Well, after previously reporting that I might spend the rest of my time here in Huanchaco I've been talked into going to Tarapoto in the centre of Peru, over the Andes! It's not quite the Amazon jungle I was hoping to be able to fit into my trip but it's as close as I'm going to get with the small amount of time I have left. Barney, the Aussie guy who lives at the Airbnb where I'm staying talked me into it, saying it's on the edge of the Amazon rainforest but more accurately it's "cloud forest". The rain forest proper begins further East of Tarapoto. Should be interesting, nonetheless. Getting there is a mission - three coach trips each way so I don't have to spend 18 hours at a stretch on a coach from here to there over what is known here as The Death Road! My route is safer via Cajamarca and Chachapoyas but a lot longer. From the stories I've heard about travelers going via the Death Road who've refused to return via the same route or girls who cried en route because the wheels of the van were hanging over the edge of the road in mid air while the driver did a three point turn to get around some of the corners I decided that the safer route was the best option (I do need to get back to NZ in one piece if I can). So, the first day (night) is Monday 11th from here to Cajamarca where I'll overnight - coach departs here 10pm and arrives there 6am. Then another overnight coach from Cajamarca to Chachapoyas where I'll stay for 3 nights - there's plenty to see in and around that city, so I'm told. Then on to Tarapoto, my destination, on another overnight coach (it's not always possible to get a coach traveling during the day on these isolated routes so I'll no doubt miss some spectacular scenery). I can only spend 2 nights in Tarapoto before I start the marathon journey back to Lima for my flight to Santiago and home. I think one of the overnight coach sectors on the way to Tarapoto is done during the day on the return trip, so that will be nice. I expect to stay back here in Huanchaco for 2 nights en route to Lima for a rest stop.
This morning I awoke at 8am to what sounded like the Rio Street Carnival right outside the Airbnb - too noisy for a Sunday morning!! Bass sounds amplified through loudspeakers in the park across the road. I could understand it if Peru had just won the Football World Cup but apparently this happens every Sunday morning!! I felt sorry for anyone suffering from a hangover (and there would have been quite a few of them after the clubs here closed last night).
Yesterday (Saturday) I did a full day tour which included the pre Inca ruins at Chan Chan and the Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon and associated archaeological museums. Some amazing stuff to see and artifacts in the museum as well as the gory history of human sacrifices made to appease the Gods - aren't religious rituals passed down from generation to generation and accepted as normal by the people interesting. The sacrificial victims even considered it acceptable to be the ones chosen to be killed in order to ensure a bountiful harvest for the rest of the population. Thank goodness we've moved on from those times! They had some good policies though - if you were lazy and didn't contribute to society you were physically punished, and harshly. You had to pull your weight or you were considered a burden to the rest of the population who worked hard to feed and clothe everyone.
Enough for today - maybe a little more tomorrow.
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| The well preserved frescos at The Temple of the Sun, near Huanchaco. The population buried them every few years with mud brick walls as they continued to build the Temple bigger and bigger over decades c.800 A.D. |
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| Reliefs carved into the city walls of the city of Chan Chan which has been slowly unearthed by archaeologists over the past few decades. They represent animals and birds hunted for food and clothing at the time of occupation. |
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