Megan's Perusings: Chachapoyas and Kuelap

Last week, from Wednesday to Friday, I went on a little holiday to the town of Chachapoyas in the region of Amazonas (to the west of San Martin). Marion (the Latin Link missionary from England) and Rebekah (the American volunteer in Annie Soper) and I went together and had a brilliant and adventurous time! Here is what we got up to:

DAY 1 - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4
After spending the night at Marion's house, we rose very early and got a car (taxi) to the town of Nueva Cajamarca. The journey is between 30 minutes and an hour, but we got there quickly because it was early and there wasn't much traffic on the road. In Nueva Cajamarca, we changed cars for Pedro Ruiz, a few hours' drive away. In that drive we made the transition from the jungle to the sierra (mountains), and it was a wonderfully bright day for enjoying the beautiful landscape.
On the road to Pedro Ruiz, we came across a landslide which had trapped a double-decker bus in mud. The bus had been there for a few hours, and there was a huge queue of lorries and cars and mototaxis waiting for a digger to arrive to clear the road. We waited for about an hour there, walking around, examining the situation and chatting with the other people on the road. Eventually a digger arrived and very skilfully started to move all the mud and rocks to the side of the road. Freed from its mudbed, the bus was able to get on its way again, and traffic started moving. Because of the recent rains and the steep hills and cliffs that there are, landslides are not uncommon.
The rest of the journey went quite smoothly in a 'no other road obstacles' sense, though the road itself was never straight and caused us to fly from side to side in the car. Our driver was kind enough to stop at a few points to let us get out and take some photos. The scenery was stunning, and it became more and more different to the jungle scenery as the miles whizzed past. A lot of it reminded me of Scotland, actually!
From Pedro Ruiz, we transitioned to a minivan to climb even higher up the mountains to Chachapoyas, finally greeting that town at midday.
The town is attractive in its calmness and cleanliness and its fantastic situation in the mountains. There are lots of steep streets leading to the main plaza. (I really like the Peruvian plazas that I have seen in the few cities and towns I've visited!) The large white Roman Catholic church stood at one corner, and the other three sides of the square were lined with various shops, cafes, hostals and tourist agencies. In the middle was a lovely square with a central fountain, benches, grass, plants and trees, and little paths. It had a pretty town look and feel to it, and I immediately wished that we were staying for more than two nights!
Upon arrival, we ate in a hotel/hostal on the plaza, tasting for the first time the famous (and rightly so) bread rolls that Chachapoyas produces. Then we found our hotel, a short walk uphill from the plaza. We were sharing a triple room, and it was comfortable and (wait for it: here comes the best bit!) it had a HOT SHOWER! Words cannot describe the wonderful sensation of a hot shower after months of cold ones - it is sublime! :-)
That afternoon we decided to climb up some steps to a ridge in the town, to have a better view of the area. I reached the top first, being 51 and 31 years younger than Rebekah and Marion, respectively. :-) There were 168 steps, according to my calculations, though that number was disputed by someone else. The view was lovely, and we lingered to take photographs. After our descent, we visited a couple of museums about the Chachapoyas history and culture. The first was a very small place with various ancient artifacts housed in simple glass cases, and the second was a bit bigger and was in a restored church. I gathered some new and important pieces of information about the Chachapoyas civilisation, the Incas who invaded and the Spaniards who conquered all of them. After a stop at a nice little European-style cafe which sold pure, local products, we returned to our hotel room to rest. In the evening we ate at a restaurant that Marion knew was clean and reputable, and following our tea was a trip to a souvenir shop where I bought a very unique little bag made out of a gourd or pumpkin with beautiful designs carved into it and with a leather strap. Can't say it's the most practical thing I've purchased, but it is a great way of remembering my trip to Chachapoyas!
That night, Marion and Rebekah had put their jammies on and were just settling into their beds when a massive spider caused a disturbance in our room. It was on the ceiling above Marion's bed, and not one of us was going to sleep with that thing up there! Amidst gales of laughter I had to go out to ask a 'brave man' at the reception desk to remove the creature, which he did with an amused look on his face. :-) Then we slept well.

I'm sure right now you're thinking, 'Dear me, this is only Day 1 she's written about...!' I'm feeling the same, so I'll just post a few photos just now and bring you part 2 tomorrow!