 |
| Our last view of the mountains of Ecuador |
We took an overnight bus from Cuenca to Chiclayo, on the coast of Peru. Night buses are not usually our preference as we like to see the scenery as we go. However, this choice meant we would cross the border in the middle of the night when it would hopefully be quiet and quick, a concession we were willing to make in this instance. The bus was way more comfortable than we are used to when travelling ...
The journey took around 11 hours and yes, the border crossing at 2am was quick and fuss free. Although slightly unusual in that the entry point to Peru is at least a 15min bus ride from the exit point of Ecuador which leaves one in 'no man's land' for quite some time.
This was the first bus we had been on that was dominated by backpackers and foreign travellers. Two of these turned out to be from NZ and we ended up discovering that we had a friend in common. What is that saying about seven degrees of separation!
An unexpected bonus of travelling overnight was the discovery of sunrises. Not being 'morning people' we are more likely to enjoy sunsets so it was quite a treat to watch the sun coming up for a change.
The scenery changed quickly, from the green lush hills of Ecuador, to the dry flat lands of northern Peru .... beguiling in its own way. The land was being farmed as small lots with most families having a few sheep, cows or llama .... and the odd donkey.
We had come up with a cunning plan to head straight for the Amazon. When we reached Chiclayo mid morning, we picked up our packs and walked a few streets to catch a bus to Tarapoto. We had a few boring hours waiting for our evening bus but we are pretty used to waiting around for things to happen. And besides, the people watching opportunities are plentiful.
The journey to Tarapoto was another long, overnight one but again, the scenery in the early morning was nothing short of spectacular and it was cool to have the front seats on the top deck of the bus.
We decided to stay the night in Tarapoto to enjoy the luxury of sleeping a room that wasn't on the move. There was not much going on in the town so we just took the opportunity to rest and get some money changed into Soles.
The next morning we caught a colectivo (shared car) to Yurimaguas. Another stunning journey over the mountains with scenery to die for.
Upon arrival in Yurimaguas we knew we had two choices to get where we were going, which was only accessible by boat. Our initial preference was to take a slow boat which was to book a hammock slot on one of the cargo ships heading for Iquitos (the largest city in the world not accessible by road). The fee for this journey was small and included a place to hang your hammock (provided by yourself) and three meals a day (to be taken with some caution as it was likely to be cooked in river water), and was rumoured to take three to five days, stopping at many small towns along the way. James had done quite some research on this option, even joining a
Facebook group, and there was some discussion that the cargo boats were not currently taking passengers for some inexplicable reason (which also turned out not to be true when we got there). At this point it is worth mentioning how terribly difficult it is to get reliable information about anything in South America ... from bus timetables to cost to how long a journey takes! Also, even if we were able to secure a sailing, people have been known to wait several days for the boat just to leave port ... even though they will tell you every day that you will be leaving TODAY ;-)
Having plenty of time to mull this over we decided we would rather spend the time at our accommodation in the jungle rather than on a boat getting there. So as soon as we hit town, we booked onto the only other option, which was the 'fast' boat to Nauta, the town before Yurimaguas, leaving at 9pm that evening. Our tuktuk driver took us straight to the office to book tickets and then to a hostal where we could check in just for the day. Too hard an ask to spend the day with all our bags hanging around waiting till our evening boat. Again, we were told that the boat was leaving at 8pm but the ticket said 9pm so we arrived at 7pm just to make sure.
Not surprisingly, we were the only Gringos on board. This is the only way the locals can get up and down the river so the boat was pretty full. We managed to secure the front seats, which were right under the TV :-( but with loads of leg room. Of course, our 9pm sailing stretched out to well after this with the chaotic boarding of cargo and late comers. Fortunately the cake lady saved our spirit by coming aboard with a still warm, fleshly baked cake!
Finally it came time to leave .....
 |
| First class wot! |
This was the first bus we had been on that was dominated by backpackers and foreign travellers. Two of these turned out to be from NZ and we ended up discovering that we had a friend in common. What is that saying about seven degrees of separation!
An unexpected bonus of travelling overnight was the discovery of sunrises. Not being 'morning people' we are more likely to enjoy sunsets so it was quite a treat to watch the sun coming up for a change.
The scenery changed quickly, from the green lush hills of Ecuador, to the dry flat lands of northern Peru .... beguiling in its own way. The land was being farmed as small lots with most families having a few sheep, cows or llama .... and the odd donkey.
We had come up with a cunning plan to head straight for the Amazon. When we reached Chiclayo mid morning, we picked up our packs and walked a few streets to catch a bus to Tarapoto. We had a few boring hours waiting for our evening bus but we are pretty used to waiting around for things to happen. And besides, the people watching opportunities are plentiful.
The journey to Tarapoto was another long, overnight one but again, the scenery in the early morning was nothing short of spectacular and it was cool to have the front seats on the top deck of the bus.
We decided to stay the night in Tarapoto to enjoy the luxury of sleeping a room that wasn't on the move. There was not much going on in the town so we just took the opportunity to rest and get some money changed into Soles.
 |
| Oso, the little cutie at our hostal |
Upon arrival in Yurimaguas we knew we had two choices to get where we were going, which was only accessible by boat. Our initial preference was to take a slow boat which was to book a hammock slot on one of the cargo ships heading for Iquitos (the largest city in the world not accessible by road). The fee for this journey was small and included a place to hang your hammock (provided by yourself) and three meals a day (to be taken with some caution as it was likely to be cooked in river water), and was rumoured to take three to five days, stopping at many small towns along the way. James had done quite some research on this option, even joining a
Facebook group, and there was some discussion that the cargo boats were not currently taking passengers for some inexplicable reason (which also turned out not to be true when we got there). At this point it is worth mentioning how terribly difficult it is to get reliable information about anything in South America ... from bus timetables to cost to how long a journey takes! Also, even if we were able to secure a sailing, people have been known to wait several days for the boat just to leave port ... even though they will tell you every day that you will be leaving TODAY ;-)
 |
| Cargo boats loading up |
 |
| River dolphins messing about at port |
 |
| Our boat |
Finally it came time to leave .....
 |
| Looking back at Yurimaguas as we finally begin the journey |
After having a bit of a laugh with the two guys next to us, who thought it was pretty funny to have us aboard we settled down to try to get some sleep. It wasn't the most comfortable nights sleep, but again we woke to the most gorgeous sunrise. The flow of the water passing by was also quite mesmerising.
 |
| At least there are life jackets on board! |
 |
| And, as it turns out, live guinea pigs in the crate, and live chicks in the box!!!! |
We were kept amused most of the day by the comings and goings from the boat ... in the middle of the river. Although we pulled into the odd village, most of the passengers leaving or joining us did so from a panga that would pull up along side our boat to transfer passengers. Including a woman with a monkey on her head!
As if all this wasn't weird enough, we also witnessed the transfer of a child from our boat onto another bigger boat going the other way. Yes, only the child so we were assuming/hoping that the child's family were aboard the other boat.
The river boats (pangas) were a design we had not seen before and consisted of a long rudder type arrangement with a propeller on the end. It became apparent that this was necessary to lift the propeller out of the water to avoid debris and fisherman's nets as well as providing excellent maneuverabilily.
Our (supposed 12 hour) boat ride turned into 18 hours and we finally arrived in Nauta, on the Rio Maranon. It had already been quite a journey and we were not there yet. We were worried that we had missed our connecting boat to our accommodation with our late arrival, but true to South American form, this too was late leaving and we were able to jump aboard.
This part of the journey would only take 2.5 hours. We were handed lunch in a polystyrene container and when they came round to get the rubbish, Clare asked the old guy sitting next to her for his container and he proudly said he had thrown it out the window! Maybe the next generation are learning to take care of the environment better. One lives in hope.
Finally we arrived at our destination for the next week ... Genaro Herrera on the Rio Ucayali.
Huge sigh of relief!
No comments:
Post a Comment