When people say they’re going to Peru they normally mean Cusco and Machu Picchu. However, Peru is a large country with many more destinations. The north of Peru has the nicest beaches the country has to offer, however, I’m more of an adventure seeker so I looked around and came across Chachapoyas. Located to the east of the Andes and approaching the Amazon, this developing town has many hikes and activities in its vicinity. The problem is that the town is quite remote, making it a little tricky to reach within Peru and even more challenging from Quito. It is possible though and it takes 2 nights, 3 days, and 3 coaches. After looking up some routes, I found that the most convenient was via the Tumbes border due to its opening hours. With this in mind, I formulated the following route:
- Quito
- Cuenca
- Chiclayo
- Chachapoyas
Quito to Cuenca
The Quito to Cuenca coach ticket cost 12 USD1 and we purchased this a couple of days before departure at the Terminal Terrestre Quitumbe; the southern bus terminal of Quito. The terminal is modern and well organized, but as anywhere in South America, be alert at all times of your belongings as scammers and thieves roam the terminal. The ticket stalls are organized by regions so you can easily find the row of stalls to purchase a ticket for your destination. There are several bus companies which go to the same destinations so you can take a look and choose. Since we were going during the day, we got a ticket for a coach with standard seats that recline 120 degrees. Also, note that there is an additional fee for using the terminal. If memory serves me correctly, it costs 0.40 USD and it is paid in cash only after presenting your ticket to the terminal employee when entering the boarding area. There are many platforms and coaches so you will have to ask which one goes to your destination. The journey is a long one; we left at 8 am and arrived in Cuenca at around 5 pm. The coach made one stop for a toilet break at a petrol station near Alausi. The views are amazing as the route goes through ‘Volcano Avenue’ and the skies cleared up for us to see two of Ecuador’s biggest volcanos; Cotopaxi and Chimborazo.
Cuenca to Chiclayo
Once at Cuenca, we went looking for coach tickets to Chiclayo. The Cuenca terminal is older and not as organized so it was difficult to find the bus companies that went to Chiclayo. We were able to find two but one was sold out and we were lucky enough to get the last two seats from the other company. Tickets cost 23 USD with Super Simera for standard 120-degree seats and came with a packed meal (sandwich, biscuits, and a drink) that they distributed when on the journey. The bus company lets you leave your luggage in a locked storage room which we took advantage of since our bus was scheduled to leave at 10.30 pm. There are several restaurants in the terminal, but most of them were closed so we decided to venture outside in search of food. The area, however, felt rather unsafe so we went into the first place we saw. Once we were done, we headed to the waiting area in the terminal which has benches and tables. This terminal also has a usage fee which I believe was also 0.40 USD. For this one, you pay it at a machine which prints out a receipt that you present to the terminal employee. The journey to the border takes about 3h30. Crossing the border to Peru is a two-step process. First, the coach stops at the Ecuadorian side where everyone gets off, queues up for the Ecuadorian exit stamp, then boards the bus again. Once everyone is back on, the coach drives to the Peruvian side where everyone gets off again, queues up for the Peruvian entry stamp, and then boards the bus once again. The customs officials ask a couple of questions mainly about the duration of your stay and travel plans. Since it was the middle of the night, there aren’t many officials on duty making it a lengthy process as there are several coaches at the border. It took around 3 hours for us to get through and back enroute for Chiclayo. The remainder of the journey took about 8 hours and we were in Chiclayo around 1 pm.
A day in Chiclayo and onwards to Chachapoyas
Chiclayo has several ‘bus terminals’ and we arrived at the main one called Terrapuerto Plaza Norte. This terminal is small and quite run down. When we got there, several of the ticket stalls were closed and we were swarmed with drivers offering their services. We thought the locals would know best so asked a moto-taxi driver where we could buy tickets for Chachapoyas. He mentioned another terminal around the corner and we made the mistake of trusting him. We asked him to take us to an ATM first since we had no Peruvian currency. He took us to BBVA and this ATM charged us 6 USD to take money out. Just to make our first Peruvian experience worse, the moto-taxi’s brakes broke and the driver was going slow because of it. On the way back he even stopped at a mechanic to get them fixed so it took us 1 hour to get to our destination instead of the 30 minutes it would have taken. When he dropped us off at the terminal, he wanted to charge us 25 soles! We settled for 15 which is still outrageous in Peru. Now at the terminal, he recommended a coach company called Fropesa and we asked if they went to Chachapoyas. They said yes so we bought tickets for 35 PEN (15 USD) leaving at 9 pm. However, when I looked at the ticket it said Pedro Ruiz as the destination. I asked again to confirm if it goes to Chachapoyas and again he said yes. Note that I am fluent in Spanish so there is no language barrier here. It was only minutes before boarding the bus that I was informed that Pedro Ruiz is an hour away from Chachapoyas and that I would need to pay for a Combi to take me the rest of the way. Now it was too late to buy another ticket so I had no choice but to take this coach and then the Combi.
We finished buying the tickets at around 2 pm so we decided to go looking for a SIM card in the town. We tried some shops but they only sold top-ups and said we could find them at the plaza/parks. The shopkeeper gave us directions to Parque Las Fuentes and indeed there were people walking around selling SIM cards. We bought a Movistar SIM for 5 PEN with 5 PEN top-up included. Then we bought a Claro SIM for 5 PEN but no top-up. Each operator has its own pre-pay deal like 7 days which includes some megabytes and unlimited social media. You need to have credit on your SIM and then choose the plan by dialing a code on the SIM package and go through the on-screen options. SIM cards need to be activated and you need to be a resident to do this but the street vendors sold us pre-activated ones since we didn’t live there. Now that we had internet on our phones, we walked around the town and headed to a shopping center for some food. With a couple more hours until our coach left, we decided to catch a movie at the shopping center Real Plaza. The journey from Chiclayo to Pedro Ruiz was long and we got there around 5 am. There were several Combis waiting when we got off and it cost 5 PEN for the 1-hour ride to Chachapoyas. The Combis are 12+ seater minivans and they tie your luggage on the roof of the vehicle. The Combi drops you off at the town entrance on the highway so it’s a 30-minute uphill walk to the town center. Next time I would pay extra for a more comfortable coach. Movil Tours is well known and reasonably priced coach company which services the Chiclayo-Chachapoyas route.
