Day 389 – Chachapoyas to Chiclayo
Viewpoints of Canon del Sonche
Today we had a self prepared breakfast before checking out form Chachapoyas Backpackers Hostel. We were able to leave our backpacks in the hostel’s common room. We have purchased night bus tickets to the town of Chiclayo, which is over 400km away from Chachapoyas. Since it was a night bus, we had the entire day to do something.
Getting to Canon del Sonche
We decided to visit Canon del Sonche. This involved getting an collectivo to Mirador del Sonche. The collectivo terminal is located separate from the main collectivo terminal. The collectivo costs 3 PEN ($1.32 AUD) per person (p/p). We only had to wait 10 minutes until the collectivo was full.
Collectivo Terminal
The 20 minute drive went through rural roads. We first stopped at the plaza of a small town. The second stop was at Mirador del Sonche.
Mirador del Sonche
The entrance fee is 3 PEN ($1.32 AUD) p/p.
Afterwards, there was a small uphill walk to the canyon edge. There is a viewpoint tower and a few balconies to view the epic canyon. The breeze is fresh, and the valley looks super deep.
After looking at a pathway on the MAPS.ME app, we decided to walk along the edge of the canyon. We walked around 40 minutes, through rougher and rougher terrain. We finally came across the rear end of a prison. There was still a pathway, but it suddenly stopped. This viewpoint should have been in sight by now, but there was nothing but a cliff face. Therefore we turned back.
Back at the actual viewpoint, Mirador del Sonche we had a packed lunch. Part of that lunch was a muesli bar from the company Nature Valley. I was shocked to see that it was “Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering.” Sounds natural to me.
Mirador Huanca Urco
From Mirador del Sonche, we decided to go to Mirador Huanca Urco. As we left Mirador del Sonche, we saw a collectivo leaving, but it was full. So we walked back to the main square of the small town to wait around. After 20 minutes, we decided to walk ourselves.
Sign age along the way, stated that the viewpoint was only 4km away.
As we followed the road, we ended up walking past the front of the prison we had seen before. After walking for 20 minutes, we arrived at the ticket counter to Mirador Huanca Urco. Again entrance cost 3 PEN ($1.32 AUD) p/p.
Unfortunately there was another 30 minute of walking uphill to the viewpoint.
The views from Huanca Urco are similar to Sonche. They are still very nice. There is actually an archaeological site 100m away, but since a collectivo had arrived at the car park, we decided to skip this. The collectivo ride back to Chachapoyas took less than 30 minutes and cost 5 PEN ($2.20 AUD) p/p.
Back in Chachapoyas
Back in Chachapoyas, we had a nice and early dinner at Cafe Fusiones. Then we headed back to the hostel, where we were able to pay 5 PEN ($2.20 AUD) to use the shower facilities.
The sun sets on our time in Chachapoyas
After this, we walked to the Movilbus Terminal. We had purchased our tickets 2 days ago using the Red Bus Mobile App. The tickets cost us 39 PEN ($17.19 AUD) p/p. We saw signs at the terminal stating that the tickets would cost 55 PEN ($24.24 AUD) p/p.
They weighed our bags, which came to 33kg between us.
The bus was scheduled for 8pm. We boarded the bus at 7.50pm and started moving at 8.05pm. We were also provided with a small dinner of rice and chicken an hour into the trip, which was unexpected. All in all, we were happy with the bus as we drifted asleep.