Just a quick exra entry.
We flew oout of Iquitos to land in Lima at 8pm on the 15th. When we arrived it seemed fairly chaotic but being used to this part of the world didn't give it much thought. We arrived at our hotel which was lit by auxhillary power and flashlights to discover that at 6pm they had had a major earthquake!!!
There was minimal damage here as the epicentre was 265km away but it had lasted 2 minutes and people were pretty shaken up--literally!!! The coast road had had some landsklides and the sea had obviously broken over the road and it is still closed is the only sign we now can see here.We are thankfull that we missed it as it must have been terrifying.
Spent today feeling as though we are back in McWorld!! Had Quiche for supper last night, a pastrami sandwich for lunch today and Toni Roma ribs for dinner--talk about a culture adjustment in 2 hours!!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Chaqchapoyas to Isquitos
We had a reasonably comfortable trip to Tarapota, the first town after the foothills of the Andes where the land flattens and the temperature rises at the start of the plains of the Amazon Basin. This had the glimmerings of the start of a new culture—the jungle culture where "jungle food" first starts to appear. This is a fairly big, relatively prosperous town so it consists of pork, spicy sausage, food wrapped in banana leaves and jungle fish.
After a couple of days there we then caught another collectivo—the infamous station wagon with 5 passengers at 5am—the roads were closed later for the day as they try and upgrade them. After a bone shattering 4 hours we arrived in Yaramaguos, a real jungle town!!! Immediately we were met by a barrage of tour guides who were trying to persuade us to do a jungle trip up the river at Parcaya Samurira in a dugout canoe. We managed to pick the one who seemed to have the best references and credentials so he stuck to us like glue helping us to arrange our onward journey and see the town.
The town is a jumble of ramshackle huts (houses) and noise. We found a room in an hotel which appeared relatively clean for $7 (no choices in this town!!). He then took us to the market to buy our hammocks for our voyage and bowls and spoons which would be needed on the boat trip. The market was definitely an introduction to this new world. Quite the culture shock compared to the rest of Peru and Ecuador. Monkeys and parrots abound as pets everywhere and the fruit in the market are all from jungle trees and were very foreign to us. Tried a few things—one fruit tasted like cooked pumpkin. The only vegetables available were tomatoes and cucumbers. We bought a skewer of barbecued grubs—I tried one and Ken ate the rest—hmm think I will pass in the future. The biggest single item anywhere here are plantains—these are dry and tasteless bananas which are green and appear to keep forever and are grown all through the region. They are boiled, fried, baked and mashed up with various other suspect foodstuffs. Yucca root is another staple and this has even less flavour and is usually boiled, often with fish.
Early the following morning we went down to our river boat Eduardo 111, this is one of a line of working barges which has freight, consisting of plantains, rice, salt, corn and various animals—pigs, chicken and cattle to name a few in the lower level. The next level is a large number of locals some of whom have hammocks and the rest on the floor—all with large bags and a brood of children and various parrots and pet monkeys. The top floor is first class and has the tourists—not many get this far—and the more prosperous locals. Everyone has a hammock and food is served at a table and is reasonably good.
We set off finally about 9am only 2 hours late as the boat had been hand loaded for hours—the bags of salt and rice are 50kg and it is incredible to watch these men and often boys carry these on for hours. We settled in our hammocks—our guide was traveling downstairs—his fare for the 10hour (supposedly) trip was $8 whereas ours was $17—he constantly visited to check on us and also tried to persuade a French couple who had not picked a company to pick his. We soon came to realize that this trip was not as easy as we had imagined. The season is towards the end of the dry and the river depth is low. The barge is laden down and the sandy bottom constantly is moving. This requires someone in a dingy to go ahead with a long pole to source out the deepest channel where we followed. If they were reasonably confident someone would do it from the front of the barge. Every now and then we would hit bottom which would then involve stopping having the dingy find a better channel and then backing off the sand bank and following the dingy. This all seemed quite doable—Jack and Judy take note—perhaps you didn´t need to spend the money on repairing your depth sounder I am sure Judy could have found a decent pole much cheaper!! The problem was magnified at night as they carry one search light which someone holds to light the way—finding new depths with a small light for such a huge barge seemed to create even more issues. We were comfortable in our hammocks and were aware as we slept of the boat stopping, starting and backing off. We had originally been told it would take 10 hours getting us in at 7pm. This was then extended to 10pm then midnight and finally they woke us at 3.30am to say we were here.
Our guide had arranged a motor taxi—much like a tuk tuk in Asia—to take us to the tour owner's house along with the French couple who he had persuaded by now to come with us. We arrived at a small wooden house with a thatched roof and dirt floor to be shown a bed in a room. The town generator was not on so it was all done by candlelight. In the morning we realized that we had been given the owner and his wife's bed and the French couple the children's. They all had had to spend the rest of the night on chairs in the kitchen. The first sign to us of how truly impoverished these people are. We were then given breakfast which was the now becoming normal meal of rice and fried eggs—cooked in palm oil which is definitely not heart friendly!! We then were given a pair of rubber boots and told to bring as little as possible for our 5 days and the French couple's 3 day trips.
Were all loaded into more taxis and headed off down the rutted dirt track for 45minutes to the river bank at the park office. This is set up as a national park and they are trying very hard to accreditate the guides and make a tourist industry there. We were packed into one dugout canoe with one guide the French couple with another and a third canoe with the food and a third guide accompanying us. We were traveling downstream on a tributary to the main river we had been on in the big boat. It became obvious the skills of the guides very quickly as they would suddenly stop and we would see a snake lying camouflaged on the branch of one of the multitude of trees surrounding us. We would take ages just to see it when it was pointed out to us. We then spotted a sloth that was holding on to the trunk of a tree—he was definitely not going anywhere at any great speed soon so we had a great opportunity to photograph him. The next was a tree of monkeys who swung from branch to branch chattering away as they continued their day. The guides were also expert at calling the animals and they would often come closer to investigate which of their relatives were talking to them.
Their culinary skills were not equal to their jungle skills and at lunch we realized what was in store for us for the 5 days. We had rice, french fries and more fried eggs—oh well we had seen the sloth. They stop at what is a normal stopping point and set us up in our hammocks—the ground is wet—while they light a fire and cook lunch.
We then set off for the rest of the day seeing lots of birds, butterflies, more monkeys and snakes. We arrived at a hut which is under construction which will eventually have a toilet and running water—out of the very brown silty river—but so far you sleep on the wooden floor—they give you a hard kind of mattress—NB bring your thermorest if you ever contemplate this trip—we had to pee in the bush. We realized that the brown river was our only source of water to wash ourselves so gingerly scooped off the top layer of cleaner water and rinsed as best we could—temperatures are around 32C we were hot and sticky. We managed to communicate that we would like boiled eggs for supper as opposed to fried so that was a treat.
The next morning after more boiled eggs—our now set choice-- we set off a little further down the river where we set off for a hike. All land travel is done with rubber boots for both protections from snakes and also from mud. This whole area in the wet season is underwater with the river rising 10 feet higher so a lot of what we walked through was swampy and wet. Our guide had been taught as a young boy from his father the traditions of the jungle and was able to identify many kinds of trees. There are many palm trees in the area producing fruit. Many of our medicines today are derived from jungle plants and they had a cure for most ailments. Diarrhea, arthritis, mosquito repellant , medicine to relax women in childbirth and the plant from which quinine was first derived and made into what we now know as tonic water to improve the taste—hence the name. We saw a fresh puma print but we didn’t have a hope of seeing one—perhaps just as well. We stalked numerous animals but 6 people creeping through the jungle makes an impossibly huge noise—next time I see a movie where they creep through the jungle I will be skeptical!!
Lunch today consisted of boiled potatoes, rice and spaghetti—none with any sauce so was definitely hi in carbs. One other thing we were treated to was sliced plantains fried in oil—at least gives us a little flavour.
The French couple then left us to return as we carried on for our next couple of days—oh one thing that I didn’t mention was that neither they nor our guides spoke English so we all communicated in Spanish—limited conversations but good practice.
We headed on toward our next camp and as it darkened we used a flashlight to search out crocodiles—these are small caimans in this area and fish eating so not dangerous. We also fished for piranhas which the rivers are full of—seem small so I am not sure how dangerous and Ken spear fished to supplement our supper.
The next morning we carried on and followed a huge flock of blue and yellow macaws. They are magnificent and we watched them for ages.
A huge highlight was when we rounded a bend in the river which had a tree half way across and a large group of monkeys were leaping across. The last one changed his mind and backed off. We were uncertain why and our guides started calling. A couple of monkeys from the large group started calling back and then the lone one. It became obvious that the last one was the baby and was afraid to cross. Finally the adults jumped back across and put the baby on their backs and jumped him across. It was magical to watch the interactions and we felt very privileged.
The rest of the trip was more of the same but we were so glad we had done the whole 5 days despite the food as we felt more participants than observers.
After the 5 days we went back to the town and caught the next barge to continue down the river to Iquitos. The next boat was smaller than the first and we soon realized we were on the milk run so it would even be slower—oh well lazing in the hammock is still comfortable and the weather is warm—the odd rain shower poured down but the boat is covered and they roll down tarps on the windows till it is over. 2 days and 2 nights we were there.
We finally arrived in Iquitos—the largest city inaccessible by road in the world. Reminded me very much of Darwin 30 years ago—lazy, hot and definitely a frontier town. We went to the artisans market which is full of beautiful rainforest wooden products, crocodile skins and blowguns—definitely another world.
Took a trip to the butterfly farm where they have rescued a huge anteater, a tapir, a jaguar and a pile of monkeys—one of whom stole my earring!!! It was good to see the animals at a closer range.
We now are leaving to fly to Lima to continue with the next stage of our journey.
After a couple of days there we then caught another collectivo—the infamous station wagon with 5 passengers at 5am—the roads were closed later for the day as they try and upgrade them. After a bone shattering 4 hours we arrived in Yaramaguos, a real jungle town!!! Immediately we were met by a barrage of tour guides who were trying to persuade us to do a jungle trip up the river at Parcaya Samurira in a dugout canoe. We managed to pick the one who seemed to have the best references and credentials so he stuck to us like glue helping us to arrange our onward journey and see the town.
The town is a jumble of ramshackle huts (houses) and noise. We found a room in an hotel which appeared relatively clean for $7 (no choices in this town!!). He then took us to the market to buy our hammocks for our voyage and bowls and spoons which would be needed on the boat trip. The market was definitely an introduction to this new world. Quite the culture shock compared to the rest of Peru and Ecuador. Monkeys and parrots abound as pets everywhere and the fruit in the market are all from jungle trees and were very foreign to us. Tried a few things—one fruit tasted like cooked pumpkin. The only vegetables available were tomatoes and cucumbers. We bought a skewer of barbecued grubs—I tried one and Ken ate the rest—hmm think I will pass in the future. The biggest single item anywhere here are plantains—these are dry and tasteless bananas which are green and appear to keep forever and are grown all through the region. They are boiled, fried, baked and mashed up with various other suspect foodstuffs. Yucca root is another staple and this has even less flavour and is usually boiled, often with fish.
Early the following morning we went down to our river boat Eduardo 111, this is one of a line of working barges which has freight, consisting of plantains, rice, salt, corn and various animals—pigs, chicken and cattle to name a few in the lower level. The next level is a large number of locals some of whom have hammocks and the rest on the floor—all with large bags and a brood of children and various parrots and pet monkeys. The top floor is first class and has the tourists—not many get this far—and the more prosperous locals. Everyone has a hammock and food is served at a table and is reasonably good.
We set off finally about 9am only 2 hours late as the boat had been hand loaded for hours—the bags of salt and rice are 50kg and it is incredible to watch these men and often boys carry these on for hours. We settled in our hammocks—our guide was traveling downstairs—his fare for the 10hour (supposedly) trip was $8 whereas ours was $17—he constantly visited to check on us and also tried to persuade a French couple who had not picked a company to pick his. We soon came to realize that this trip was not as easy as we had imagined. The season is towards the end of the dry and the river depth is low. The barge is laden down and the sandy bottom constantly is moving. This requires someone in a dingy to go ahead with a long pole to source out the deepest channel where we followed. If they were reasonably confident someone would do it from the front of the barge. Every now and then we would hit bottom which would then involve stopping having the dingy find a better channel and then backing off the sand bank and following the dingy. This all seemed quite doable—Jack and Judy take note—perhaps you didn´t need to spend the money on repairing your depth sounder I am sure Judy could have found a decent pole much cheaper!! The problem was magnified at night as they carry one search light which someone holds to light the way—finding new depths with a small light for such a huge barge seemed to create even more issues. We were comfortable in our hammocks and were aware as we slept of the boat stopping, starting and backing off. We had originally been told it would take 10 hours getting us in at 7pm. This was then extended to 10pm then midnight and finally they woke us at 3.30am to say we were here.
Our guide had arranged a motor taxi—much like a tuk tuk in Asia—to take us to the tour owner's house along with the French couple who he had persuaded by now to come with us. We arrived at a small wooden house with a thatched roof and dirt floor to be shown a bed in a room. The town generator was not on so it was all done by candlelight. In the morning we realized that we had been given the owner and his wife's bed and the French couple the children's. They all had had to spend the rest of the night on chairs in the kitchen. The first sign to us of how truly impoverished these people are. We were then given breakfast which was the now becoming normal meal of rice and fried eggs—cooked in palm oil which is definitely not heart friendly!! We then were given a pair of rubber boots and told to bring as little as possible for our 5 days and the French couple's 3 day trips.
Were all loaded into more taxis and headed off down the rutted dirt track for 45minutes to the river bank at the park office. This is set up as a national park and they are trying very hard to accreditate the guides and make a tourist industry there. We were packed into one dugout canoe with one guide the French couple with another and a third canoe with the food and a third guide accompanying us. We were traveling downstream on a tributary to the main river we had been on in the big boat. It became obvious the skills of the guides very quickly as they would suddenly stop and we would see a snake lying camouflaged on the branch of one of the multitude of trees surrounding us. We would take ages just to see it when it was pointed out to us. We then spotted a sloth that was holding on to the trunk of a tree—he was definitely not going anywhere at any great speed soon so we had a great opportunity to photograph him. The next was a tree of monkeys who swung from branch to branch chattering away as they continued their day. The guides were also expert at calling the animals and they would often come closer to investigate which of their relatives were talking to them.
Their culinary skills were not equal to their jungle skills and at lunch we realized what was in store for us for the 5 days. We had rice, french fries and more fried eggs—oh well we had seen the sloth. They stop at what is a normal stopping point and set us up in our hammocks—the ground is wet—while they light a fire and cook lunch.
We then set off for the rest of the day seeing lots of birds, butterflies, more monkeys and snakes. We arrived at a hut which is under construction which will eventually have a toilet and running water—out of the very brown silty river—but so far you sleep on the wooden floor—they give you a hard kind of mattress—NB bring your thermorest if you ever contemplate this trip—we had to pee in the bush. We realized that the brown river was our only source of water to wash ourselves so gingerly scooped off the top layer of cleaner water and rinsed as best we could—temperatures are around 32C we were hot and sticky. We managed to communicate that we would like boiled eggs for supper as opposed to fried so that was a treat.
The next morning after more boiled eggs—our now set choice-- we set off a little further down the river where we set off for a hike. All land travel is done with rubber boots for both protections from snakes and also from mud. This whole area in the wet season is underwater with the river rising 10 feet higher so a lot of what we walked through was swampy and wet. Our guide had been taught as a young boy from his father the traditions of the jungle and was able to identify many kinds of trees. There are many palm trees in the area producing fruit. Many of our medicines today are derived from jungle plants and they had a cure for most ailments. Diarrhea, arthritis, mosquito repellant , medicine to relax women in childbirth and the plant from which quinine was first derived and made into what we now know as tonic water to improve the taste—hence the name. We saw a fresh puma print but we didn’t have a hope of seeing one—perhaps just as well. We stalked numerous animals but 6 people creeping through the jungle makes an impossibly huge noise—next time I see a movie where they creep through the jungle I will be skeptical!!
Lunch today consisted of boiled potatoes, rice and spaghetti—none with any sauce so was definitely hi in carbs. One other thing we were treated to was sliced plantains fried in oil—at least gives us a little flavour.
The French couple then left us to return as we carried on for our next couple of days—oh one thing that I didn’t mention was that neither they nor our guides spoke English so we all communicated in Spanish—limited conversations but good practice.
We headed on toward our next camp and as it darkened we used a flashlight to search out crocodiles—these are small caimans in this area and fish eating so not dangerous. We also fished for piranhas which the rivers are full of—seem small so I am not sure how dangerous and Ken spear fished to supplement our supper.
The next morning we carried on and followed a huge flock of blue and yellow macaws. They are magnificent and we watched them for ages.
A huge highlight was when we rounded a bend in the river which had a tree half way across and a large group of monkeys were leaping across. The last one changed his mind and backed off. We were uncertain why and our guides started calling. A couple of monkeys from the large group started calling back and then the lone one. It became obvious that the last one was the baby and was afraid to cross. Finally the adults jumped back across and put the baby on their backs and jumped him across. It was magical to watch the interactions and we felt very privileged.
The rest of the trip was more of the same but we were so glad we had done the whole 5 days despite the food as we felt more participants than observers.
After the 5 days we went back to the town and caught the next barge to continue down the river to Iquitos. The next boat was smaller than the first and we soon realized we were on the milk run so it would even be slower—oh well lazing in the hammock is still comfortable and the weather is warm—the odd rain shower poured down but the boat is covered and they roll down tarps on the windows till it is over. 2 days and 2 nights we were there.
We finally arrived in Iquitos—the largest city inaccessible by road in the world. Reminded me very much of Darwin 30 years ago—lazy, hot and definitely a frontier town. We went to the artisans market which is full of beautiful rainforest wooden products, crocodile skins and blowguns—definitely another world.
Took a trip to the butterfly farm where they have rescued a huge anteater, a tapir, a jaguar and a pile of monkeys—one of whom stole my earring!!! It was good to see the animals at a closer range.
We now are leaving to fly to Lima to continue with the next stage of our journey.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007
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
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
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Banos to Vilacabumba
We are now in Vilacabumba in the south of Ecuador. This is a lovely valley which is inhabited by many ¨gringos¨ who came here for a week and never left. Great climate and the valley is surrounded by hills which make for wonderful hiking. We did a hike yesterday which had a 1500 foot climb straight up a mountain then along a knife edged narrow ridge for an hour or so--I had just been telling Mike about the dangers of hiking up mountains alone and the next day was looking down either side of a ridge which dropped several thousand feet on either side realising that although Ken and I were together the only use would be that he would know where my broken body would be if I fell--luckily neither of us fell so can now enter a new blog entry. We have learned that if a hike is described here as difficult or dangerous it is!!!
We left Banos and went to Cuenca--the third biggest city in Ecuador and the most gracious and lovely we have been to in a long time. The buildings are beautiful and we loved wandering the city.
There is a great museum exploring the culture of the many different tribes of the indigenous people. Ecuador is very diverse as it encompasses the coast, the mountains and the Amazon jungle so the cultures are very diverse. The museum also had a great garden which had flora from all regions. There is also an aviary which has great birds.
As in all Latin countries we came across the festival which was celebrating the coronation of yet another virgin. The religions here are a hybrid of Catholic and the original indigenous religions so are very confusing to the uninitiated. It makes for a lot of colour. This particular celebration was just at dark and involved lots of dancing by various ethnic groups and the lighting of huge square balloons which had a kerosene burner inside. The heat let the balloon soar hundreds of feet into the air. Amidst the balloons, music and dance there was a constant firing of fireworks which were set off at the edge of the crowd. As they fell ashes and pieces would fall on the watching crowd. Quite amazing--there seem to be no controls and the unfortunate victims would laugh as they shook the sparks off themselves!!!
Cuenca is the capital of the ¨Panama hat¨. It appears that it was never the Panama hat as it was originally made from a special reed grown only in Ecuador and the hats were made here for the workers who built the Panama Canal hence the misnomer. We both bought hats after much trying on--one more thing shipped back to the boat to keep our packs to a minimum as we travel.
We also took a trip to an Inca ruin which was not large but the bus ride as all around here was spectacular.
A little more on the bus travel. Bus travel is amazing in Ecuador--very few people can afford to buy cars so buses are the main transportation method.
You first get a taxi to the terminal (you must roll the rrrr in the word terminal or the taxi driver will not understand where you want to go) it will cost $1--the cost of most taxis. Then upon arrival there are various men yelling the destination of the bus they are responsible for. You will then say your destination where they will point to the particular company which will get you there. You will then pay 10 cents tax and get on your bus. It will leave and slowly drive along the street with the original man yelling the destination and stopping to let on anyone who wants to go there. A lot of people will catch it outside the terminal presumably to avoid the 10 cent tax. You will now purchase a ticket which will cost $1 for each hour of travel you intend to take--mostly our trips have been between 1 and 6 hours so are $1 to $6 respectively. Now to add to the fun, various people will get on and off the bus to sell whatever they have. There are two options here, the one that takes the longest is when a man gets on and delivers a long compelling speech from the front of the bus. He then walks the length of the bus handing out samples of his wares--candies, soup, pills or whatever. He then goes back to the front and tells everyone why they should pay anything from 10 cents to $1 to buy them. He then goes back down the bus and collects either the money or the candies--it is the original travelling salesman!!! They avoid the gringos as we are generally less than impressed by the speech. Perhaps the language barrier is the problem.
The other is the person, man or woman who will come on yelling whatever they have to sell as they walk the bus offering their wares and being paid directly. They all get off after they have sold enough and presumably catch the next bus back doing the same thing. On one trip of an hour we were offered the following: chicklets, ice cream cones (we are still not sure why they don't melt), fresh fruit salad in a cup, potato and banana chips, mandarins, apples, peaches, chocolate bars and either water coke or fanta. It all makes for a fascinating ride and along with the spectacular scenery and relative comfort of the buses it makes travelling fun. The other amazing thing is that people—often women with babies on their backs and laden with whatever else they have-- will stop the bus in the middle of the mountains with no apparent dwellings sight to obviously walk to wherever they live—I think often it means many hours of walking. We have had people get on struggling with 30lb propane tanks. They are truly a race of hardy people.
We will leave here in a few days and will go into Peru where we hope to do a trip up the Amazon in a river boat for a couple of days to Iquitos--the largest city in the world with no road access.
Hope you are having a great summer,
Love Wendy and Ken
We left Banos and went to Cuenca--the third biggest city in Ecuador and the most gracious and lovely we have been to in a long time. The buildings are beautiful and we loved wandering the city.
There is a great museum exploring the culture of the many different tribes of the indigenous people. Ecuador is very diverse as it encompasses the coast, the mountains and the Amazon jungle so the cultures are very diverse. The museum also had a great garden which had flora from all regions. There is also an aviary which has great birds.
As in all Latin countries we came across the festival which was celebrating the coronation of yet another virgin. The religions here are a hybrid of Catholic and the original indigenous religions so are very confusing to the uninitiated. It makes for a lot of colour. This particular celebration was just at dark and involved lots of dancing by various ethnic groups and the lighting of huge square balloons which had a kerosene burner inside. The heat let the balloon soar hundreds of feet into the air. Amidst the balloons, music and dance there was a constant firing of fireworks which were set off at the edge of the crowd. As they fell ashes and pieces would fall on the watching crowd. Quite amazing--there seem to be no controls and the unfortunate victims would laugh as they shook the sparks off themselves!!!
Cuenca is the capital of the ¨Panama hat¨. It appears that it was never the Panama hat as it was originally made from a special reed grown only in Ecuador and the hats were made here for the workers who built the Panama Canal hence the misnomer. We both bought hats after much trying on--one more thing shipped back to the boat to keep our packs to a minimum as we travel.
We also took a trip to an Inca ruin which was not large but the bus ride as all around here was spectacular.
A little more on the bus travel. Bus travel is amazing in Ecuador--very few people can afford to buy cars so buses are the main transportation method.
You first get a taxi to the terminal (you must roll the rrrr in the word terminal or the taxi driver will not understand where you want to go) it will cost $1--the cost of most taxis. Then upon arrival there are various men yelling the destination of the bus they are responsible for. You will then say your destination where they will point to the particular company which will get you there. You will then pay 10 cents tax and get on your bus. It will leave and slowly drive along the street with the original man yelling the destination and stopping to let on anyone who wants to go there. A lot of people will catch it outside the terminal presumably to avoid the 10 cent tax. You will now purchase a ticket which will cost $1 for each hour of travel you intend to take--mostly our trips have been between 1 and 6 hours so are $1 to $6 respectively. Now to add to the fun, various people will get on and off the bus to sell whatever they have. There are two options here, the one that takes the longest is when a man gets on and delivers a long compelling speech from the front of the bus. He then walks the length of the bus handing out samples of his wares--candies, soup, pills or whatever. He then goes back to the front and tells everyone why they should pay anything from 10 cents to $1 to buy them. He then goes back down the bus and collects either the money or the candies--it is the original travelling salesman!!! They avoid the gringos as we are generally less than impressed by the speech. Perhaps the language barrier is the problem.
The other is the person, man or woman who will come on yelling whatever they have to sell as they walk the bus offering their wares and being paid directly. They all get off after they have sold enough and presumably catch the next bus back doing the same thing. On one trip of an hour we were offered the following: chicklets, ice cream cones (we are still not sure why they don't melt), fresh fruit salad in a cup, potato and banana chips, mandarins, apples, peaches, chocolate bars and either water coke or fanta. It all makes for a fascinating ride and along with the spectacular scenery and relative comfort of the buses it makes travelling fun. The other amazing thing is that people—often women with babies on their backs and laden with whatever else they have-- will stop the bus in the middle of the mountains with no apparent dwellings sight to obviously walk to wherever they live—I think often it means many hours of walking. We have had people get on struggling with 30lb propane tanks. They are truly a race of hardy people.
We will leave here in a few days and will go into Peru where we hope to do a trip up the Amazon in a river boat for a couple of days to Iquitos--the largest city in the world with no road access.
Hope you are having a great summer,
Love Wendy and Ken
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Latacunga to Banos
A few thoughts about Ecuador.
We love it here-- people are great. Food consists of breakfast-usually rice with a piece of chicken and if it is a fancy place a separate plate with 2 scrambled eggs and a cup of hot milk with Nescafe. Lunch and dinner is more rice and chicken but you get a bowl of watery soup with a potato floating in it. Most bigger towns have international options but the small towns don't offer much else. If I never see rice again it will be too soon!!
I found a great hairdresser in Quito. Previously in both Mexico and El Salvador I had a haircut but as all women down here have long hair their expertise was limited to doing the bowl style of cut--they cut the bottom and the bangs but no layering so my hair was looking worse and worse as we travelled. The Mexican cut cost $5 and the El Salvador, as everything in El Salvador costs, was $1. We walked by one in Quito and there were some older women with short hair getting their hair cut which looked great. After I had a $3 haircut I felt brave enough to get her to do my highlights for $20 which turned out great--I think regular trips to Quito are in my future.
After our hiking trip in Quilitoa we spent a few days in Latacunga catching our breaths.
Took a couple of day trips, one to a small market in Pujili. This was smaller than the one at Sasquisili but still colourful and interesting. Another was to a small village which makes the most amazing leatherware. We were unable to resist and bought a jacket each--from $50 to $60. Handbags, jackets and shoes were everywhere--it is hard when you travel on a boat and wear the simplest of clothes--makes you almost want to go back to the real world just so you can justify going on a shopping spree!!! Almost but not quite.
We then took a bus ride to Guaranda, this is the highest sealed road in Ecuador and is spectacular. The road climbs to well over 4000 metres and the huge Chimbarazo-- the 6310 metre high volcano towers from the surrounding hills. Once again these are farmed to impossible heights and impossible angles. They finally stop when the ground becomes so high to be tussock and desertlike. This reminded me of the Desert Road in New Zealand on a larger scale.
Took a day trip from there to Salinas. Another spectacular bus ride and we arrived at the small village where we had rice,chicken and this time a watery bush coffee for breakfast. The village is one of the best examples of the way one should administer foreign aid. Italy had adopted this village and has set it up with factories. They make chocolate, dry mushrooms, make soccer balls and cheese. The Canadians have given them a huge woolen mill and between all of the above the whole village is employed. The Italians are there helping them export their products to Europe. They give tours to the tourists who make the trip out there and of course we had to buy some of the deilicious chocolates what a treat. They took us for a lovely hike up the valley as well.
Our next stop was to go to Riobamba where we had intended going on the train ride which is goes down the mountain in amazing switchbacks. You had been able to travel on the roof of the train but a Japanese tourist had been killed falling off recently so they had prohibited the roof riding so we decided to forgo the train ride.
We are now in Banos, a small village tucked in the middle of the mountains,under an active volcano. The volcano Tungurahua (sounds more like NZ than Ecudoria) has caused the village to be evacuated many times but is now only on an alert as it is only smoking. It is full of tourists who use it as a base to go to the mountains or the Amazon jungle. It is a great small touristy town which has great food (had steak,pizza and sea bass) and lots of things to do. It had recently been closed because massive landslides had closed the roads but reopened a few days ago.
We rented bikes and did a trip down to Puyo which is at the beginning of the Amazon. It was great to be back on a bike. One sobering moment came when we caught the bus back complete with bikes--the trip is 65km down the hill and you bus back-- only to find another huge landslide of monstrous rocks was being cleared from the road we had biked on earlier. We hiked to a multitude of waterfalls which were dropping thousands of feet. It was lovely although as we got further down it was raining which is to expected in the rain forest. We would have loved to have done a trip deep into the Amazon but we have blown our budget booking the Inca Trail so will hope to come back in December or January and do it then. Apparantly the weather is better in the Amazon then anyway so would make sense.
I took some Spanish classes although it is still so hard to understand unless people speak a word at a time--they speak so quickly!!
We are doing some hikes in the area for a day or two and then will continue south to Cuenca which is a bigger town on the way south to Peru. Apparantly it is lovely.
We will work our way to Peru as we can only spend 6 months in Ecuador in any 12 month period even though our boat can stay. We will spend 6 weeks in Peru and then with our Canada and NZ trip we should be able to stay till the end of March when we will be in the Galapagos and head across to the Marqueses.
Keep those emails coming we love to hear from you.
Have a great summer,
Love Wendy and Ken
We love it here-- people are great. Food consists of breakfast-usually rice with a piece of chicken and if it is a fancy place a separate plate with 2 scrambled eggs and a cup of hot milk with Nescafe. Lunch and dinner is more rice and chicken but you get a bowl of watery soup with a potato floating in it. Most bigger towns have international options but the small towns don't offer much else. If I never see rice again it will be too soon!!
I found a great hairdresser in Quito. Previously in both Mexico and El Salvador I had a haircut but as all women down here have long hair their expertise was limited to doing the bowl style of cut--they cut the bottom and the bangs but no layering so my hair was looking worse and worse as we travelled. The Mexican cut cost $5 and the El Salvador, as everything in El Salvador costs, was $1. We walked by one in Quito and there were some older women with short hair getting their hair cut which looked great. After I had a $3 haircut I felt brave enough to get her to do my highlights for $20 which turned out great--I think regular trips to Quito are in my future.
After our hiking trip in Quilitoa we spent a few days in Latacunga catching our breaths.
Took a couple of day trips, one to a small market in Pujili. This was smaller than the one at Sasquisili but still colourful and interesting. Another was to a small village which makes the most amazing leatherware. We were unable to resist and bought a jacket each--from $50 to $60. Handbags, jackets and shoes were everywhere--it is hard when you travel on a boat and wear the simplest of clothes--makes you almost want to go back to the real world just so you can justify going on a shopping spree!!! Almost but not quite.
We then took a bus ride to Guaranda, this is the highest sealed road in Ecuador and is spectacular. The road climbs to well over 4000 metres and the huge Chimbarazo-- the 6310 metre high volcano towers from the surrounding hills. Once again these are farmed to impossible heights and impossible angles. They finally stop when the ground becomes so high to be tussock and desertlike. This reminded me of the Desert Road in New Zealand on a larger scale.
Took a day trip from there to Salinas. Another spectacular bus ride and we arrived at the small village where we had rice,chicken and this time a watery bush coffee for breakfast. The village is one of the best examples of the way one should administer foreign aid. Italy had adopted this village and has set it up with factories. They make chocolate, dry mushrooms, make soccer balls and cheese. The Canadians have given them a huge woolen mill and between all of the above the whole village is employed. The Italians are there helping them export their products to Europe. They give tours to the tourists who make the trip out there and of course we had to buy some of the deilicious chocolates what a treat. They took us for a lovely hike up the valley as well.
Our next stop was to go to Riobamba where we had intended going on the train ride which is goes down the mountain in amazing switchbacks. You had been able to travel on the roof of the train but a Japanese tourist had been killed falling off recently so they had prohibited the roof riding so we decided to forgo the train ride.
We are now in Banos, a small village tucked in the middle of the mountains,under an active volcano. The volcano Tungurahua (sounds more like NZ than Ecudoria) has caused the village to be evacuated many times but is now only on an alert as it is only smoking. It is full of tourists who use it as a base to go to the mountains or the Amazon jungle. It is a great small touristy town which has great food (had steak,pizza and sea bass) and lots of things to do. It had recently been closed because massive landslides had closed the roads but reopened a few days ago.
We rented bikes and did a trip down to Puyo which is at the beginning of the Amazon. It was great to be back on a bike. One sobering moment came when we caught the bus back complete with bikes--the trip is 65km down the hill and you bus back-- only to find another huge landslide of monstrous rocks was being cleared from the road we had biked on earlier. We hiked to a multitude of waterfalls which were dropping thousands of feet. It was lovely although as we got further down it was raining which is to expected in the rain forest. We would have loved to have done a trip deep into the Amazon but we have blown our budget booking the Inca Trail so will hope to come back in December or January and do it then. Apparantly the weather is better in the Amazon then anyway so would make sense.
I took some Spanish classes although it is still so hard to understand unless people speak a word at a time--they speak so quickly!!
We are doing some hikes in the area for a day or two and then will continue south to Cuenca which is a bigger town on the way south to Peru. Apparantly it is lovely.
We will work our way to Peru as we can only spend 6 months in Ecuador in any 12 month period even though our boat can stay. We will spend 6 weeks in Peru and then with our Canada and NZ trip we should be able to stay till the end of March when we will be in the Galapagos and head across to the Marqueses.
Keep those emails coming we love to hear from you.
Have a great summer,
Love Wendy and Ken
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