IV. SA Peru/W5, 7d: Tarap. & Chachap. EN

Tu, 18.04. Trujillo-Chiclayo-Tarapoto
After roughly 2h around midnight we had indeed some issues or places where the bus got stuck - but fortunately this could be solved within half an h so that we arrived in Trujillo around 07:30am.
Trujillo itself is surrounded by sand and desert, there is unfortunately a lot of plastic garbage and it also has the typical pollerias, chivas, tuktuks as well as stands selling quinoa juice and chicken soup for breakfast. As you can still see the aftermaths of the inondations I did not take a touri tour and directly took a 3h bus with Emtrafesa to Chiclayo for only 15S through very dunes and desert similar, badly with plastic contaminated landscapes.
The closer we came to Chiclayo the more the landscape with the mountains in the background and green agricultural fields reminded me of Asia. It also fitted with the hot and humid weather in Peru's north and will only be hotter in the Celva; as already mentioned Peru just has it all and surprised me again and again ;)
In Chiclayo itself there was not that much to see due to the inondations in the last few weeks and similar to Trujillo it does not count to the safest cities in Peru - you also get Papa rellena and other food on every corner of the street but I already just bought a ticket for a 14h night ride from 5pm-7am from Chiclayo to Tarapoto for 60S with the bus company Civa (my dearest bus ticket so far, the max has been 50S but understandeable for this route...). However, there was a really nice and comfortable surprise: as there were not enough people for the bus at 5pm I was, keeping the same price of only 60S/17€, upgraded to 'ExcluCiva' - Civa's luxury class with 180* Cama seats which can be put in an absolute straight bed including super warm blanket and pillow, a lot of space, private TV with headsets and remote control, steward with beverages and two hot meals (dinner and breakfast) - better than on the airplane; I love Peru, the buses and that you can feel important and luxurious even as a low budget backpacker :)))
In total that were almost 36h of travelling with 2 9h and 14h night and 1 3-5h day rides but I saved on 2 nights of accommodation, will soon see the rainforest and it is anyway on my way up through the north of Peru to Ecuador ;)

We, 19.04. Tarapoto
Wow, I finally arrived in Tarapoto and the Celva around 07:00am :) Especially the last 2h were already through the rainforest with the typical plants and many palm trees. After such a long trip I had to sort out some essential human needs: toilet, breakfast and most importantly a shower so I had to find a hostel first :P
The hostel was superb, especially as I had again my own room incl. private bathroom for just 20S/5,50€ but also because the hostel owner was Ecuadorian and could give me a lot of recommendations for Ecuador :)
Tarapoto itself is located in the department San Martín, Alto Amazonas higher and thus without malaria risk. 30% of Peru's surface is the Selva. There are a lot of scooters and motokars/mototaxis, it is thus pretty noisy and climate-wise typical for the rainforest: super humid, hot and can rain within seconds :P

Th, 20.04. Sauce/Laguna Azul & Lamas/Castillo
In order to save some money I did not book a tour this time - it was really easy to organise it on your own with mototaxis and autos/colectivos.
That day I first went to Sauce in the morning, a small village at Laguna Azul - the road there was pretty bumpy, the takeovers more than interesting and partially over gravel road for about 1,5h. We also had a nice ferry crossing via Rio Huallaga, one of the main Amazonas rivers. The lake itself was very nicely located in a rainforest valley and had a great blue colour - I hiked a bit there before taking the next auto back to Tarapoto.
There I jumped into the next mototaxi and colectivo and went to Lamas, a nice town located on a hill known for its castle and Indigean culture. Every now and often the colectivo stopped and was immediately surrounded by women selling banana chips, sweetcorn, keke and other sweets. In Lama I then visited the cute small castle, a culture and art craft market and finished the day on a viewpoint with a nice view over the whole valley.
By the way, typical meals of the Selva are Inchicapi, a soup with chicken, peanuts and coreander as well as Tacacho, balls made off cooked banana with meat pieces or dried meat and Juanes, cooked rice with smashed chicken wrapped in banana leaves - similar to Tamales this counts as vegetarian dish as chicken is in general not regarded as meat :P

Fr, 21.04. Yurimaguas
That day I also took a Colectivo and went to the department Loreto, Alto Amazonas to Yurimaguas. The departure times were again quite flexible, unfortunately we had to wait quite long this time. The drive itself was again rollercoaster like especially as the driver was a small Formula-1 Fan and already gave us plastic bags just in case :O Moreover, the road was quite bendy and you were again squeezed in - I am really happy to be that small and skinny - despite weighing only 43kg with a BMI of 17 the people were literally sitting on me :P
The landscape itself was again very beautiful, we
went through tunnels and clouds along many palm trees, rivers and waterfalls.
Yurimaguas is at the end of the road - after that you can only continue by boat, further into the rainforest and is also known as "Perl of Huallaga". From here you can either go to Lagunas or Iquitos, the biggest city on the Amazon without road acces that can only be reached by boat or plane. Like in every South American city there is also a Plaza de Armas with a nice church - however, the town is not so much used to tourists which meant in particular: a lot of macho boys and constant questions if and why I am travelling alone; that can be really annoying and made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

Sa, 22.04. Tarapoto-Chachapoyas
There is unfortunately no night bus from Tarapoto to Chachapoyas so that I couldn't save on accommodation here and had to travel 7h without any luxury, AC, leg space and squeezed in between locals. Well, it is not a touristy area and the border La Balsa to Ecuador not heavily frequented - but the normal route via Chiclayo, Piura and Tumbes was still flooded, not useable and also struggled with a Dengue epidemia. The drive was via Moyobamba, Rioja, Nueva Cajamarca and despite warnings the road conditions were good, some stones and wet but manageable. For lunch we stopped at a restaurant near Pedro Ruiz before arriving in Chachapoyas in the afternoon.
Chachapoyas is a cute little town of 2,344m altitude in Amazonas region. It thus also rains a lot more and gets very cold in the evenings. It is especially known for its many lakes and waterfalls as well as Preinka culture Chachapoyas with Kuélap as main site.
Typical meals here are Cecina, dried beef as well as Mote, sweetcorn and Locro, a thick soup with sweetcorn, beef and vegetables.

Su, 23.04. Kuélap
Kuelap is an archealogical site made out of stone by the Preinka culture Chachapoyas 800BC. It is located at an altitude of 3,000m, has 6ha and 420 circular buildings.
To save some money (it was really only half the price)
I also went there on my own with a colectivo. Apart from the money it also has the advantage that you usually arrive way before all the tourists, has the size for yourself without the stress of being pushed by a guide ;)
The drive to Nuevo Tingo was again a bit bumpy via partially flooded or even destroyed roads. But I was really surprised there: only 50 days ago on 02.03. the lift Telecabina was inaugurated, pushed by an initiative of the President. It starts in Nuevo Tingo at an altitude of 2,010m and is now the quick way to get to Kuelap site. Everything is brand new, very clean, there are pretty clean toilets incl toilet paper, soap and even a hand dryer. 20S for a return ticket is quite a lot for Peru but it is definitively worth it. After a 10m bus ride (can you believe it: with safety belts and staff reminding me as a German to wear them?) you reach the station and the 22m ride is really quiet with breathtaking scenery, very deep down the gorge and then back up again. From there it is another 30m walk to the site incl awesome views.
I was again surprised there as they do a lot of restaurations and maintenance. The site itself was very interesting with a lot of explanations, the landscape very nice and the people all super friendly. Btw, I was the first there and the bus only operated for me ;)
On the way back I also recognised a lot of signs and initiatives for save driving such as 'Papa no corras, tu familia te espera' (Dad don't rush, your family is waiting for you).

Mo, 24.04. Catarata Gocta
After visiting the archealogical site and some culture I was in the mood of nature and hiking. I thus went to Gocta Waterfall on Monday, with 771m being the 3rd highest in the world (after Salto Ángel with 979 in Venezuela and Tugela Fall with 948 in South Africa).
I also took a Colectivo to Cocahuayo where an Austrian couple and me got a free lift by a nice local - with 6 people in a mini car, me half laying and looking out of the window ;) From there it was a 2,5h hike (me 2h) through typical humid-hot rainforest, via some a bit slippery and muggy paths up and down, a good exercise :) The waterfall itself was so nice and indeed so high that I had difficulties in taking a picture. There were a lot of birds and super nice fauna.
I also escaped the tourists here, enjoyed the 1,5h hike back to Cocachimba and the h back to Cocahuayo and had another nice chat with locals while waiting for the colectivo.Read more