Vilcabumba to Chacapoyas, Peru

Our time in Vilcabumba was a welcome rest with warmer temperatures than we had been experiencing lately. We took time to relax in the hammocks hanging on our veranda.
We spent one day climbing up a mountain which was described as dangerous and difficult. We have learned that if they say that in Ecuador unlike in North America it is true. We spent the first hour hiking straight up the front of the mountain and then proceeded to hike an extremely narrow ridge which continued to the top. This involved at times sitting down and crawling along so you would not fall off either side which would have involved a drop of thousands of feet with no stopping on the way.
The next day we rented horses for the day. My horse was called Khadarfy which was a joke and I renamed her Daisy—she liked to eat the flowers and other than when she was on her way home was in no rush—the constant “vamos” (Spanish for lets go) and clicking ones tongue which is meant to inspire her had little effect. We had a great day though as we did it with a French family we had befriended with their 9 and 12 year old daughters and a Becca look-a-like from England.
We decided it was time to move on and head to Peru. This involved a trip from hell. First we caught a bus at 7am which wound it´s way along typical Ecuadorian windy cliffs up and down hills to a small village 5 hours later. We waited for 2 hours and caught a “ranchero” which is a big truck which has mounted bench seats. The next part was winding along cliff tops on roads so narrow that if another vehicle was coming the other way someone had to back up till there was room. Bridges were the width of one vehicle with no guard rails with huge drops on either side.
We arrived at the Peruvian border and after an easy customs clearance caught a “collectivo¨”. This is a small Toyota station wagon which they load with as many people as possible to go to the next town. We had three people across the front (it has 2 bucket seats), four on the back seat and two and a live chicken in the back with our packs. The Peruvian roads are as narrow and windy as in Ecuador but are much bumpier and the overloaded vehicle kept bottoming out. We arrived in San Ignatius where we got a noisy hotel room.
The next morning we got another collectivo to the next town with only five people and then changed two more times till we reached Chachapoyas in the afternoon. One stretch had a paved road which was quite a treat but then of course that did not last long. The countryside is awesome with valleys and huge hills which go straight up. The vegetation was lusher and in the valley floors they grow massive amounts of rice—now we know why we get it three times a day!! Coffee is the other major crop in the area but we continue to drink Nescafe!! Here, instead of getting a cup of hot milk to mix it with you get a cup of hot water. The other main apparent difference than in Ecuador is that there are a lot more people who are using mules or horses to carry either them or their loads.
We checked into a good hotel here with hot water (not always available here) and the town is very laid back with travelers coming through to visit the major archeological ruins in the area. Spent the first day regrouping from our voyage and booked a 4 day trek for the next day.
This whole area was inhabited by the Chachapoyas people around 500AD they were rumored to be lighter skinned and taller than the other Indigenous people in Peru. They built large communities which are still being discovered. There were about 300,000 people at the height consisting of numerous communities which were ruled independently as provinces. The Inca people finally conquered them but 60 years later the Spanish arrived and they welcomed them as they did not like the Incas. Unfortunately within a short time due to epidemics brought by the Spanish and the warring that had gone on before they were decimated to 10,000 people. These were then assimilated with the Spanish and the original language and way of life was lost.
We started our trek by driving along more narrow treacherous roads made worse by the fact that it had rained the day before and so the tires kept slipping in and out of the grooves. You were in fear that they may slip to the wrong side and you would go down the cliff but I have adapted the attitude that many vehicles do these trips and the odds are in our favor.
We arrived at an area which had huge cliffs with sheltered open caverns in which large sarcophagus were still standing. These were made of clay and sticks, sun dried and decorated. They contain mummified bodies which are still there. Apparently the people who got to be mummified were of importance as there are certainly not 300,000 of them.
We continued to drive to overlook a beautiful fertile valley with a river meandering through. There we left the vehicle to hike the hour to “our hotel”—this was an old adobe hut with bunk beds. We had to sweep out the cow manure before settling in. We had a local guide and a young French girl who is learning to guide in the area and just the two of us for the trip so it was great. A local man with his mule arrived later as it was to carry our supplies the next day. We had dinner and breakfast cooked over the open fire and the next day set off to hike.
We climbed for an hour and then dropped down for three hours to get to one of the old Chachapoyas settlements. They built them in three tiers, each tier having many round houses of stone. There was a group of people from Spain and France there at the time who have permission to map the area—no one has any idea of how big or how many communities there are as they are in the jungle and the area is very lightly populated. They counted 280 houses in this particular settlement. It is the first condo complex!!!—they are all built very close together and are isolated from anywhere else. There are huge stone walls and you marvel at the complexity and amount of work which must have been involved.
After we had fought the jungle to explore we then hiked another hour down to the village we were to spend our next night. If anyone would like advice about how to prepare to hike in this part of the world you should first find a cliff face and hike up for 6 hours then go back down and start it all over again!!!—we must be fitter now than we have been for a long time!!
The village we were to spent the night had just got electricity two months ago so was pretty fancy. They grow coffee there, after picking it they soak it for a day then separate the beans from the outer shell and then spread it out on tarps to dry for 2 days. It is then ready to roast-- in a large wok over an open fire and then it is ground in one of the old meat grinders and ready to drink. It was a treat and definitely the freshest we have ever had. The local people all come and visit and the kids play volleyball on their narrow pathway beside their houses—there are no roads at all. Ken of course had to help grind the coffee and play volleyball with the local kids. The kitchen involved once again cooking over and open fire but the most memorable part was the guinea pigs running around the floor along with the cats, dogs and chicken. Guinea pig here is a delicacy—I have not brought myself to eat it yet—they rotisserie them whole with their little paws outstretched.
The next morning was our horseback ride. Well mine was a mule and Ken´s a horse. This was one hour down hill and then five up. It had rained and so 15 inch deep ruts are made by all of the animals which are filled with water and very slippery. The horses are expected to climb rock faces of several feet and their feet slip but amazingly are so strong that they do not break a leg. Canadian horses would never be subjected to these conditions. We just held on leaning back when going down and forward when going up and let them find their own way, they were incredible. The local men are also amazing—our horse guide walked for 10 hours in a pair of rubber boots. They chew coca leaves constantly and add a small amount of lime to help the enzyme produce. This apparently gives them energy and they are able to go for hours with little food and water. We tried but it had no effect on us and I was not prepared to chew all day.
We finally reached a ridge where there was a little restaurant and after lunch continued to meet a road. The horses went back the 6 hours and we walked for two hours down to a small village where were to spend our last night.
This was our fanciest place yet and we had a great dinner with French fries, salad and beef. We were the only people staying there and the owner was super friendly. So much so that he produced the local liquor which is made with honey and kept producing it!!! Another common thing here is that they have a TV but no reception so they watch music videos. He had one of party music from the 70´s and 80´s so several glasses of sweet liquor later it developed into a party where the 5 of us danced and partied till the wee hours. It was a lot of fun except unlike Ken I knew when to stop so did not feel bad later—will he ever learn!!!
After a somewhat later start than we had planned we left for our last day to Kuelap. This is one of the largest most intact ruins in the area. There were up to 500 houses and 10,000 people here at it´s height. We spent several hours marveling at the complexity of it all and then headed back to our hotel at Chachapoyas with our trip over.
It was another highlight of our journey and one we will not easily forget. We will regroup and then leave for a boat trip down to Iquitos in the Amazon where we will have some time in the rainforest next.
I am sure you are all enjoying summer so hope it is a good one—till next time, love Wendy and Ken