It was quite exciting (if a bit exhausting) getting here. After a great time in Vilcabamba in Ecuador, I took the bus to Zumba then climbed in a wooden, open sided truck called a ranchero to take me through the mountains to the border. It was a quiet crossing where a solo Australiana was a bit of a curiosity. The immigration guy looked at my passport with much interest, and asked me all about the kangaroos and emus. After that it was a taxi to San Ignacio, rest for the night, then into a colectivo (shared taxi/van type thing) which I shared with some coffee farmers, schoolkids, a jehovah's witness and a chicken. After arriving in Jaen I caught a mototaxi (like a rickshaw but with a motorbike) to another colectivo which took me to Chachapoyas in the northern highlands of Peru.
I checked into my hostel, where the ever-smiling owner Donna gave me a cup of coca tea, a good welcome to Peru:) There is heaps to do around Chachapoyas, a small town named after the pre-Incan inhabitants also known as the Cloud people or Warriors of the Clouds. The first day I hiked to a waterfall. The second day I did a tour of the huge ruins at Kuelap, the largest ruins in peru after Machu Picchu, where there were about 400 round houses overlooking the Utcubamba valley. The tour was...interesting. Our guide Luis was a tad odd. He would start talking about Incan beliefs and Chamanism, then go off on mistic tangents... something about a six pointed star being at the centre of every person, the four human races coming from aliens, and the 23 companies that run the world. "I could tell you many things.." he said to me "many things, which I know about. It is my mission to tell the truth to humanity". Needless to say it was hard to keep him on topic but I just kept asking questions about how the people lived at Kuelap and we muddled through! The last day in Chacha I went caving and got bogged. Not the vehicle, me personally. There was really deep mud in this cave - we were all given gumboots but no flashlights so it was kind of hard to see where you were going. I ended up stuck knee high in the mud on more than one occasion, requiring rescuing. But there were a few cool stalactites etc and some great conversations with fellow travellers so it was fun. Later we saw the Sarcofagi of some chamans out at Karajia.
Next stop was Huanchaco, recommended to me by the Mollie and Katie, who I had met in Chacha. Complete opposite of the highlands - it's a little beach town near Trujillo where I had planned to stop briefly to break up my journey to Huaraz. It was nice and warm, and I enjoyed a hula-hoop on the beach and a swim, then hung out with some top-notch people from the hostel which morphed into a big night out. After a drinking game six of us went out to Trujillo where we played in the square with an LED bouncing ball, drank sangria, tried to dance salsa in some casino, then moved onto a gay bar where we danced some more and were treated to a show of sorts... funny and memorable night! The next day consisted of lounging around the hostel and at the beach, playing backgammon and eating before I had to catch my bus to come to Huaraz. So it was a short visit, Huanchaco, but oh so sweet!
Now it's Erin's trekking season. Tomorrow I start a four day trek through the Santa Cruz Valley, then rest for a bit before hitting Cuzco in time for their solstice festival Inti Raymi, then do the Salkantay which finishes at Machu Picchu. Wish me luck, I might need it!
No comments:
Post a Comment