From Chachapoyas to Cuenca- via taxi, tuk tuk, combi, tuk tuk, minivan, tuk tuk, taxi, ranchero, taxi and bus.

Yep that’s how many vehicle changes it took to get from Chachapoyas to Cuenca. First up was a terrifyingly fast taxi ride from Chachapoyas to Bagua Grande, through scenery that would have been beautiful had it not been whizzing past at the speed of light. In Bagua we tuk-tukked (I think I just created a new verb!) to the other end of town to get a combi to Jaen; it was the fastest combi fill-up in history and we were on our way again in five minutes, driving through verdant green rice paddys and banana plantations.

 

 In Jaen we piled out of the combi and into another tuk-tuk, crossing town for the “terminal” to San Ignacio. Another speedy changeover and we were on our way. We arrived in San Ignacio about 2pm and although we’d been told we couldn’t make it over the border in one day, we decided to give it a shot. Yet another tuk tuk took us to the northern terminal and after an hour or so we had four people to share a taxi to La Balsa. Roadworks meant that the 2 hour drive took almost four- we were sweating it a little by 6pm, since the last ranchero departed the Ecuadorian side of the border at 7pm, but our luck held out.

In La Balsa the power had gone out, so the immigration officer borrowed our torch to inspect our passports. We walked across the border and made it with just enough time to change our soles into dollares and buy our first Ecuadorian beer, before the ranchero (a fancy name for a truck with wooden benches on the tray) rocked up to take us to Zumba (Zoe Morris, I thought of you).

The next morning we were back at the bus terminal ay 8am, only to find out that the bus to Loja had left at 7am. We settled in to wait for the 10am bus, only to be told that there was a Agencia Nacional de Transito taxi that would take us for just a few dollars more than the bus!! This turned out to be a blessing since the road was worse than shit, and the government taxi agency is equipped with brand spanking new yellow four wheel drives!

On arrival in Loja we jumped out of the car in the pissing rain and jumped on a city bus to take us to the terminal. We arrived just after 2pm and lo and behold, there was a 2:30pm bus to take us the last four hours to Cuenca.

Phew. Ten vehicles, two days, 650km. Time to chill in Cuenca J