Leymebamba to Celendin
Trip Start
Feb 06, 2007
1
75
332
Trip End
Jan 14, 2008
Celendin,
Peru
Friday, May 11, 2007
Phew ! We made it. This road is without doubt the most spectacular we have ever travelled on, and the scariest. &nb sp;
The bus is built like a tank and had the highest clearance of any bus we have seen. The road climbed to a pass at about 3600 metres then not long after starting the descent it had to negotiate a major landslide that had happened a couple of weeks ago. A track just wide enough for the bus had been cleared of rocks but they couldn't clear too much or more rocks would fall down and block it again. The track wound down the side of the mountain and was often barely wide enough for the bus, with death-defying drops on one side. No such thing as a guard rail. The guy across the aisle from us looked absolutely petrified. If you have a bad head for heights avoid this road (or go armed with a bottle of whisky). After lunch at a dirty toilet-less café that served salmonella with its miserable piece of chicken skin and bone, (we both got the runs), the track became even more scary, with huge drops. It wound across and down the side of the mountains, and to descend 300 metres and get to the road you could see below, it covered at least 5km.
Pic 1
Anyway, we made it safely to Balsas, on the bank of the Rio Maranon, which we last saw between Iquitos and Yurimaguas. It was much narrower now, but flowing very fast, and looked like runny grey mud. The last kilometers before Balsas were through a fertile valley with mango and citrus trees, but with cactus higher up the hill. After crossing the Maranon the road climbed through an arid area with scrubby acacias and lots of cactus. We thought we were going backwards and forwards across the hillside a lot, then later found a map. It took about 3.5 hours to cover a straight line distance of only 14km between Balsas and Celedin. Yes, just 14km. We measured the map 3 times in disbelief.In Celedin we found Hostal Naranja Mecanica in Jr Union, 50 metres from the Plaza de Armas, recommended by the hostel in Leymebamba. It is really nice. For 35 sol we have a huge comfortable room with the best bed for ages. There are 2 sitting rooms and magazines in English, and water for tea available. The bathroom is shared, but as there are only 2 double rooms and another with 3 beds this is not a problem. The owners are Bilzeth and Susan. Susan is Dutch and speaks several languages, including English. Her aunt and uncle from Holland are staying here too, and every one is very friendly.
Getting to Celedin from Chachapoyas/Leymebamba. A bus leaves Chachapoyas on Tuesday and Friday at 5am, 4am on Sunday. It leaves Leymebamba about 3˝ - 4 hours later, and took us 10˝ hours to get to Celedin, arriving 7.30pm. There are ALSO minibuses that leave Leymebamba for Celedin at 7am on Friday and maybe on other days too. There were 2 today. How you find out their timetable without being in Leymebamba we have no idea. We bought our bus tickets in Chachapoyas a few days ago, and were glad we had. The bus was full, though they did manage to squeeze a few more people on (but without a proper seat)
Sit on the left of the bus for the best and scariest views.
