Back in Peru
The objective: get to Chachapoyas (Peru) as soon as possible.
The outcome:
Day 1
6:00-6:10 leave our lodging in pick-up taxi for Vilcabamba bus stop
6:10-6:15 wait for bus to arrive
6:15-11:45 in bus through incredible cloud forests and high cliffs to Zumba
11:45-14:30 wait for transport
14:30-16:20 transport on converted cattle truck to border at La Balsa
16:20-17:00 walk over bridge at border + formalities
17:00-19:00 squeeze into car 7 people plus luggage for trip to San Ignacio
19:00 check into cheap hotel for US$6 per room - wooden walls with holes...
Day 2
7:35-7:40 leave hotel in mototaxi (motorbike with 3 wheels and space for passengers) to collectivo (car or minibus that fills up with various people and leaves when it is full) terminal
7:40-8:15 wait for more passengers
8:15-10:15 travel to Jaen in minibus collectivo
10:15-10:45 wait for minibus to be fixed after overheating
10:45-11:45 continue to Jaen
11:45-11:50 mototaxi from one collectivo terminal to another
11:50-12:00 wait for car collectivo to fill up
12:00-13:00 travel to Bagua Grande in car collectivo
13:00-13:05 mototaxi from one collectivo terminal to another
13:05-13:10 wait for car collectivo to fill up
13:10-14:30 travel in collectivo to Pedro Ruiz and try to keep driver awake
14:30-15:15 drive around Pedro Ruiz in minibus collectivo looking for other passengers
15:15-17:00 travel to Chachapoyas on a most beautiful (but terrible) road
17:00 check into hotel next to Plaza
Observations:
when a guidebook states 'beautiful scenery', it actually means 'not a single straight stretch, just winding bends on washed out gravel roads in over-crowded transport going incredibly slowly due to the poor condition of the road and the huge differences in altitude every few kilometres'! It was arguably, however, the most beautiful and remote route we had travelled to date.
Our driver from the border smuggled in about 60liters of cheap fuel from Ecuador to sell in Peru - seemed like a separate tank which he emptied in his home town on the way to San Ignacio. Everything works like a well-oiled machine - while he is draining the tank, his kids dig out plastic containers from under the seats and from other secret compartments throughout the car!
We may also have smuggled a person in! This one guy was dropped of just before the police check point where everyone needs to register and rejoined us after the checkpoint!
The outcome:
Day 1
6:00-6:10 leave our lodging in pick-up taxi for Vilcabamba bus stop
6:10-6:15 wait for bus to arrive
6:15-11:45 in bus through incredible cloud forests and high cliffs to Zumba
11:45-14:30 wait for transport
14:30-16:20 transport on converted cattle truck to border at La Balsa
16:20-17:00 walk over bridge at border + formalities
17:00-19:00 squeeze into car 7 people plus luggage for trip to San Ignacio
19:00 check into cheap hotel for US$6 per room - wooden walls with holes...
Day 2
7:35-7:40 leave hotel in mototaxi (motorbike with 3 wheels and space for passengers) to collectivo (car or minibus that fills up with various people and leaves when it is full) terminal
7:40-8:15 wait for more passengers
8:15-10:15 travel to Jaen in minibus collectivo
10:15-10:45 wait for minibus to be fixed after overheating
10:45-11:45 continue to Jaen
11:45-11:50 mototaxi from one collectivo terminal to another
11:50-12:00 wait for car collectivo to fill up
12:00-13:00 travel to Bagua Grande in car collectivo
13:00-13:05 mototaxi from one collectivo terminal to another
13:05-13:10 wait for car collectivo to fill up
13:10-14:30 travel in collectivo to Pedro Ruiz and try to keep driver awake
14:30-15:15 drive around Pedro Ruiz in minibus collectivo looking for other passengers
15:15-17:00 travel to Chachapoyas on a most beautiful (but terrible) road
17:00 check into hotel next to Plaza
Observations:
when a guidebook states 'beautiful scenery', it actually means 'not a single straight stretch, just winding bends on washed out gravel roads in over-crowded transport going incredibly slowly due to the poor condition of the road and the huge differences in altitude every few kilometres'! It was arguably, however, the most beautiful and remote route we had travelled to date.
Our driver from the border smuggled in about 60liters of cheap fuel from Ecuador to sell in Peru - seemed like a separate tank which he emptied in his home town on the way to San Ignacio. Everything works like a well-oiled machine - while he is draining the tank, his kids dig out plastic containers from under the seats and from other secret compartments throughout the car!
We may also have smuggled a person in! This one guy was dropped of just before the police check point where everyone needs to register and rejoined us after the checkpoint!
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