On the death track to Chachapoyas
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2007
1
73
106
Trip End
Jul 03, 2008
Celedin,
Peru
Monday, March 17, 2008
The bus from Celedin only runs twice a week and departs at 10am on Sundays and Thursdays. Luckily this fitted our schedule. We woke up at 4am and ventured out into the cold to catch a taxi to the collectivo to Celedin. The cheapest and sometimes the only way to travel is in a collectivo (10s). This is basically a mini bus that drives round town till its full and then head to its destination. We luckily managed to get the last two places on the collectivo to Celedin and at 4.30am we headed off on out 3 and a half hour trip to Celedin with our rucksacks placed on my knee!
The road was amazing and it baffled me how the 100km drive was going to take 3-4 hours! But after an hour it became very apparent! The road disappeared and we had hit the rough track. Fortunately the sun had started to rise and we were afforded some amazing views. This part of Peru is even more beautiful than what we had already seen. Tourists donŽt come here so you can get a real glimpse of the real Peru. The Land is farmed by traditional farmers in their fantastic traditional clothing in splendid colours of yellow, pink, purple and every colour of the rainbow. Cows were being milked in the fields and old ladies appeared from nowhere leading cows and donkeys! For 2 hours we passed over this amazing scenery. Unknown to us it was just going to keep getting better.
We arrived in Celedin at 8.30 on a Sunday market morning. Again I don{t think that many Gingos come this way. The market had none of the usual crap that they try and sell to tourists, mainly Americans! Every few minutes cows, pigs and horses were lead through the streets. In the market very kind of vegetable know to man was being sold. Rabbit and guinea pigs were pulled from sacks and traded and those chaps were not going to be pets as Caroline knows!!!
At 10 our bus to Chachapoyas departed (30soles). We were the only non locals aboard which is exactly how we like it. The baggage man/ticket man came round a handed out a plastic bag each. Not a great sign before we started. We had no idea what to expect from this trip. We did not know how long it was going to take or where we were going. We have not met anyone who had done the trip or read any blogs. This was the unknown to us!
The bus started its ascent into the clouds, literally. We bumped along the mud track with metres to spare before a good 500m drop into the canyon. The cloud meant to the visibility wasn{t great. but luckily we were to head above the cloud. The views here were breathtaking. Our trip then entered into the Maranon Canyon. For the next 5 hours our bus winded up and down the side of the canyon, never more that a couple of feet from certain death. The driver seemed fine with this a liberally applied his foot to the accelerator. There were times when you turned green as you looked out the window while hurling round a corner! At lunch we stopped at a little village on the side of the canyon. Luckily they had a toilet has my stomach affliction had returned! But calling it a toilet, loo or WC is very generous. It was basically a shed with a hole and a 10 foot drop! Pleasant! During lunch a small child aged about 2 managed to identify me to his mother by saying Gringa!!!
After lunch we continued to climb the canyon for the last time. To demonstrate how dangerous this trip was we had to stop! The road was too thin and weak to hold the weight of the bus and the passengers. We all had to disembark and walk over a mud slide! Again weŽll show you the picture in due course!
Once we got to the bottom of the other side of the mountain we were subjected to 3 hours of the most dreadfully potholed road ever. Mud tracks are more comfortable than this! Added to the pitch black this bit of the journey wasnŽt so much fun. However when we arrived in Chachapolas at 9.30pm we both agreed it was well worth the trip! Absolutely stunning and so happy to be off the tourist trail!!!
