Peru

October 7 - Chachapoyas

I am in a very small town in the north of Peru, east of the Andes Mountains. It took us three long days of travel by various modes of transport to get here. The border crossing had obviously not seen gringos in quite a while so we were stared at us quite a bit. We had to take a raft across a river, guided by 7 year olds, to properly be in Peru. So far, Peru has been great. The countryside and mountains are breathtaking. The roads are unbelievable feats of engineering considering the size of the Mountains and the technology available. But they are a bit dangerous because they are narrow and windy and have no guard rail or anything to stop a car that goes into a skid…So basically, it is just closing my eyes and hoping the driver is competent and the tires are not bald!

Chachapoyas is a small town and very beautiful. All the houses are built with red brick adobe which comes from the surrounding mountains. Much nicer than the houses in Ecuador. The only problem so far is that I absolutely cannot understand anyone because of the change in dialect and the speed at which people speak. It feels sometimes that I am back at square one.

Yesterday, we went to one of the many ruins that are near here called Karajia. No one comes here because it is difficult, so we were the only gringos around. The ruins are stone statues that are carved into the mountainside. They are estimated to be built 1,000 years before Christ and are sarcophaguses for the leaders of the Chachapoyan people. There used to be hundreds of statues but they were all looted by locals and foriegners. There are only five remaining. How the people built them is a mystery because it is a sheer cliff. It was really amazing..We had to hike through a small town to get there. The children in the town were entranced by us and let us take tons of pictures. Sue, one of the English girls I am travelling with, has a video camera and filmed them and then showed them the film. You should have seen their faces!! I do not think they even have a television in the town. Unfortunately, the government is planning on building a road so many more touists can come and see the ruins. I can only hope, it will be done responsibly so the people in the town can continue to live the simple lives they have probably lived for hundreds of years.

The hostal I am staying in feels like home. It is run by an unbelievably friendly family. Most of the hostals are built like haciendas which means the buildings are square and have an open courtyard in the house where they plant flowers and can enjoy the sun. The beds are so comfortable and the shower is the best I have had yet - really hot and really strong. The first night I had to force myself to get out after twenty minutes! Tonight, the mother is making us a traditional Peruvian dinner. Last night's dinner was pasta with pesto!!! I have not had pasta in two months and ate every bite. Most of the food I have eaten is chicken and rice - which can be difficult because many times while I am eating the chicken, a live one will walk by and start crowing in complaint as if I am eating her friend or something. There are chickens and roosters everywhere! I do not think that one rooster I have seen or heard knows that they are only supposed to crow at dawn… they crow at all hours and can be really annoying.

Tomorrow we are going to see another ruin called Kuelap which is so big that Machu Picchu could fit inside it. It supposed to be built with more bricks than the big pyramid in Egypt and is described as titanic in proportions. So, that should be great.

Ok, off to dinner and I am starving!!!

October 11 - Cajamarcas

Fun with buses in Peru… Arrived in this beautiful city at 3-am this morning after spending 16 hours on a Bus…We left Chachapoyas on Monday morning and took a full day tour to see the ruins to the south. Kuelap was one of the best ruins I have seen anywhere in the world. It was mystical and eerie and enchanting. No one was there except us and our guide and I had goosebumps the whole time we were walking around. I don't know why but the place had a kind of energy that I cannot describe. It is tremendous- a fortress built on a mountain that had 420 stone houses built inside. The Chachapoyans were a civilization way before the Incas and were one of the last people to be conquered by them in the 1400's. The ruins are not renovated at all, which I think adds to the eerieness of the place.

After Kuelap, we went to another place and hiked up for almost two hours to see More burial chambers. As we got to the top, the sun went down, and we had to hike down in the moonlight, which was magical. The light on the surrounding mountains and valleys was surreal. We arrived in a town four hours south of Chachapooyas called Leymabamba around 10pm exhausted and filthy. Unfortunately, the room I slept in was also inhabited by three very large spiders. I swear they had bones and hair. Luckily, Sue was not afraid and killed them…But I still busted out my bug tent and would have slept soundly if not for the animal that lived in the eaves above our room and was awake and active for the whole night. I still do not know what kind of animal it was but it was loud enough to prevent me from getting any sleep that night. Exhausted, I figured, no problem, I will sleep on the 9 hour bus ride tomorrow. No such luck!

We boardod the bus expecting to arrive in Cajamarcas around 9 or so…the or so is the biggest part of the equation. The road was hairy, dangerous, and adrenaline pumping- enough so that I could not force rnyself to take my eyes away from the foot or so of road that separated the tires from the 3,000 foot cliffs. We crossed over the Andes on this road ? up and down 14,000 foot Mountains. Around 4 pm, while rounding a hairpin curve, the bus stopped just short of a major cliff and we heard a loud clunk. Sound familiar??? Well, yes, it is true…the bus broke down and we were 6 hours at least from the nearest town. It was like being in the movie Alive and we were trying to decide which person would be the best to eat first - what a gfeat opportunity to make friends with all the Peruvians on the bus. Despite the concerted efforts of all the workers on the bus, and the employment of various tools (screwdriver, saw, hammer, rocks, etc...) it did not seem the bus would run again-not that we wanted to get back on, but we really had no choice. After 2 hours, another bus showed up but the problem was that our bus was blocking the way on the narrow road. All the men joined forces and were able to push our bus so it would go downhill. I have no idea how they did it.

We all boarded the new bus, but there was no way they could leave the other bus stranded in the mountains. So it coasted downhill behind us (and all our backpacks were still on the old bus) and if there were any uphills, we had to all get off the new bus and walk or run ahead so the old bus could be towed. Imagine towing a bus...the danger…never mind on a twisty, steep, narrow mountain road in the Andes. It was Peru's form of adrenaline activities... have the passengers run in front of a bus with dodgy brakes. We had a couple of close calls and were sweating every time we got back on the bus. Needless to say, we did not arrive unfil 5 hours later than the expected time. We then took a mini-van, called a combi, to Cajamarcas with a driver who was chewing on coca leaves and spitting constantly out the window. Coca leaves are like coffee to the people here. I have yet to try them. We arrived starving, beyond exhausted, at 3 am and still had to find somewhere to stay. Unfortunately, there were lots of school groups in town so it was not easy. Finally, we found a place, bargained the guy down in price, had a lukewarm shower and laid down in a bed. Ahh, the adventure is over...not quite... just two short hours later, what sounded like rain turned out to be water gushing from the ceiling in the bathroom…If it had just flooded the bathroorn, maybe we would have slept through it, but it started to also flood our room which prompted Kate to get the guy behind the desk to sort things out. Someone, somewhere did not want me to get a full night's sleep. Ahhh, problem solved, maybe now some peace and quiet. But no, what is that noise that sounds like gunshots? It is a festival being held in the town and they are shooting off M?80's at 9am not realizing that WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY SLEEP!!