Day 3 (Kuelap)

Wednesday, January 17th, 2018

After a rough nights sleep in the bus, we arrived in Chachapoyas bright and early. Everyone was exhausted but we boarded a different bus to get to our hotel. I was once again rooming with Jeanne (we are always together), Vera (Germany), Olivia (Canada), Helena (France), and Phoebe (Missouri). We ate a quick breakfast of eggs and bread, before we were given a little time to change and freshen up. Before long, we had all boarded the bus so we could set out to our next destination. Before long, we arrived at the tour of the day. In order to get where we needed to go for our hike, we had to board  gondolas. I boarded along with a few other exchange students, and we glided across a river and many valleys of the Amazon Rainforest. The views were of course stunning…

After we arrived, we waited around a little bit so that the other exchange students could join us. We had been warned that the weather was very bipolar; cold, then scorching hot, and then rainy. It soon showcased this as it started to pour rain. This prompted many of the exchange students (including myself) to buy ponchos. Now prepared, the group set out on a fairly short but muddy hike to get to some ruins that were at first thought to have been a fortress. However, the ruins ended up not being able to be a fortress as their was no access to water or a holding place for water (something a fortress demands). It ended up being a settlement, with circular houses where families once had dwelled. The views from the “fortresss” were stunning, Perú never fails to amaze me with it’s natural beauty…

After the tour of Kuelap, we all took the hike back down to the gondolas. It was of course wet and muddy, but we made it all back (although I had tripped and fallen in a mud puddle earlier). By this point we were are hungry and a little grumpy, so we once again boarded the gondolas and passed through jungle once again. 

Once we arrived, we waited for the other exchange students to arrive before we headed to go eat a late lunch. We of course were eating a variety of chicken, I personally chose Pollo Saltado (which is pretty delicious). After the very late lunch, we went back to the hotel so that we could all shower. After the shower Jeanne and I initiated a dance party (kinda our thing). We had all of our roommates dancing (we even did the limbo). After this, the others went to dinner (which Jeanne and I skipped on) and to sleep.