Leymebamba is not like the big towns such as Cuzco with tourist agencies, so we found ourselves chatting up people on the street corners and ducking into copy/fax places to find a guide. We found someone who brought us to someone else´s home, and there we planned our trek for the following morning. Then together we all set out to buy supplies in the various little stores...coca leaves to chew on while ascending in altitude and also just for hanging out, instant coffee (it´s all they drink here), cheese at the dairy place, fruits and veggies at another, batteries, tobacco for the boys´ pipe, socks, and machetes, and water.
We set out bright and early the next morning, walking up the hill out of town until we picked up our guide Jabier at his ranch. Then began the most beautiful and painful trek I have ever done. Farther into ¨the center of the earth¨(as discussed before), we plunged, trekking for 9 hours until we found ourselves deep into the jungle ¨cloud forest¨ that surrounds Leymebamba. Impossibly green mountains, hundreds of types of orchids and medicinal plants, and mud up to your knees unexpectantly. The path--a good deal of it ancient Incan stone trail--was rough: steep inclines and declines over and over again, rocky, muddy, with big holes, and lots of things to leap over. Even with my feet wrapped up in medical tape and 2 pairs of socks, my feet were hurtin´ from the treacherous journey in rubber boots. But again the sceneray was absolutely incredible. The most memorable part was passing through a yellow valley made up of thick patches of long grass that had huge unexplainable holes (also filled with the yellow grass) and large rocks plucked down everwhere...and the creepiest part about it was that it was totally silent except for the wind and an occassional bird. Very strange...very Star Wars.
And I´m sorry to make yet another movie reference, but as we entered the jungle, I was reminded of Princess Bride, complete with ROUSes (rodents of unusual size). We literally were walking through a swamp and had to be careful where we stepped, lest we sink in and loose a boot!
The second day, we hiked through the jungle some more to Lake Quindacocha, which is actually a preserve, but we got permission (because Nick bought some land in Leymebamba and is technically a towns-person). Both this lake and the Lake of the Condors are perfectly pristine--black they are so deep, yet totally clear, and surrounded by virgin forest, cliff faces filled with mummies (I´m serious), and ancient Chachapoyan town ruins, now overgrown with plants and trees. We hiked around, checked out the ruins, gazed at the lakes, viewed the cliff tombs from afar...and then actually visited them...and I shit you not...I saw some real mummies...in a cave, preserved for hundreds of years in their original location (They are from the Chachapoyas, with some apparent Incan influence, from 800-1400 AD). Most of them were wrapped bundles with faces or designs painted on them, but I also spied a hand and a skull with remarkably intact teeth, as well as all sorts of little scraps of archeological evidence--pottery, fabric, etc. The site is absolutely not open to tourists. It´s being preserved until archeologists can have a look, but we visited the site with the guard who has to come every 8 days and make sure all is well there. Oh my god.
The rest of this particular afternoon, which could not be topped after seeing real mummies (and after our meal containing 3 different types of potatoes), was spent chewing on coca leaves and limestone and chatting it up with the guide and the guard.
The following day we returned down the same grueling path. The next day my feet hurt so badly, I could barely walk. I hung out until 3, when I caught the combi (mini collective van, which I might add had 20 people in it!) to Chachapoyas City. Per usual in Peru, the 2.5 hour ride somehow took 3.5 hours...all in a days work for drivers avoiding police because they don´t have their papers and getting stopped for construction.
The following day I wandered around Chachapoyas City, which is apparently comparable to Cuzco 40 years ago, and then at night I visited Kuelap. Kuelaps is an enormous stone fortress of the Chachapoyan people, and there is evidence that both the Incans and the Spanards visited to do business there. Again thwarted by road work (this time turning the 2 hour ride into nearly 6), we ended up at Kuelap just before closing, but they let us wander around regardless, which ended up being great because we were literally the only tourists and we able to see the ancient citadel by starlight. Kuelap is supposed to the sort of Machu Picchu of the north (in archeological significance), and indeed it´s quite impressive. The reason people don´t visit it as much is because it hasn´t received the media attention and it´s pretty hard to get to (no flights, just a series of long and bumpy bus rides).
The next day (Sunday), I boarded a 23 hour bus ride to Lima. I´ll let that sentence stand on it´s on.
And so here I am in Lima, staying with my friend Oscar. I plan to start my voyage south today or tomorrow....
I have uploaded a bunch more pictures, though I don´t have pictures of the Lake of the Condors trek yet. Check them out (and again email me if you have trouble viewing them):
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=238727511/a=43035390_43035390/t_=43035390
(if you saw the pictures before, you´ll probably have to go 1/2 way - 3/4s of the way through).
Much love,
Rachel
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