Northen highlands of Perú. Chiclayo-Yumbilla waterfalls-Chachapoyas-Kuelap
Jan 23rd, 2014, 07:20 AM
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Northen highlands of Perú. Chiclayo-Yumbilla waterfalls-Chachapoyas-Kuelap
I was planning this trip for a very long time. I have heard some friends that are more travelers than tourists about Amazon region and I was really dying to get there and know this place, finally this was the trip of my life.
It all started when I have to got back to Peru for work, I was looking for a plane ticket to Guayaquil Ecuador , so I can enter to Peru by the north and stay there to know better the place.
This is how I´ve been able to see some magical places with the more spectaculars landscapes.
My journey to Amazon region started in Chiclayo where I took a bus from Movil tours agency (http://www.moviltours.com.pe/portal/) to Pedro Ruiz where it was waiting for me the first stop that results to be the best travel experience I have ever had . I don´t remember how much the bus ticket cost but I think it was about 8 soles less than get to Chachapoyas that is so near to Pedro Ruiz.
I have to say Movil tours agency seems advisable to me .I traveled at night and I spend almost all the time sleeping, but is was a good service and I felt safe. I have traveled a lot with this agency in the north of Peru and I have no complaints.
I reach Pedro Ruiz when it was dawning and I bought some ¨humitas¨(I hope it´s well written) for breakfast. A lady sold them in a side of the road,we where talking about Cuispes and Yumbilla Waterfall.She confirmed what I have heard about this place , she talked to me about the few tourists that reach to Cuispes Waterfall,about the people from this village that go down daily to Pedro Ruiz to sell fruits and vegetables, she was describing a place like I was expecting to find , quiet, without mass tourism where people live in peace ,cultivating the earth .
This conversation just increased my expectations, when you live in a big city all the year,
which is my case ,being able to access to a place like this , where you can load energies and repare the soul, becomes a matter of vital importance .
It was around 7 am in the morning when I got a ¨mototaxi¨,that would carry me to Cuispes.
The price for the way Pedro Ruiz-Cuispes is 10 soles , its the same for 1, 2 or 3 people.
The ascent to Cuispes starts with a small detour almost imperceptible in Pedro Ruiz and when you have 10 minutes of ascent to the mountain you can notice you are starting a different journey, there is jungle everywhere , you rise and rise slowly...
The day was so cloudy , we reach the clouds that just let see a few meters in front of the mototaxi,when suddenly , surprise! we had totally passed through the clouds and I almost left me breathless . It is so difficult to describe this sensation , we pass from a completely cloudy day to a resplendent sunrise over a blanket of clouds that only breaks to let way to the mountains here and there , one of the most overwhelming landscapes of my life , unforgettable.
I don´t remember how much it took to get to Cuispes, because I can´t stop looking the incredibles landscapes that only get bettet and better while we were raising in the mountain. Earlier than I would wish, I was in the main plaza of this peaceful place. Jarvik was waiting for me in the door of La Posada de Cuispes with a big and friendly smile. Before I install in my room I ran to sit in the main plaza to enjoy the views of the mountains, in the distance I could see some waterfalls, people from the village started their work in the field, an ox crossed the main plaza with its heavy walking, the sounds of the nature, everything was awesome.
When I enter to the Lodge, it was gorgeous, gardens with a lot of orchids, hammocks, where, later , I would spend time writing,a room with my own fireplace , I remember I felt a little bit of envy of Jarvik and his family for living in a place like this. At noon as at evening I can taste the delicious food of this place, Jarvik´s mother asked me what do I want to eat and she went to look for the products between the people who cultivated them, I was so surprised! Think that in the supermarket in my city the prices are higher when you buy ¨eco-friendly products¨and they boasted their products are fresh....
The night in a place like this,deserve another chapter, between the starry sky that we can only appreciate in places so isolated ,the garden full of coloured lamps , the fireflies flying between the plants....It is so difficult to describe the feelings that runs through your body in such these moments,if I have to choose a word, this would be magic, its a magical place, to rest, to write, really in this point and without seeing the huge waterfalls, I was more than satisfied with the experience.
In the morning, so early and after a tasty breakfast we go up to the jungle in the way to Yumbilla Waterfall, one of the highest waterfalls of the world. When we where close to the entrance of the jungle, I can appreciate some huge waterfalls falling up of the mountain and through the leafy jungle,again, I don´t had words, I was shocked.
At few minutes we where penetrating the jungle, what a beautiful place, you walked through a samll path surrounded by enormous trees full of vines, there were orchids at every step ,giant ferns and several waterfalls by the road. We walked slowly standing every moment, when Jarvik talked to me about this or that flower and the attributes people from the village gave to it. The culture and knowledges that places like this have are awesome, in occident we heal ourselves with pills that treat some things and break others and there, in Cuispes they have solutions almost for everything based on plants, we have to see how ignorants we are and how wrong we live.
When you reach Yumbilla Waterfall is something really amazing, the sound of the water crashing the rocks, the jungle surrounded everywhere this waterfall, we pass 1 hour resting there .at the feet of the waterfall, sitting, without hearing nothing except the water, the wind and the birds. It is surprising that this place is unknown yet and being selfish I would like that it can remain like this forever, really a hidden paradise.
We went down by the second waterfall of Yumbilla, just as much impressive,before we return through the forest I asked Jarvik to take me to Pabellon Waterfall, a little shortest than Yumbilla . Once we got there and cause it was still early I told Jarvik to got back to Cuispes alone so I can had a few hours of meditation. I look for a huge rock and can meditate as never in my life, surrounded by all that it feels an special connection with nature, it´s so hard to explain, I felt my body was healing, loading lost energies .
I got back to Cuispes and I was starving but with a big smile of satisfaction.
I am not going to extend a lot more,finally, from the 8 days that I have planned in Amazonas, I spend 4 in Cuispes, meditating in the forest early in the morning, talking with the people from the village, trying to learn from Jarvik and his family. Cuispes and its Waterfalls forest is an absolutely refreshing place , where you can connect with the Pacha mama in an unique and special way .
I definitely recommend this hotel. Staying there give me one of the best memories in peru. http://laposadadecuispes.com/
In this gallery you can see the magic Cuispes waterfalls forest: https://www.flickr.com/photos/112220...638918433975/#
In my last day there, early in the morning they called a mototaxi to pick me up and take me to Pedro Ruiz, I have to confess that I spent crying part of the stretch,I really wish I can return some day.
Once in Pedro Ruiz, they took me to the place where the cars go to Chachapoyas. There are aprox. 45 minutes on the road and it costs 10 soles each person. In Chachapoyas I stayed in La Posada del Arriero, it´s ok, an old and restaured house set up as a hotel, I payed 50 soles per night , it is clean and so near the main plaza, this is the website http://www.posadadelarriero.net/ , I spent the rest of the day planning where I want to go next days, most of all Kuelap and Huaylla Belen Valley.
To visit Kuelap I decided to hire a travel agency ,one of the many located arround the main plaza, I really don´t like some details, not going to mention the name of the agency,because maybe that was a bad day for everyone and it wasn´t the service they always offer to their clients.
The fortress of Kuelap is another awesome place that worth a visit.The day I went ,I found a few tourists, I think there where as much in all the fortress 10 people,I started to walked alone across the fortress without guides and noise (previously I have bought my book about Chachapoyas warriors,where there was a description of the fortress and the places of interest in it ). Honestly I could enjoy more of Kuelap that I did it in Machu Picchu, a few years ago,I don´t know if it was because the number of people o simply these warriors and its culture always took my attention,but it seems to me a point as interesting as Machu Picchu to explore. I felt sorrow I can´t stay more hours there, but after 2 hours and a half , people from the travel agency where waiting for us to get back to Chachapoyas.
One of the best experiences of visiting Kuelap, in personal, was to know Sara and Carlos, an spanish couple, with whom I travel the rest of the way back to Lima city.
Next day , I persuaded Sara and Carlos to go toguether to visit Huaylla Belen valley. This place, as Yumbilla Waterfall is not from the most touristic places in Amazonas region,but it didn´t dissapoint our expectations at all.
Sara and Carlos had living a lot time in Chachapoyas working with a ONG, they made some calls and hire toguether a car to take us to Huaylla Belen and wait to go back to Chachapoyas. Get to this valley takes 3 hours but it´s a place that take your breath away.The river that snakes all arround the valley seems to be a paint, it is an unreal and magic landscape . Here, there is an small guesthuouse of a local comunity equiped with a room with bunk beds, I would like to spend a night there, but the problem is there is no way to get back to civilisation. I return to Chachapoyas with Sara and Carlos. It is a shame this beautiful place is so far from everywhere , access is such difficult and not well communicated.
We spent the last day in Chachapoyas eating delicious food, I have to mention the bread from Chachapoyas, it is really tasty! Our way to go back to Lima was like this, Chachapoyas-Pedro Ruiz-Chiclayo-Lima, another time I promise to write a diary from this journey across the peruvian coast.
The End
It all started when I have to got back to Peru for work, I was looking for a plane ticket to Guayaquil Ecuador , so I can enter to Peru by the north and stay there to know better the place.
This is how I´ve been able to see some magical places with the more spectaculars landscapes.
My journey to Amazon region started in Chiclayo where I took a bus from Movil tours agency (http://www.moviltours.com.pe/portal/) to Pedro Ruiz where it was waiting for me the first stop that results to be the best travel experience I have ever had . I don´t remember how much the bus ticket cost but I think it was about 8 soles less than get to Chachapoyas that is so near to Pedro Ruiz.
I have to say Movil tours agency seems advisable to me .I traveled at night and I spend almost all the time sleeping, but is was a good service and I felt safe. I have traveled a lot with this agency in the north of Peru and I have no complaints.
I reach Pedro Ruiz when it was dawning and I bought some ¨humitas¨(I hope it´s well written) for breakfast. A lady sold them in a side of the road,we where talking about Cuispes and Yumbilla Waterfall.She confirmed what I have heard about this place , she talked to me about the few tourists that reach to Cuispes Waterfall,about the people from this village that go down daily to Pedro Ruiz to sell fruits and vegetables, she was describing a place like I was expecting to find , quiet, without mass tourism where people live in peace ,cultivating the earth .
This conversation just increased my expectations, when you live in a big city all the year,
which is my case ,being able to access to a place like this , where you can load energies and repare the soul, becomes a matter of vital importance .
It was around 7 am in the morning when I got a ¨mototaxi¨,that would carry me to Cuispes.
The price for the way Pedro Ruiz-Cuispes is 10 soles , its the same for 1, 2 or 3 people.
The ascent to Cuispes starts with a small detour almost imperceptible in Pedro Ruiz and when you have 10 minutes of ascent to the mountain you can notice you are starting a different journey, there is jungle everywhere , you rise and rise slowly...
The day was so cloudy , we reach the clouds that just let see a few meters in front of the mototaxi,when suddenly , surprise! we had totally passed through the clouds and I almost left me breathless . It is so difficult to describe this sensation , we pass from a completely cloudy day to a resplendent sunrise over a blanket of clouds that only breaks to let way to the mountains here and there , one of the most overwhelming landscapes of my life , unforgettable.
I don´t remember how much it took to get to Cuispes, because I can´t stop looking the incredibles landscapes that only get bettet and better while we were raising in the mountain. Earlier than I would wish, I was in the main plaza of this peaceful place. Jarvik was waiting for me in the door of La Posada de Cuispes with a big and friendly smile. Before I install in my room I ran to sit in the main plaza to enjoy the views of the mountains, in the distance I could see some waterfalls, people from the village started their work in the field, an ox crossed the main plaza with its heavy walking, the sounds of the nature, everything was awesome.
When I enter to the Lodge, it was gorgeous, gardens with a lot of orchids, hammocks, where, later , I would spend time writing,a room with my own fireplace , I remember I felt a little bit of envy of Jarvik and his family for living in a place like this. At noon as at evening I can taste the delicious food of this place, Jarvik´s mother asked me what do I want to eat and she went to look for the products between the people who cultivated them, I was so surprised! Think that in the supermarket in my city the prices are higher when you buy ¨eco-friendly products¨and they boasted their products are fresh....
The night in a place like this,deserve another chapter, between the starry sky that we can only appreciate in places so isolated ,the garden full of coloured lamps , the fireflies flying between the plants....It is so difficult to describe the feelings that runs through your body in such these moments,if I have to choose a word, this would be magic, its a magical place, to rest, to write, really in this point and without seeing the huge waterfalls, I was more than satisfied with the experience.
In the morning, so early and after a tasty breakfast we go up to the jungle in the way to Yumbilla Waterfall, one of the highest waterfalls of the world. When we where close to the entrance of the jungle, I can appreciate some huge waterfalls falling up of the mountain and through the leafy jungle,again, I don´t had words, I was shocked.
At few minutes we where penetrating the jungle, what a beautiful place, you walked through a samll path surrounded by enormous trees full of vines, there were orchids at every step ,giant ferns and several waterfalls by the road. We walked slowly standing every moment, when Jarvik talked to me about this or that flower and the attributes people from the village gave to it. The culture and knowledges that places like this have are awesome, in occident we heal ourselves with pills that treat some things and break others and there, in Cuispes they have solutions almost for everything based on plants, we have to see how ignorants we are and how wrong we live.
When you reach Yumbilla Waterfall is something really amazing, the sound of the water crashing the rocks, the jungle surrounded everywhere this waterfall, we pass 1 hour resting there .at the feet of the waterfall, sitting, without hearing nothing except the water, the wind and the birds. It is surprising that this place is unknown yet and being selfish I would like that it can remain like this forever, really a hidden paradise.
We went down by the second waterfall of Yumbilla, just as much impressive,before we return through the forest I asked Jarvik to take me to Pabellon Waterfall, a little shortest than Yumbilla . Once we got there and cause it was still early I told Jarvik to got back to Cuispes alone so I can had a few hours of meditation. I look for a huge rock and can meditate as never in my life, surrounded by all that it feels an special connection with nature, it´s so hard to explain, I felt my body was healing, loading lost energies .
I got back to Cuispes and I was starving but with a big smile of satisfaction.
I am not going to extend a lot more,finally, from the 8 days that I have planned in Amazonas, I spend 4 in Cuispes, meditating in the forest early in the morning, talking with the people from the village, trying to learn from Jarvik and his family. Cuispes and its Waterfalls forest is an absolutely refreshing place , where you can connect with the Pacha mama in an unique and special way .
I definitely recommend this hotel. Staying there give me one of the best memories in peru. http://laposadadecuispes.com/
In this gallery you can see the magic Cuispes waterfalls forest: https://www.flickr.com/photos/112220...638918433975/#
In my last day there, early in the morning they called a mototaxi to pick me up and take me to Pedro Ruiz, I have to confess that I spent crying part of the stretch,I really wish I can return some day.
Once in Pedro Ruiz, they took me to the place where the cars go to Chachapoyas. There are aprox. 45 minutes on the road and it costs 10 soles each person. In Chachapoyas I stayed in La Posada del Arriero, it´s ok, an old and restaured house set up as a hotel, I payed 50 soles per night , it is clean and so near the main plaza, this is the website http://www.posadadelarriero.net/ , I spent the rest of the day planning where I want to go next days, most of all Kuelap and Huaylla Belen Valley.
To visit Kuelap I decided to hire a travel agency ,one of the many located arround the main plaza, I really don´t like some details, not going to mention the name of the agency,because maybe that was a bad day for everyone and it wasn´t the service they always offer to their clients.
The fortress of Kuelap is another awesome place that worth a visit.The day I went ,I found a few tourists, I think there where as much in all the fortress 10 people,I started to walked alone across the fortress without guides and noise (previously I have bought my book about Chachapoyas warriors,where there was a description of the fortress and the places of interest in it ). Honestly I could enjoy more of Kuelap that I did it in Machu Picchu, a few years ago,I don´t know if it was because the number of people o simply these warriors and its culture always took my attention,but it seems to me a point as interesting as Machu Picchu to explore. I felt sorrow I can´t stay more hours there, but after 2 hours and a half , people from the travel agency where waiting for us to get back to Chachapoyas.
One of the best experiences of visiting Kuelap, in personal, was to know Sara and Carlos, an spanish couple, with whom I travel the rest of the way back to Lima city.
Next day , I persuaded Sara and Carlos to go toguether to visit Huaylla Belen valley. This place, as Yumbilla Waterfall is not from the most touristic places in Amazonas region,but it didn´t dissapoint our expectations at all.
Sara and Carlos had living a lot time in Chachapoyas working with a ONG, they made some calls and hire toguether a car to take us to Huaylla Belen and wait to go back to Chachapoyas. Get to this valley takes 3 hours but it´s a place that take your breath away.The river that snakes all arround the valley seems to be a paint, it is an unreal and magic landscape . Here, there is an small guesthuouse of a local comunity equiped with a room with bunk beds, I would like to spend a night there, but the problem is there is no way to get back to civilisation. I return to Chachapoyas with Sara and Carlos. It is a shame this beautiful place is so far from everywhere , access is such difficult and not well communicated.
We spent the last day in Chachapoyas eating delicious food, I have to mention the bread from Chachapoyas, it is really tasty! Our way to go back to Lima was like this, Chachapoyas-Pedro Ruiz-Chiclayo-Lima, another time I promise to write a diary from this journey across the peruvian coast.
The End
Jan 23rd, 2014, 11:52 AM
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What a great trip report Sarah. We were in Chachapoyas last year and loved the place. We also stayed at Posada del Arrierio. In fact we were the ONLY people staying there. We did toy with the idea of heading down into the Amazon from there but decided to head off to Trujillo instead and get our jungle fix in Bolivia. Seems as though we missed something pretty special!
Jan 27th, 2014, 02:11 PM
#3
Thanks for the report with the details. I also loved Chachapoyas area and would like to go back some day and visit sites more off the beaten path. I went on the standard tours that go to Kuelap, Revash (horse back) and Gocta falls.
I stayed in Casona Monsante (after bailing out of Hostal Revash).
I stayed in Casona Monsante (after bailing out of Hostal Revash).
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