"Sorry Mum got to go, I´m getting in the back of a pickup truck!"

After our brief stay in Chachapoyas (primarily to try and acquire some clean clothes...) we left for Leymeybamba, where we hoped to do the Laguna de los Condores trek. When we got there we went in search of the hostal in the guide book, after looking for a while we gave up and chose a random, pleasant looking place. Here the hostal owner woman told us about the hostal we had intended to stay in and how they were "clandestine" and that "they don´t pay taxes". The next day we tried to organise the tour, but unfortunatly the tourist office was apparently permanently closed, and instead we headed off to the museum outside the town which contained all the artefacts from the Chachapoyan people of the Laguna de los Condores. At the museum they had a vast array of relics, ranging from interesting pots to mummified opossums. Inside we were told no photographs, but as we seemed to be the only people there we took a fair few anyway. Here we all bought souvenirs, in the form of handcarved mummies done, in the shop by a peruvian man. The next day we had unfortunatly given up on the visit to the Laguna de los Condores, and instead we set out on the 6 hour round hike to La Congona ruins instead, asking directions on the way as we passed indiginous people on their horses. After a brief (and accidental) detour to some other ruins we found the settlement we had been looking for: shrouded in cloud forest, and invisible to you were literally on top of them were some 30 round stone houses of Chachapoyan design, the houses ranging from one to 3 floors, and being the only site to display all 4 chachapoyan designs. We stayed here for a while admiring the impressive views of the surrounding mountains and of the ruins themselves, before heading back down the mountains to Leymebamba.

The next day, we had to wake up early to catch a combi (like a minibus) to a small town where we could get a bus to Tingo, arriving at tingo at around 6. From here we began walking up to Nuevo Tingo where we hoped to get a taxi to Maria before continuing our walk to Kuelap, supposedly the most important Chachapoyan ruins. Only a few steps into the walk, and whilst Max was on the phone to his mum wishing her happy birthday, we got offered a lift in the back of a pick up truck heading in the right directions, we accepted and soon were headed up the perilous mountain road towards Maria. This only took us part of the way, and we had to hitch another lift to maria when we were dropped off. In Maria we had intended to walk the rest of the way supposedly taking 4 hours to Kuelap but the weather had turned bad, and we were still tired from the walk the previous days. After asking we were told "Of course, loads of cars come through here, just get any of them" this proved harder than we had originally anticipated, with no cars passing through in 1hr 45mins, then every subsequent car being full. After 2 hours a lorry came through and had space for us and about 5 women with their young children. We clambered into the back and set out on the bumpy ride our bags acting as seats for the women and children in the lorry. 45 mins later and we were at the bottom of the hill to Kuelap. We set out on the path we had been told about which was meant to take half an hour. A whole hour later and we realised we must have gone the wrong way, and decided to head back through the incessent drizzle of the cloud forest. After our 2 hour detour we decided it best just to walk up the road, and before long we were at the entrance to Kuelap where we bought our tickets for two days and headed towards Kuelap village where we hoped to stay in a hostal. On the way to the village we met, a child of about 12 on horseback who offered to put us up in his house with his mother and siblings. Wet and unsure what we were getting in for we accepted. When we arrived at his house it was a typical Peruvian cob building, with no electricity or running water. We were told that we had to pay for meals and the accomodation was done on a donation basis. At this point we had yet to see anyone over the age of 14. As they showed us our room, a dark building with a mud floor and walls...and ceiling, we squinted in the dark, and pointed out there were only two beds. Quickly the children went into another room and started dismantalling another bed and subsequently rebuilding in our room. They stuck a candle to the wall and before long there were three beds. When eventually the mother arrived and welcomed us we asked politlely if we could have a late lunch and within minutes we were given a large plate of broad beans, and some pig skin. This was all gone within minutes and yet another plate of broad beans arrived. The children were all very excited to have gringo guests, and insisted we play many rounds of their board game, before asking if we had any games. At this point Max produced his pack of cards and taught them snap, a game which they all took to very quickly. After many many rounds of snap we ate a dinner of chips, egg and rice, and played more snap in the candle light until everyone went to bed.

The next morning we woke relatively early, ate a breakfast of boiled egg and biscuits, before getting a guided tour of the ruins by the oldest of the siblings; Alejandro, 14, he gave an informative and interesting history of teh ruins of Kuelap, and afterwards returned to their house, where his mother was cooking more broad beans on the open fire in the kitchen/dining room of their house. Around us running about were chickens, chicks, cats, kittens, children, dogs and guinea pigs. They began listing all of the films they had seen (which included an aweful lot of horror films) which they had seen in the nearest city of Chachapoyas. They had seen seemingly every vampire film ever made, and asked us whether vampires existed. They were also big fans of Jackie Chan and after listing probably most of his films, the young girl of around 8 asked us whether Jackie Chan existed "¿Jackie Chan existe?" and was most suprised to find out he did, about five minuites later, their mother who was half listening in whilst cooking, turns around looks suprised and asked "¿Jackie Chan existe?". In Peru it was mothers day on the 9th of May, and the school was selling special Mothers day trout, which we had been offered and one of the children had set out on a horse to get. Meanwhile the young girl continued to monologue in quick excited spanish about everything that had ever happened in Kuelap, with none of us able to keep up with what she was saying, not even the mother. Soon after some delicious trout, broad beans, and rice we had to leave, we left a donation equal to that of a normal hostal (much to the suprise of the mother) and also donated the pack of cards as Snap! had taken over as their main form of entertainment. We set out from their house with the oldest child who was going to tingo anyway as he went to school there during the week. The walk took 2 hours down the side of the mountain taking many shortcuts through the bushes. When we were there we tried to get a car to Chachapoyas so that we could get the night bus to Huancacho and again they were mostly full. We very nearly got a lift to Huancacho direct in a lorry but unfortunatly it was full of produce. The only car we could find had both its spare tyres flat and didn´t want to risk it. Somehow eventually the guy came up to us saying he now had some tyres and would take us to Chachapoyas. In Chachapoyas he took us to the bus station where we bought our tickets, and waited for the bus. Whilst we were waiting there was a power cut, and we boarded the bus in the dark....