Tarapoto itself has nothing much to recommend it....

Tarapoto is more of a base for exploring the surrounding regions, like El Sauce, etc. It's very humid here and I don't feel much like doing any strenuous exercise - even walking into the town centre is enough to make you want a shower, but there is only a cold shower here at this Airbnb (Casa de Hiro) which is really a hostel, not a private residence. There's evidence that previous guests in this room have been using illicit drugs here (knives with the tell-tale signs of having been used for "spotting"). You can't tell from the descriptions on Airbnb if the host is running a hostel or a private home. I've asked Airbnb to look at adding to the amenities section of the host's profiles whether there's hot water in the shower or not. I have had to ask that of each individual place I've considered booking which is time consuming - be much easier if that was published information. Westerners simply assume that there will be. My room here is good - spacious and clean with a private kitchen and bathroom attached (but not enough cutlery - I had to ask for a spoon, knife and fork so I could have my Granola for breakfast and a hot dog for lunch).
One thing I noticed coming here from Chachapoyas is there seems to be very different traffic laws - in Chachapoyas there are no noisy Tuktuks or old taxis (or old tourist mini-buses). Here there are thousands of the tuktuks and motorbikes and no-one wears a crash helmet. I hate to think how many head injuries are suffered, especially when I see young children without crash helmets traveling as passengers with their mothers on the motorbikes.
Tomorrow I'll catch a colectivo (shared taxi) from here to El Sauce and stay there for at least one night - I may even book into a hotel with hot water in the shower!
Wednesday 20 June: I'm stuck in Tarapoto - at least for a few hours. I took a tuktuk to the base where the colectivos depart for El Sauce only to find a notice there advising that the road is closed today! ONLY today!! The sad thing is, I could have gone yesterday if I'd known. I only stayed the second night in Tarapoto because I'd already prepaid it - I'd have been happy to lose that cost in order to get to El Sauce. So, I'm in a cafe drinking coffee and wondering what my next move should be - I don't particularly want to spend another day here. I may be able to get a ride to some other close by destination for the day and overnight there and get to El Sauce tomorrow.
Nothing else to post in the blog today - nothing of interest has happened here. There may be more tomorrow, I hope.