Mandango mtn, Vilcabamba
Hilary and I spent a relaxing few days here at a hostal 2km uphill of town. With sweeping views of the town below and surrounding mountains, the hostal was a bit more mid-range priced (10 bucks a night) then we would usually opt for, but, sometimes you just have to treat yourself. We spent a good part of our time here relaxing and reading with an occasional bike ride into town to use the internet or use the book exchange. One day we took off in the morning for a nearby 4 hour hike up to Mandango mtn. This turned out to be a spectacular hike! after an hour or so slog up a 1000 ft in the hot sun, we arrived at the top of the moutain with some stunning 360 degree views of the surrounding moutains and nearby Podocarpus National Park. For about 2 hours we traversed these amazing ridges that sometimes narrowed to less than 2 ft wide and dropped off about 600-1000 ft of 50-60 degree slope on either side, sketchy!
The information we had on the transportation logistics was a few years old and we were dealing with the rainy season (in the rainy season travel can be made difficult by the landslides that plague most of the Andes, especially when you leave the pan-american hwy). Also we knew that at a few points along the way we would have to wait for collectivo-taxis (imagine a toyota hatchback that will not travel until there are at least 5 people available for the journey) to fill up before we could move on to the next small town, and that it was desirable to make the journey with at least 4 people so at each point you have to catch a collectivo, your group mostly fills it up.
We lucked out. The night before we left, at dinner, we were approached by a couple from Quebec, Sebastion and Barbra, who were also planning on leaving the next day. A meeting time was set and the hostal even provided a lunch.
Theres going to be feast tonight!
The next morning started at 5:30 a.m. We waited on the road just outside of the hostal for our 5 or 6 hr bus to Zumba, luckily when it arrived there were seats available and we wouldnt have to stand for the whole trip, YES! The ride to Zumba parralleld Podocarpus Natioal Park and the Rio Mayo with nice views into the river gorge and some beautiful un-touched country, quite an enjoyable ride actually. In the small, dirty, humid town of Zumba we had a lay-over for about 3 hours untill a ranchero (Delivery stlye truck with a covered area made of wood, seats about 30 people) was to leave for the small border town of La Balsa. Also in Zumba we met an German kid ,Oliver, who was making the trip by himself. Upon informing him of the advantage of traveling in numbers, he decided to join us.
The ranchero was similar to the kind of truck that would take you from to car to the ticket gates at Disneyland, and other than a roof, it is was wide open. This meant we were vulnerable to the onslaught of childern with water ballons and buckets of water anxiously awaiting the few vehicles that drive through their village daily (in preparation for Carnaval, which was just a few days out). I thought I would be smart and so fashioned a water gun out of a water bottle, unfortunately this backfired and I became the main target, it was a good thing is was hot out.
Crossing into Peru.
We were dropped off in La Balsa where we exchanged some dollars in Peruvian Soles, then proceeded to the Ecuadorian immigration office to interrupt the immigration officials game of computer poker and get our exit stamps. A quick walk across and bridge and we were in Peru. One more stop at the Peruvian immigration office to get our passports stamped and in less than a hour we were on our way.
Waiting just outside the immigration office were a few collectivo taxis ( small toyota hatchbacks) waiting to take people to San Ignacio via a 3 hour long rutted out dirt road.
San Ignacio had no real qualities to boast about, a dusty border-type town with a certain air of depression about it. We picked one of the 2 hostals to stay at for the night, ate some lousy food, drank some rum (for a sleeping aid of course), and still proceeded to get a lousy nights rest. Thankful to see the light of day, our group awoke early and ate a lousy breakfast before setting off to find a collectivo to Jaen, nearly 3 hrs away. As we approached the corner where the collectivos collected, we met another traveler by the name of Conner, a very nice guy from Ireland. Conner, who was also looking for a collectivo, was particularly happy to see us since 5 other travelers going in the same direction meant he could save some money sharing rides, however, for us it meant one more person to pack into a already small collectivo. Despite the possibilities of a day full of car rides that would turn out to be even more uncomfortable, we all crammed in and off we went. Having Conner around turned out to be a great pleasure, he was a interesting person to chat with and, he could speak great spanish, which helped out many times throught the next week.
When in another country, I try to keep everything in perspective as best as I am able, but when we arrived at Pedro Ruiz the ¨Transportation hub,¨ I was expecting a some type of bus station, a large gas station perhaps, but when we got dropped off my expectations were smashed. There was no bus station, no gas station, not even a busy corner with busses and taxis zooming by, what we found was a combi (van) parked in a garage with the driver sleeping in it and about a dozen locals waiting around for the ride, needless to say this gave me a real good laugh, it is a 3rd world country after all. We managed to find a taxi company and promptly paid them extra money to get the 6 of us out of the ¨Hub¨ and off to Chachapoyas.
Country living just outside Chachapoyas. This wall is to keep the cows in, imagine the work involved.
The first stop on our trek was to Karajia, a typical Chachapoyan funerary site in which several sarcophagi sit about 100 fet up on a sheer cliff face. This is where the most important poeple were buried (chiefs, shamans, warriors), overlooking the village below. From there we made our way to the Valle de Belen where the Rio Huaylla snakes its way along the neon green valley floor.
Sarcophogi. Made of mud and straw. 800 yrs old.
Our guides-in-training.
Valle de Belen, Actually there was 2 more valleys like this downstream.
One of many recently discovered ruins.
Enjoying some cheap rum on the deck on our first night in Congon.
A typical Peruvian breakfast: Plantains, eggs, yucca, rock solid bread, juice, and real coffee (not typical). Every part of the meal was grown in the back yard, including the coffee.
Stone mortar the family uses for herbs, coffee, anything really.
The community shower/laundromat.
The next morning, saddling up for a long ride.
The next day we started out on horse/mule back. I´ve done very little horseback riding and the few times I have it´s been a fun, relaxing way to go for a hike without actually having to hike. This was much different. I never would have thought horse back riding could be so terrifying! We went over some really rough terrain, and I found it quite scary to be sitting on a horse as it´s slipping around in the mud trying to run up a steep slope that drops away to a cliff on one side, and just barely making it. There were several times when I really thought my horse was going down, he did end up on his front knees at one point, but he always seemed to pull through. I eventually came to trust him and was able to relax and enjoy myself. It ended up being a really fun day. The mules seemed to be more ideal than the horses for this terrain, less shakey in the legs. After a number of hours we stopped in the village (can you call it that if it only has one house?) of Lunches for a delicious lunch and a short nap in the sun before continuing on. We were continuously climbing throughout the day. We started out in the cloud forest, and ended up in the paramo, and covered a huge variety of landscapes in between.
Barbara and her horse.
Orchid garden at our lunch spot. Not a bad back yard view.
Post-lunch siesta
We eventually reached the highest pass at which point the horses/mules and their accompanying guides turned back and we finished the day on foot. Another long downhill walk and we were at our home for the night, a crappy hotel in Choctomal not nearly as idyllic as the first night, but it worked.
Some locals carpooling.
Hilary loves monkeys, and beer.
This monkey loves cats.
Super-classy display in the hotel´s dining room.
The next day we went to the pre-Incan ruins of Kuelap, a huge walled-in city perched on top of a limestone mountain. It´s said that more stones were used in the construction here than in the Great Pyramid in Egypt. It´s really an impressive site but it receives very few visitors because it takes so much effort to get there. The local people are very proud of Kuelap, and feel ripped off that it doesn´t get the attention that Machu Picchu gets. While I understand their frustration, the lack of visitors made for a really nice experience for us. Other than our group we saw maybe two other people.
Kuelap´s outer wall.
The main entrance into Kuelap. 12 m tall walls for protection. The narrow entrances are believed to have been designed to force attackers to enter single-file, making them more vulnerable.
Bromileads.
After finishing up the trek we had one day to relax in Chachapoyas before parting ways with our new friends (except Oliver) and taking the night bus out to the coast. This was our first bus ride in Peru and we were pretty impressed. Of course we still barely slept, but it was a pretty comfy bus, it even had a stewardess! We arrived in Chiclayo at about 6 am, found a hotel where we could drop off our stuff, found some breakfast, and headed out to cram in as many sights as we could in a day. The area around Chiclayo is packed full of archaeological sites but the town itself doesn´t have much to offer so we only wanted to stay for one day. First we went to a really great museum that displays a lot of the artifacts found in one of the nearby burial sites, then we went to another ruin, called Tucume, where we realized that it is OK to be picky about ruins. There are SO many ruins in Peru and a lot of them are really amazing to see. Some of them, however, are better just to read about. After Tucume we caught a collectivo out to the beach and spent the evening swimming in the ocean and eating our first ceviche, mmmmm.
Sweet double-decker night bus.
I know this just looks like a big pile of dirt, but this was the largest mud structure ever built- Tucume.
This is where the witch doctors and shamans shop in Chiclayo.
From Chiclayo we said goodbye to Oliver and went to Trujillo then straight out to the beach town of Huanchaco to recover from some long travel days. We rented surf boards a couple of days and had a great time teaching ourselves how to surf. We were pretty pleased with how we did, considering it was the first time for both of us. We both managed to stand up and get some good long rides. I´m sure it wasnt´t pretty, but it was fun! One of the nicest changes going out to the coast was the food. Not being big meat eaters, but loving seafood, a ton of options opened up. We knew that soon we´d be heading back into the mountains so we tried our best to get tired of seafood, especially ceviche. Here are a couple favorites...
Ceviche. So good!
Chupe. A tasty seafood chowder
Reed boats in Huanchaco. The fisherman have been using these for 2000 years, with just a few slight modifications, like the use of plastic water bottles for extra flotation.
After a few relaxing days on the beach we headed back for the mountains, and for the last two weeks or so we´ve been hanging out between the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra mountain ranges, mostly in the town of Huaraz. We will save that for the next post though. Thanks for checking up on us!
