First Chicken Coach
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2004
1
25
88
Trip End
Feb 01, 2005
Yurimaguas,
Peru
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Since my top priority was to get out of Yurimaguas, I had to venture out of the hotel room I'd holed myself up in watching American soapies and latino music. I found out where an approximation of the bus depot was and set off in that direction. 4 calles y 1 calle a la izquierda later I stopped by a house fronting as a bus service where they didn't have a bus the next day, and then I spotted in the near distance a tattered bus and thought that would be my next bet.
I was approached by a couple of guys who asked if I wanted to go in there carro to Tarapoto, leaving at 5am. I told them it was too early and they said, "Okay, 8am". It was to be them, me and some other person who may wander along
01 Mountains
. When they discovered that my ultimate destination was Chachapoyas, they walked with me to the depot with the dilapidated bus and helped me to purchase a ticket to Pedro Ruiz (a 2 hour minivan ride from Chacha) for S./35. They offered me a lift back to my hotel, but I preferred to walk and saw the rally car that would have taken me to Tarapoto. It was a hotted up green and black, complete with spoiler and tinted windows and obligatory mud spatterings. I almost wish that I had been going in the rally car because it sure would have been a hell of a ride.
It turned out that my bus ride to Pedro Ruiz was a hell of a bus ride, complete with my two rally car buddies who mustn't have found any other passengers, but were filling the conductor and labourer roles on the bus.
It started off driving past the rubbish tip and then proceeded to wind through the mountains. Not long into the trip we had to stop for repairs. The driver stripped off his shirt and got under the bus. A few minutes later he emerged with a split oil hose that they repaired with some glue, a piece of cloth and a piece of yellow raffia tied tightly around it.
We got a spectacular view of the lush green mountains as we drove along the rough road which had a steep drop on one side - my side. We came to a roadwork where they were grading a pass. We had to stop for the grader to move and then watched a truck come down the muddy, potholey (why the grader didn't get to work on that section I don't know) track on the other side. When it was our turn we got stuck in a hole and then the back wheels started to spin, so we all had to get out and walk up the incline and after the bus charged up, free of passengers, we got back on.
After the numerous delays we stopped for lunch. I ordered the caldo de gallina, chicken broth, and when it came out with chicken feet and other unidentifiable parts of the chicken my appetite vanished. I also had my gracias mistaken for gaseosa and ended up with a Pepsi that I didn't want either.
Back on the bus I saw a rooster being put in the luggage bin under the bus. I thought 'excellent!' and was glad that it wasn't in the same compartment as my backpack and also not on the bus crowing. I needn't have worried. There was another rooster crowing, even more annoying out of tune, on board. Back in my seat I was about to put my feet under the seat in front of me when I almost jumped out of my seat as a chicken came flopping towards me. Why couldn't it have been the chicken in my soup?
The mountains were so amazing that I didn't care that we had stopped umpteen times and were a long way behind schedule. We had to change buses in the cesspool Tarapoto that I was glad I was only driving through. We got off the offroader and all the luggage on the roof bound for Lima was thrown across to the new bitumen eater bus.
I arrived in Pedro Ruiz at 1am and was quite nervous about not knowing anywhere to stay or whether I could get a taxi. Luckily, a guy told me that he was waiting for a bus or minivan to Chachapoyas, so I decided to wait with him. The bus drove off and behind it lay a hotel and a motocarro - there had been no need to stress!
Lots of people were waiting to go to Chacha and although a taxi came and was offering a ride to Chacha for S/.10 I was holding out for the S/.5 minivan. I felt like waiting in line for concert tickets. Two buses passed, but they were full and wouldn't take us. I pulled out all the warm clothes and loaned my sleeping bag to a woman. Four hours later, another taxi left for S/.10 and although I was cold and tired, I was sticking to the principle of it and waiting for a bus. The minivan ended up leaving at 6:30am and cost S/.7 so really I saved a shade over AUD$1 for the principle.
I knew that I was going to like Chacha when I couldn't shut my mouth for the spectacular ride through the canyon and up the mountains. Even the woman wedged beside me with a rotting, foul smelling breath couldn't detract from the beauty of the mountains.
What I learned
* Locals must travel with chickens, they form just one piece of their 10 bits of cargo, at least one other being a child or two.
* I can pull an all nighter in a strange town
* I like the mountains!
