Cajabamba to Huamachuca
Trip Start
Feb 06, 2007
1
83
332
Trip End
Jan 14, 2008
Huamachuca,
Peru
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The indigenous people come into Cajabamba for a street market on Sunday. From about 6am strings of mules or donkeys laden with veggies came past our bedroom window. But after breakfast nothing else seemed to be happening so we bought 9am bus tickets to Huamacucha.
The Andes company bus was an hour late leaving. It was interesting scenery on a very rough narrow road to Huamachuco. Three hours to do 53 kilometers. There were very narrow wooden bridges over many small ravines. We are sure the bus back wheels overhung the bridges at times. Once there was a massive bang under the bus, but it must have been a rock hitting something, not a blown tyre. We passed a lovely large lake with trout farms and wished we could have hopped off the bus here, but our luggage was buried under mountains of potatoes. We are right off the Gringo Trail now and Lonely Planet Peru barely mentions even largish places, let alone small ones, and our assortment of maps are quite inadequate
Indigenous people on the street
. On arriving in Huamachuco the weather was beginning to change. It was cool and rain was imminent. We headed up towards the Plaza De Armas. The first hostel along the way was unattended so we continued on to and beyond the Plaza checking out the various hostels. Most were pretty rough and we ended up at the Hostal Huamachuco on the Plaza at 30 sol per night for a double with bath. It has cable and is in pleasant surroundings, but has a tiled floor which is FREEZING, and a screaming baby and noisy washing machine close by. There are excellent cheap meals at the Colonial restaurant further up the road on the Plaza. The best mini-market is adjacent to the Hostel Huamachuco. Next to the Hostel Colonial is the Tourist Office, but today is Sunday and it is not open.
Our first impressions of this town are not good. We can't even find a decent coffee and cake shop. Perhaps tomorrow when we find out what there is to do in this place we may feel differently. At present, it is cold and wet and we are wondering why we stopped here at all.
