in Tulcan, Aqua Hedionda maybe a good outing. Hot thermal bath. A friend of mine recommends Hotel San Francisco. $5 single room with many windows.

Notes

Monday, April 23, 2012

South America - part 14/17 - Amazon jungle

Summary 2012/4/14-22:
1. The best time to visit the Amazon jungle is June to September, when the water level is low, not as many mosquitoes. Animals would be next to the river, easier to see. October may be okay, and possible to see turtles coming ashore to lay eggs. The jungle tours 1 from Lagunas are less expensive, primitive lodges and equipment, limited food choices (lots of fish, very fresh fish).
2. Reserva Pacaya Samiria is the largest protected Amazon jungle. Knowledgeable guides, expert in canoe, very accommodating, but Spanish only. Everyone we met is sweet and helpful. I saw what I came for (sloth and pink dolphin, both are captivating), so I am content. I'm also glad that our money stays in the rural community, unlike the big operators in Iquitos. The only problem is getting into Lagunas. No flight, no road, very unreliable boat. So budget extra days, and maybe spend more days in the reserve. We only visited a small fraction.

2012/4/14-16 To Lagunas
4/14 at Moyobamba, our driver called a combi to pick us up after 20 minutes, because we wanted to eat first. US: me and 2 other gringos on the same minibus. 20 year old Katherina from Austria, 25 year old Jan from Germany. They were also hoping to sign on a jungle tour in Lagunas. Our combi drove around town hoping to fill his minibus (they seem to run all the time, as soon as a bus can be filled). S10.

Arrived at Tarapoto ~3:20pm. There was a scheduled departure at 3:45 (S10), 5pm (S15). By the time we came back from the main square (talked to a travel agency, made phone calls, ATM with S5.6 surcharge, repellent cheaper than Chachapoya), it was 4:15. We got on a taxi in this company next to the combi terminal. 4 passengers S20 each, but got to leave sooner. Arrived at Yurimaguas ~6:40, after a tire change.

Went to Hotel Rio Huallaga, calle Arica 111 for Huayruro Tours. Talked to Miguel the boss. Katherina is great in bargaining. She got down the price to S1150 for 3 of us, including park entrance fee which is S20/day. However she's going to pay less. For now, we each paid S200 as deposit. She also bargained S15/each for us to stay at the hotel. Wifi, but cold shower. It has a pool, even a movie theatre that screens a movie or a football match everyday at different times. Someone at the agency accompanied us to the market to buy hammock (S25) and a container for the food on boat. I also bought a Spanish-English dictionary, Jan bought a kid's Spanish book.

4/15. Sunday. Sunny and muggy. Stuck in Yurimaguas.
6:30 wake up call. Julia at the agency accompanied us to breakfast and to buy bread and water, and rushed to the boat which was said to depart at 9am. They were laying bricks one by one. Bottom floor was full of cows. Met a California lady who was on the boat since yesterday. They were told that it would leave yesterday at 5pm. Now don't know when it will actually leave. With a full and heavy cargo, it would be much slower. Katherina and I went to the town to buy more provisions, and to leave Julia a note. By the time we returned, Jan was outside of the boat with almost all our bags and hammocks, except one plastic bag of mine. I had to tread water to get to the boat, because it was parked a bit south, where they were trying to pull a bull up the boat. It was all muddy and dirty. Julia came and talked to the captain. It was a lengthy discussion. Basically, this boat shouldn't take passengers. We the gringo with our backpacks cannot pass as kitchen helpers or whatever. The captain will get fined. After some negotiation, captain hid us in one of the cabins. We chatted with its friendly inhabitant, a guy who speaks good English (who used to live in US), who had been waiting since yesterday. But half an hour later, the captain said the inspector would come and check the boat, so we had to leave. Well, we had no choice and came back to the hotel. At least it's a nice hotel. Used the pool and Internet.

4/16 Monday. Pouring rain. Boat to Lagunas.
Katherina went with Julia to put hammocks on the boat of today at 7:10. I went to buy a bowl to eat on the boat. During yesterday's chaos, I lost some water and my container. As soon as our motor-rickshaws arrived at the port, 2 young dudes rushed over to carry our bags. Since there were now hammocks blocking the stairs to the part where our hammocks were, the two also retied our hammocks in the main cabin, all for S1 tip each. The scheduled departure at 8:30 didn't happen until 9:40. This boat is passenger only, so not as smelly. About 20 hammocks, 30 passengers. It only goes to Lagunas (S30), making 6 other stops on the way. Vendors came abroad to sell food and drink. Passengers ate and toss the bones and plastic wraps overboard. A couple turned on their radios with competing volume. Peruvians don't have the sense of using earphones. As soon as the engine started, all were drown in its roar. Before lunch, we were given a token each. When the lunch is ready, ~12:45, just went to the kitchen with the token and the container. Rice with beef in a tomato based sauce, a tasteless plantain. Not bad. However, I was a bit sick by then, because I fell asleep with just my t-shirt. When it's raining like this, the temperature is very pleasant, but too cold to sleep without something warmer. After the hot lunch and some sweat, I felt better. People washed their containers with the river water in the tank which is used to flush toilet. I just wiped mine with toilet paper.

The boredom is not easy to take. Limited space, nothing to do. Very slow boat with the same scenery. I started reading my dictionary. Sleeping in hammock gives me backache. When half the lunch crowd was back to their hammocks, I lied on the narrow bench, meanwhile laying yesterday's wash in my hammock. Eventually I fell asleep again in the hammock, covered with my sleeping bag.

Arrived at Lagunas ~7:20pm. Miguel's people came to the boat to fetch us. Abrahan the guide and Luina the cook. They took us to the agency. We paid the rest of our tour fee (Jan and me each S200, Katherina S150), got a briefing. Stayed at hospedaje Miraflores for the night (not good). We had to pay the motor taxi: S5 each, but the lodging was paid for (I guess our low fee contributed to the choice of hotel). By now, I also realized that I had lost my headlamp, pen, and I ran out of soles :(

No dinner tonight. Instead, I ate my purchase at the Yurimaguas bakery. Repacked for the 4 day 3 night jungle tour. Since the guides would supply almost everything (rain poncho, rubber boots, mattress, sheets, food, water, even toilet paper), we were advised to take as little as possible.

4/17-20 Jungle Tour
4/17 Tuesday. Cloudy with a bit of sun.
The room was unreasonably stuffy, despite of the nice temperature outside. Noisy too. Our neighbor was listening to something loud way into the night. Woke up a few times in sweat through the night.

Good breakfast at the agency. Fried eggs, jam, butter. Bad toilet. Juan at Aguaje Tours came to chat to us. A very nice and jovial guy. He is the first person I contacted for the jungle tour. A motor cart carried a full load (our provision for the next 4 days), 3 of us, Miguel, Abrahan, Luina, on a rutted and muddy dirt road to the reserve. On the way, we passed a patch of flat grass area. Miguel told us that up to 8 years ago, it was used as an airplane landing area for drug trafficking. We had to pour water on the engine from time to time. Eventually some screw fell off, and a wheel got off the axle. We carried everything the last leg, ~15 minutes. Registered at the park office. Lots of French tourist came here. Not many Peruvians. Miguel gave us some orange and zapote.

Loaded everything on a canoe. Abraham in front, Luiana at the end. Two of them rowed expertly on the narrow river. Saw 4 Papagayo (parrot). Ahuaninga (little snake), brown capuchins, hanging nest of Paokai (a small black bird with shiny yellow belly).

After lunch (spaghetti and boiled egg) in an inundated hut (is on dry land in dry season. Now the water level is high), a giant brown sloth, 4 flying yellow parrots. We saw many sloths later, one very close, and the guide dragged its foot to get him out of the tree, at Katherina's urge, even knocked his head. More yellow parrots.

Dinner is fish and tasteless fried banana at the refuge, over candle light. The fish is fresh and tender. The table Shower is a bowl to pour river water over yourself. I washed my sweat soaking clothes. Yes, river water too. And the same river they clean fish, wash pots, brush teeth (i used drinking water) and flush the toilet in, no filtration. Afterwards, Abraham rowed us out to find night creatures via a route one walks on in dry season. Saw a few big spiders, a big catava (?) tree which canoes can be made of, 2 conoconos (ba,mboo rat). The night sky was beautiful, but I wasn't able to take a star photo even with 60 second exposure. The night was uneventful other than I was waken up by Katherina's flash light ~12:40. Thin mattress. Mosquito net. I still got bugs inside. Frog and bird calls everywhere.

4/18 Wednesday.
6:15, Abrahan rowed the canoe ~60m from the refuge where a net was hung under a tree branch. He picked some fish there. Bocholoche? bird. Pichico monkey (10cm long), many times. More birds. It was sunny and hot, then it poured, for hours. We got to a hut drenched. Ate fish, potato over rice, and waited. Abrahan laid plastic overhead, otherwise it drizzled inside the hut.

Around 2:15, the rain abated. We reloaded the boat and continued downstream. 2 hoatzin, a red head woodpecker, red monkey who makes a lot of noise. We reached the next camp in 2 hours, due to the strong current.

After dinner, we found a small but poisonous snake on the roof beam. Jan went on another night ride into the jungle. Katherina and I hid in our mosquito nets they brought, which were hung on nails they just put on the wooden wall. But the nets are a bit too small. My head and feet would stick out, if I lie straight.

4/19 Thursday. sunny - rain.
Woke up at 1:30 scratching my bites.

6am depart for a short walk with 2 guides each armed with a machete, a short canoe ride downstream. Not much land now, so terrestrial animals are more confined and supposed easier to see. But we made a lot of noise simply by walking. It's mud in water and fallen branches. Surprisingly, the guide in front spotted something, only the first in row was able to see its tail: black pig like Habali, and more than one. I only saw their track in mud. They sure made a lot of noise running around. Also saw animal burrows in mud.

On returning to the camp, Katherina and the new guide got off the boat. The rest went to see the Big tree: a giant Lupuna blanco, ~300 year old. There's also Lupuna Colorado, barks turn red on the top, can be a deadly medicine. Abrahan seems to know everything in the jungle. He pointed to various trees and palms and told us their names and use. Too bad, I only wrote down huasai palm (acai)'s red root can treat malaria.

Breakfast is fried fish with fried banana, tasteless tea (bag) with canned milk.

I was entrusted a paddle which I can row whenever I wanted. Saw more Pichico monkeys. They have bear faces, very small and cute. Saw red howler monkeys, this time closer and clear. They are the biggest monkeys we saw in this jungle. Gold brown. A poisonous snake. An anteater up on a tall tree. No dolphins at the dolphin lake:( Lunched at the same hut. Rain started pouring down as we approached the hut. Had to wait. Abrahan went and picked bijao leaves to make tomorrow's lunch. Saw a pink dolphin swam across in front of the hut.

~3:30, we had to head out. It was still raining. Put our belonging in a big dry sack, donned our poncho. Poor Abrahan and Luina drove the canoe without any protection. In the rain, we saw a group of maybe 4 grey dolphins swam back and forth. Some white Capuchin monkeys and mono negro. A big pink dolphin in another pond ~5pm. He even followed our boat for a bit. By then rain had finally stopped. But we didn't wait to see more of that lovely creature, because Katherina was bored already. Saw 2 ducks flying, one big heron. Reached Gloria almost in dark. Today, the generator ran a bit longer.

Fish and potato for dinner. Katherina had omelet and fries. I retired earlier. Jan went on another night ride, despite of the drizzle, so he can be away from his travel companion. He saw crocodiles!

4/20 Friday. Sunny.
Coolest night of all 3. I put on my fleece in early morning. Used my iPod for light going to toilet at night.

Left after 9am. Blue sky. Tamare fruit for pain, but not very good to eat. An eagle who eats Pichico monkeys and other birds. Kiwango: a big black bird with orange face. Squirrel monkey (Fraile): yellow, very small, lighter belly. Musmuki (a kind of Nocturnal monkey, golden hair, small), cute. Luina picked Kamitiyo (?) for us to taste. Finding a place to pee is difficult when it's flooding like now.

~2pm Huane of rice and egg, salad for lunch, at a hut. There is a sandy pen used as turtle hatchery. Depart again after 3. Arrived at the park office ~4pm. Miguel and the motor cart driver was there waiting for us. This time the motor didn't give up. Back to the agency. I gave Abrahan and Luina each $5 as tip, which they deserved more (Jan gave them more). But I was short of soles, and didn't have more small notes in $ either. I also left my fancy tea with Luina. No boat today in either directions. On top of this, all decent hotels were full due to the upcoming road work this weekend. We were back to Miraflores. S27. At least shower with normal water! Jan went to the market trying to find an Internet spot, unsuccessfully. Very warm. Washed clothes.

I had enough of the biting insects, being sweaty and sticky all the time, and my clothes smelling damp. I was also keen on parting with Katherina 2. I announced going back to the coastal highway and go north to Columbia via Ecuador, instead of continuing the boat downstream with them to Iquitos, boat to Leticia, then plane to Bogota. Dry heat is more tolerable, and road transportation is more reliable. Unfortunately Katherina decided to go back to the coast with me.

4/21-22 Back to the road
4/21 Saturday. Sunny, hot.
Woke up sticky today with a worm on my neck, and more bites on my ankles. I was sleeping in long sleeve shirt and long pants, both in insect shield material. Any exposed skin was smeared with Peruvian repellent, but of little effect. I have to reconsider the trip to Columbia's Lost City (5 day hike among mud and insects).

Had breakfast in the small market. Exchanged some money at the bank at the plaza. Not the best rate. But I was down to less than S60. Used my computer in the corridor of the hospedaje for shade. Lagunas has little to offer. Katherina inquired about the tour of indigenous homes, but didn't want to go alone. No electricity during the day. I don't know how they keep their drinks chilled: yes you can buy cold beer here. We had lunch in the hospedaje's restaurant, run by the old lady's daughter. Stayed there for the rest of the afternoon: not as stuffy as our room, and bright enough to read. Now that my plan has changed, I busied myself with the Ecuador chapter of Katherina's Lonely Planet's South America book. We showered and said goodbye to the nice duena at 5pm. At the port office, we confirmed our boat to Yurimaguas at 8pm, but Jan's boat hadn't left Yurimaguas yet. Bought ticket: S30. We went back to town to eat. I ate fish and rice. Katherina wanted cake, so Jan and her went look for a shop that sells sweets, which wasn't easy. Back to the port at 7pm, as was instructed. Jan's boat to Iquitos finally left Yurimaguas, which would get here around 4-5am. The ticket seller told him that the next door rents rooms upstairs for that, so he got himself a room for S10, which he claimed better than our hospedaje.

Shortly before 8pm, boat to Yurimaguas arrived (left Iquitos on 19th 6-7pm). It's much bigger, and more properly equipped (at least a spotlight, unlike our last boat needed a guy with flash light for it to moor). Getting on it is not any easier. We had to wade water and mud, fight with women carrying stuff to sell (the one in front of me had a basin of raw fish) and other passengers, on to a 30° slippery plank which I had to use my hands too. Luckily, Miguel and one of his people took the same boat. They carried our small bags. Otherwise with our shoes in hand, we would have no spare hand to steady ourselves on the "ladder". He also put up our hammocks (3 times for Katherina). Even with a lot of passengers, this Gilmer V is more spacious. Men and women separate toilets, 3 sinks, 3 stalls with lockable doors, running river water. However I ran into a guy in women's bano. Garbage cans every few meters, but all full by now. Staff mop the floor every morning, clean the toilet and empty the garbage cans. A red sign of no garbage in river. Quite some gringos too. Katherina was happy talking to them. They smoked next to the no smoke sign. When I asked one of the German speaker to stop smoking, I got an answer: this is Peru. In fact, none of the Peruvians were smoking. We departed ~8:30pm.

4/22 Sunday. Rain. Back to the coast.
~7am, breakfast with boat ticket. Sweet porridge, 2 buns with butter inside. Arrived at Yurimaguas ~11 in pouring rain. Miguel has called taxi to pick us up and on to Tarapoto. Katherina asked 2 gringos to join us (taxis won't leave until filled with 4). Once in the taxi, the 2 German speakers refused to part with a few soles as tip to the poor guy who carried their bags. The Irish guy and I carried our own stuff. Also we had to listen to German conversation all the way to Tarapoto. Dropped the Irish at his hotel in town, the rest to the terminal.

3pm Ilucan bus S45 to Chiclayo. No AC, no water in toilet. But this was tge fist bus to leave out of many. Less an hour in Tarapoto's bus terminal area (lunch, buying ticket), I got more bites on my feet! Of course, our bus didn't leave until 3:20. Dinner stop at Nuevo Cajamarca. There and Moyobamba's terminals have buses go to Lima/Trujillo/Piura directly.

4/23 Monday. Overcast. Heading north to Ecuador.
Arrived at Chiclayo shortly after 6am (after many stops along the way, Katherina's new friend got off at Pedro Ruiz). In Tepsa terminal, lots of other small companies going south and east. I said goodbye to Katherina who's going to Trujillo at 7am. Now that we are parting, I started worrying a bit about her. I walked to Linea terminal half a block to the right. Cleaner, free toilet, free wifi. Got on a bus to Piura at 7am (S14, every hour).

Arrived at Piura 10:10, missed the morning bus to Loja Columbia. Went into town (taxi S4), exchanged Soles to $ at 2.66. The cathedral looks better outside. The plaza is ok. Lots of police. Bought milk and water at a supermarket, a small flashlight at an electronics store on Loreta (not easy to buy). Lots of computer stores on Loreta. Near the bridge, many street stalls sell various fruit drinks, loaded with sugar and ice. Only S0.5 a glass. Here they also serve a lemony coffee drink with the menu. Beaches are 1 hour west via a collectivo, then 12 minutes on taxi. I was dripping with sweat, too lazy to go. There's a town east of Piura 15 minutes by bus, Catacaos, renowned for straw hats and silver jewelry. Next to it, Narihuala is a ruin with a temple. East of Piura, Chulucanas pottery, and more ruins.

Walked to Transporte Loja. Hot. There's no outlet. The clerk let me charge my gadget in the office.

Notes

Friday, April 13, 2012

South America - part 13/17 - Peru, ruins.

summery and tips 2012/4/2-14:
1. of all the ruins on this trip, Chan Chan is most impressive. Chavin is the oldest, Kuelap is nice too.
2. At small towns, buy tickets at the local office ahead of time.
3. Avoid tours catered to the locals.
4. Make sure at hotels that the hot water is hot, and the hours of its availability.
5. Buses are comfortable. But bring extra clothes for the night, in case the AC is too much.
6. Noisy and loud. Volume is always at its highest, and radio or TV is always on. Bring earplugs.
7. Expect delays. Not many things start on time.

2012/4/2-4 Huaraz
4/2 Monday. Sunny, smoggy, rain.
Strange, Peru and Easter Island are in the same time zone.

It was difficult to sleep in Lima airport. The cleaning crew likes to move chairs around. AC was in full blast. I had to take out my sleeping bag for some warmth. When it became lighter outside (6am, I actually saw the sunrise from my taxi) I took a "green taxi" to the office of Mobil Tours in Victoria (close to downtown). Fixed rates: S45. Again, I failed to find a public transportation option. Bought a ticket on the first bus (8am) to Huaraz: S40, 400km / 8 hours northeast. Mobil Tours office is smaller than Cruz del Norte. No wifi. Started boarding at 8, so we left late. Morning traffic is not good. 40 minutes later picked up more passengers from another station. A Movil Tours guy took pictures of everyone of us.

The road north along the coast is very dry: sand dunes, squat houses. Lima extends for a long time into the sand. There are fields of corn. I don't see where water is. We stopped for lunch in a restaurant of a gas station in Paramunga. Quite clean. But I ate at a small place across the street for a set menu with papaya juice for S5. . At ~2pm, replaced a flat tire. I bought some pakay. Once we reached cross Cordilla Negra, it was green, pretty: Rio Santa runs in the valley between Cordillera Negra and Cordillera Blanca. Many little towns. 3 stops. At Recuay, saw a cave right by the road.

Arrived at Huaraz at ~5pm. Movil Tours terminal is northwest of the town. But not too far. Huaraz is much bigger than I imagined. Stayed at Casablanca1. Only 2 nights are available, then it's all full due to the coming Easter weekend. Even the buses out of Huaraz were full. I bought the very last seat on Movil Tours for Trujillo on Wednesday night. 2 buses! Both buses of Linea were also full (station in town).

4/3 Tuesday. Overcast - drizzle. Chavin, UNESCO listed.
Slow pickups. It's low season, still in rain season now. Looks like agencies pool all their tourists together and put in a few bus. Our minibus is full with 12 passengers. Drove back south to Recuay, and turned north through the commune of Catac. At one stretch, Chinese pines were planted for exportation, another, mineral excavation was the livelihood for some villages. Even though it's scenic and green at the moment, the land doesn't look very rich: scratch grass mostly.

Laguna Querococha in Park Huascaran, at 4069m, 25m deep. Pretty chilly here. Has trouts. There's a tunnel at the pass at ~4500m. A Christ stood on the other side of Cordillera Blanca. Here Rio Mosna flows to Amazon and then eventually east to Atlantic Ocean.

Chavin de Huantar (S10/5 student) is a religious ruin of 1200-800BC. 3180m. The earliest mention dates to 1616 by Antonio Vasquez de Espinoza. A part of an obelisk was found nearby in early 1900s, and shipped to Lima to be studied. Tello, who hypothesized that there was a major settlement here, hence the first major archeology excavation in 1919. At the moment, a large square (perfectly squared), a circular ceremonial space, 2 multilevel structure with many internal rooms, aqueducts (water was channeled to Mosna river), windows for light. The 7.7 earthquake in May 1970 destroyed many cities in the area, but these buildings survived, as during its ~3000 years of existence. Articles found on site are now displayed in a modern museum built by Japan and Peru (free and well designed). The patterns are stylized, sophisticated. From these, we concluded that this ceremonial site held mighty importance in its era. Things were placed here from the coast, and other far away lands. Our guide talked a lot. Too bad, my Spanish is not good enough to pickup half of what he said. On top of it, I missed part of the guided tour due to a bout of diarrhea.

Beautiful double rainbows on the way back in the Conchucos valley. Green terraces, twisted roads. Rained until back to Huaraz. On this trip, met a woman who's on her South America trip for 14 months, and another 4 months to go! She speaks Spanish.

4/4 Wednesday. Laguna 69 hike.
Didn't sleep well, worried about the 6am pickup. Of course it was late. 11 total2. 6:40 not even out of the town, we were stopped by the first police check of the day. ~7:40, stopped in Yungay for breakfast (not included), paid S5 day use for Huascaran National Park (UNESCO listed). 9:00, reached the park gate. The scenery is superb. Narrow road flanked on both sides by granite cliffs almost vertical. 2 lakes, glacier green: Llanganuco.

At 9:45, we reached the trail head for Laguna 69. 9km one way, 3900m to 4500m. Took me 3.5 hr to go up and 2.5 hr to come back. Quite a few creek crossing. Lots of cow dung and bright yellow flowers. View of the mountains are good if not for clouds. The first hour is flat, a wide green valley with cows. 2nd hour was up slope, reaching a pond and another meadow of cows. The last 45 minutes is zigzag up to the lake. Lake 69 is turquoise under overhanging ices. Quite pretty. One Israeli swam for a minute. It started raining when I arrived. Since I also had a minor headache on and off starting at the pond, I headed downhill. But the sun came out, few went back to the lake. The slower ones were just arriving. I got back to the bus 10 minutes before 4pm, our planned schedule. One Israeli had already been waiting for an hour. He climbed a 6000m peak near La Paz, so this is easy for him. The standard hiking time is 3 hrs up and 2 hrs down. Took me 6 hours. By then, it was raining again. When the rest of the group arrived, it was 5pm already. I was getting very anxious, afraid of missing my bus tonight.

We arrived in town at 7:30. I walked to Movil Tours terminal outside of the town. Met the French couple on the Chavin tour. 2 of them have only one big bag and one day pack. Another French couple at the bus terminal were very nice, the wife showed me a map of the region and what they liked, while the husband kept on complementing me - he couldn't believe to meet a Chinese who speaks French, however badly, in a Spanish speaking country. Dinner on bus is only a small sandwich, a cookie, a cup of tea or soda. Very inadequate. Toilet has no water in sink.

4/5-6 Trujillo
4/5 Thursday. overcast.
Arrived at Trujillo at 6am. Taxi to town center (S5). Everyone told me that hotels were full. Walked aimlessly in town hoping to see some lodging options. My right knee started showing the effect of the hike. Stores were still closed at this hour, even the market. A few Casinos were open. One friendly local pointed me to a street (Grau) with many hotels, and there I went. Inquired at 3 places, settled in a dump 3 with no hot water for S20, because they let me have the room right away. Took a cold shower, and went to the plaza. Even the tourism office was closed - today was the start of the 4 day Easter long weekend. Bought 2 tours, changed my Chilean Pesos at a very unfavorable rate. Ate next to the market. Trujillo main square is quite pretty, lots of flowers. Its downtown is small: about 10x10 streets. Lots of tall but low French balconies.

Spent S80 on a dental cleaning. Not cheap. Only took 20 minutes. She spent the better half of the time polishing my teeth. Her cavity filling price is S50 for a tiny one, and S80 for a medium one.

Museo Huacas de Moche (S3, photo not allowed). We were only given 20 minutes. Lots of potteries found in the tombs. Sophisticated. More natural than Chavin's stylized figures. Some metal pieces with fine patterns.
The site (S10/5 student) of 3 temples (100-800AD Sun, Moon, New temple), only Huaca de la Luna is open to tourists. Its eastern wall is the most impressive. Many half excavated rooms in the temple, adobe blocks signed with various markers, walls decorated with rows of patterns (red, black, white, yellow), often times repaired 3 times in different era. Between the sun and moon temple was the village of 8000 people in 2sqkm. Now couldn't really see anything.
A black almost hairless dog: viringo.

Chan Chan (S10/5 student, 1000AD-inca, meaning lots of sun), another UNESCO listed archeology site. Chimu people were the mix of Mochica and Wari from the south and Lambayeque (Sican). First stop is Esperanza, the rainbow temple, constructed more like a fortress with double walls. The museum is very small, photo is allowed. The aerial photo is good to showcase how big the settlement was (10k houses in 20 sqkm). Last stop is the most impressive, the palace (one of the 9 palaces). It's huge. High and thick walls surround the compound. Mud bricks were laid with purposeful gaps to allow earthquake and water leak. A 90mx70m square in the front, a slightly smaller on at the back, many rooms with lattice windows and decorations (stripes of pelicans and fish) in the middle, storage rooms on the sides. A big cistern (1300s) behind the square (over 120 cisterns like that, most are smaller, 60+ visible). No aqueducts (even though aqueducts were used extensively in the fields). The sheer size is mind boggling.

~6pm, beach of Huanchaco. The sea water is not warm. Wave. The town looks nice. Watched the sunset. Back in drizzle in Trujillo. People don't bother with raincoats or umbrellas. Lots of people in churches, big Easter mass.

The tour (S35) uses a big bus. AC. Too many people. On and off bus alone took time. Felt being rushed all the time. Could be cheaper, maybe only S20. Seems all agencies sell tickets to just a couple of operators. 5.5 English speakers on this bus, and we were given an English guide.

4/6 Friday. Overcast - sunny.
This Chiclayo tour (S65) started worse. 6am pickup didn't arrive until 6:30. A big bus with ~50 passengers. No AC. Just getting everyone seated took a long time. And the very first stop is a gas station. The reason I took this tour instead of staying in Chiclayo is what the German boy at the Laguna 69 hike told me: similar but less impressive ruins, hot and dusty.

The surrounding of Trujillo is sandy and dry. There is Moche river in the south, another river in the north. Extensive irrigation systems since the ancient time created lots of agriculture land, and makes the climate a bit milder. High in the mid 20s. Chiclayo is warmer, even with these fields.

8:45 first stop at Pacasmayo. Sunny. A series of sculptures with ocean motif. The square commemorates the peace between Ecuador and Peru. It happens that all the long distance bus terminals are here. I bought my ticket to Cajamarca for the next morning at Dias 4. Resumed the drive later than planned at ~9:30. A 200cc drink and a pack of soda cracker were distributed.

11:00 2nd stop at a new park in Chiclayo. 10+ muse statues placed among flowers and greens. Getting a bit too warm. The 10 minute stop turned to 30.

15 minutes to Lambayeque. Museum of Royal Tomb of Sipan (S10) is well organized, AC, very crowded. All handbags and electronics have to be checked in. A guy at the entrance uses a metal detector on everyone. Toilet is clean, has paper and soap, but no seat. Every ~15 people are assigned to a guide, who goes through the exhibition in an orderly fashion. Just all is in Spanish, except a few panels, so my understanding is handicapped. Originals were displayed in glass cases with temperature (26°) and humidity (40%) control. Replicas and illustrations are strategical placed. Excellent photos showing location, excavation, reconstruction. Señor Sipan was buried with 2 women, 2 young men, a llama with its head and body separated, 1000+ pottery, lots of jewelry, in the 6th century. In the same compound, 10+ tombs were found intact. Thanks to the dry climate, some bones and clothes were preserved. One other important tomb is now called old señor Sipan, 3rd century. This is also the Mochica era, same as the Sun and Moon temples in Trujillo. At that time, Mochica culture spanned 600km along the coast, with various kingdoms/settlements. Another tomb probably worth visiting is Señora de Cao's in Brujo, discovered in 2002. That's closer to Trujillo. Near Chiclayo, Tucume, a pyramid valley should also be interesting.

In front of the museum, a line of stores and restaurants, half open. Ubiquitous souvenir vendors and ice-cream carts hawk the buses. A market a block away was also half closed. Some smelly fish.

After lunch, 3:30, stopped at a San Roque confectionery, not far from the museum. ~1/3 of passenger bought some sweets.

4:30, beach in Pimentel. The air is cooler, feels refreshing. Lots of people, lots of venders, and those who rent you beach umbrellas and chairs. Black sand spewed with trash. They must clean the beach regularly, because I only saw fresh chewed watermelons and orange peel. The road between Pimentel and Chiclayo is full of much more trash. Plenty waves. I got my pant legs all wet. 10 minutes later, all dry.

Last, Monsefu's market of wood and weaving products, chicha (best in Lambayeque), fruit based sweets. A 15 minute stop turned to 45 minutes. We were back in Trujillo at 10:15pm. The main square was full of people.

This is the worst trip I partook. Maybe a special Easter Tour, catered to local Trujillo population. The program is different from their usual Chiclayo tour. all but the museum is a waste of time and money for me. Half Peruvians are completely undisciplined, as far as time goes. Lots of condor like birds, smaller, wings with white tips, forked, no neck band.


4/7-9 Cajamarca
4/7 Saturday. Sunny - rain.
Walked a bit around the downtown before heading to the terminal of Turismo DIAS (S4 taxi). Monastery El Carmen occupies an entire block, Convento Santa Clara is if similar size, churches San Francisco and San Agustin also have a green garden (locked) in front. Iglesia La Merced and the provincial supreme court share the same open space. I also took S400 from an ATM, so far cashed ~$600 since arrived in Puno, and ~$400 was spent (~$50/day, more than I expected).

10:10 departure, 10 minute late. Fingerprint of right index finger. Photo. Today's bus was only 2/3 full. AC, American movies dubbed and subtitled in Spanish. A stop at Pacasmayo. ~12:30, drove by a big resevoir. 2nd stop, Temblader (package only). Up into the mountains along a river. Green fields, white egrets. ~1pm, a roadside restaurant for lunch (S7-8 a la carte). It also sells fruit and drinks. The temperature isn't any cooler than the coast.

Tolls on highway. Gas price ~S14/l for #90. Arrived in Cajamarca at 4:20pm. Took a 3 wheel taxi (S2.5) to Plaza de Armas. Stayed at Hostal Plaza 5 right on plaza. Bought 2 tours at Mega Tours for tomorrow, recommended by the Chan-Chan guide.

4/8 Sunday. Overcast, drizzle.
9:30-1:30 Cumbe Mayo (S18) didn't start until 10:00. 14 tourists in one minibus. Completely full. Toilet has no water. Cumbe=fine, Mayo=river. A 9km long water canal built around 1000BC. Above it, a stone forest and spongy slopes. Some introduced pine and quite a few beggars, mostly little kids. The trail starts through a narrow opening of the rocks. For a few seconds, it was pitch dark. The it winds along pointy rock formations, muddy. At the end, follows the canal. A couple of bridges, zigzags (control flow?), a diversion, some faded petroglyph. On the way back, stopped for photo of the town. 20km dirt road (southwest) takes ~50 minutes.

3:30-7:00 Otuzco (S15). Of course, we didn't start until past 4pm. Mega Tour and its next door Catequil Tour combined their catch and sent out one minibus. I like this guide better. Otuzco is a town 8km northeast of Cajamarca. Paved. We drove by the airport (only to Lima), Davy College ($500/month for rich kids) and farms. Ventanillas was a funeral site dated to 50-500AD. The niches are small. Secondary burial, after the flesh were gone. There are other funeral sites like this in the area. The site is small. Afterwards, all a waste of time. 5 minutes later, photo at a suspension bridge. Then, a small hydrangea garden to eat chicharon, taste chicha and some very sweet liquor, and souvenirs. Last, a cheese maker: Los Alpes. They don't sell yogurt, which I like to buy in town, S3.5/l. Thick, flavored with various fruit. It's probably better to go visit Ventanillas de Otuzco independently, by a micro to the town of Otuzco.

Today was Easter Sunday. There was a large mass in Iglesia San Francisco. Next to this beautiful church, at Jr. Amalia Puga 750, is Cuarto del Rescate (ransom room). Here, in 1553, a century before both the cathedral and San Francisco, Atahualpa was a kept captive. He filled it once with gold and twice with silver wishing to exchange his freedom from Pizarro.

Bought a bus ticket to Chachapoyas online at Movil Tours for S50. 6am! (This departure doesn't exist! 6).

4/9 Monday. Overcast with some sunshine.
Museums are all closed on Monday. I walked up Santa Apolonia hill in the middle of the city. A short but steep series of semi circle stairs leads to a locked small church. Its right is the gate (S1) to the hill top garden, with Silla Del Inca and a fabulous view of the city. The garden is well attended, many flowers.

Banos del Inca is a town 6km east of Cajamarca. Took micro A on Jr. Jose Sabogal, 2 blocks from the plaza (dos de Mayo). S1, 15 minutes. The thermal complex is fabulous. S2 shower, S3 piscina, S4-5 bath (they clean the tub after each use), S20 massage/jacuzzi. There is also sauna, but what's the point. You are here to enjoy the thermal water. To visit, it's also S2. The swimming pool is closed on Monday :( maybe that's why there wasn't a crowd. Finally, after 3 days, I got to take a hot shower. I smelt like sulfur, but not to strong. There are also a few picnic tables with thatched roof, a4 swings for kids, manicured lawn, a small ruin of 450-600AD with thick walls and subterranean canal. Nice place to relax.

4/10 Tuesday.
A confusing and long day. Detour to Chachapoyas via Chiclayo. Over 24 hours.

4/11-13 Chachapoyas
4/11 Wednesday. Cloudy with sun - rain. Gocta.
Arrived at Chachapoyas at 8am, due to a breakdown somewhere ~2am. Chachapoyas is an unlikely capital of the department Amazona. A small city, no airport. Can walk everywhere. All tourist attractions are far away, require a taxi or tour. A small market one block from the plaza, doesn't open till 8am. At 2300m above sea level, temperature Is mild ~10-20°. Seems it rains every afternoon. My clothes don't dry.

I walked to the plaza, ~4 blocks away. Dropped my bag at Hotel Kuelap 7. Lots of hostels right in the plaza and within a block. Was stopped by a minibus going to Gocta (because I made an inquiry before), and I got in. The bus was now completely full: 11 passengers 8. All tours depart at 8:30. It was 8:40 already. S30 for the transportation to a small community called San Pablo, 1:10 north up on a slope. Paid S5 at a local office by the small plaza. Some took horses. The rest were assigned a guide.

6km one way. There are 3-4 rest huts along the way. Except for one, all brand new and spacious. Our local guide told us about the plants from time to time, but I didn't understand anything. Still I took photos of over dozen flowers. Despite of the sun and dry air when we started, the trail was muddy. First half is dry and exposed. Little blood sucking insects when you stop. At ~4km, a short side trail leads to a lookout of Gocta, both segments. You can see another 6 tall but skinny waterfalls on the other side of the valley. The last 2km is wet and in the forest. Feels like a jungle: hanging roots, moss, bromeliads in tree branches. Need rain coat when approaching the falls. Was nice. Just the lower part. Another trail from the lookout goes to the higher falls. 2 segments add together, claims tad 3rd highest falls on the world.

Overall, not very impressive, especially after this much effort (5 hours walk, 2.5 hours drive, 10+ long lasting itchy bites, S30). Can be skipped. But a good change of pace. I started my malaria pills.

4/12 Thursday. clouds.
8:30 tour (S50) depart. On time! 8 tourists8, 1 guide, 1 in training. About 1 hour later arrived at Luya, ordered lunch. Almost another hour later, passing a couple more villages on the bumpy road, reached the little hill top village of Cruz Pata. Paid S5/3 at an office, and wrote down our names, walked down a rutted trail of 1km, first next to potato and corn, then steep down. sarcophagi Karajia, ~12th century, is unique among many burial sites in the neighborhood. Like others, it sits in a vertical cliff hard to reach, and sheltered from rain. But this one has interesting statues of over 2m high. More were looted. On the way back, entrepreneurial local brought horses down for you to ride on (S10).

Cavern Quiocta, after lunch. Borrowed boots (S3). 2 plastic bags were given to put on your feet (they are so feeble, both were broken by the time I took them off. S5 entrance. An owl at the locked gate. Our guide got a key, and distributed few lamps. There are kids' skulls and bones in the cave close to the entrance. Probably also 800 years old. It's suggested that here was a sacrificial site. But no drawings or any other human occupation sign. The cave is of decent size, with some standard cave formations. The 3 rooms have circular ceilings. An owl perched on the tree just outside of the cave, a family of small bats hung in a hole in the ceiling.

5pm returned boots. 45 min gravel road. Back at Chachapoyas at 6:15.

4/13 Friday. Overcast. Kuelap.
8:50 late depart because of 2 who failed to show up. S40. 7 tourists + 1 local photographer, Martin Chumbe, who brought a bottle of liquor of sauco (elderberry) he made.

45 minutes later, near the town Tingo, stopped to admire an abandoned walled Chachapoyas citadel, Macro, across the river Utcubamba, abandoned when the Spanish came.

1:20 hours along precipitous dirt road. We stopped at Choctamal to order lunch. There, we tasted Martin's sauco liquor.

45 minutes later, arrived at Kuelap. S15/8 entrance. Walked up stairs to the hill top historical site. 500AD till Inca time. 25 minutes. 700m x 100m, 3000 people, 500 circular houses (seems to me much less). Most houses have a narrow, low and long guinea pig stone hut. The center has a water cardinals or drainage hole, or sometimes ancestor's mummies. Thatched roofs with center opening which all rotted away. High walls, narrow entrances. Limestone have to be carried from Marañón river, a week's walk from here. Orchid, bromeliad, lichen grow everywhere. Not too many tourists. Quite nice.

At the late lunch, the host gave our guide a small bottle of Chuchuhasi, a strong liquor (mixed with honey) made with the bark of a native tree called Maytenus Macrocarpa, which he shared with us. More sauco liquor was distributed, and the leftover was drunk in the bus back to town. Jovial atmosphere soon turned into slumber. Back in town ~5:30pm.

4/14 Saturday. Clouds with sunshine.
A group of police was jogging near the plaza in platforms 6:30!
7am combi to Moyobamba. S25. Hoping to catch another one to Tarapoto. All minibuses are 1 block south of the plaza, half a block west of the market. 15 passengers (1 loud Austrian, 1 German). 1 hour later, picked up a couple with a kid at Pedro Ruiz. Now the bus is 1 overflow. Another hour later a 30 min breakfast stop. It also stopped when one passenger bought some cheese. ~11:30, 5 got off at Nueva Cajamarca at different spots. By now, elevation had dropped to warm and muggy level, the road is straight. 3 got off at Rioja. 12:20 arrived at Moyobamba.

Notes
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