Bus to Pulculpa

After waiting for the bus to come for 4 hours, i was finally on the road heading to Pulculpa. A jungle city where i will find a boat to ride up the river to Iquitos. Along the way i wrote down a few descriptions of what i was seeing through the window of the long bus journey.

´Roads so narrow, only one bus passes as a line of cars, semis, and bus wait ahead. Crossing over narrow dridges with the huge brown river rushing below. The road changes quickly from paved to rocky and back again. Construction is occuring as new bridges are being built. Passing poor huts where children are playing in piles of dirt and the family cow is up in the hill eating, ignoring all the cauos around him. Following along the river, both sides of the cliffs have endless waterfalls cascading down the rocks, leading into the river. Huge boulders, as big as cars fill the base where the river flows around.

Passing thorugh rugged villages where Peruvian flaggs hang from all the buildings. Taxis and mototaxis and people are all scattered around watching the bus. We wait as the moving flow of traffic passes over the brige before we can cross. There is some sort of center plaza and a stage where 3 men are speaking out to the crowd of people. There are children in the center dressed in special costums. Some i havent seen before. All standing in line ready to perform some dance or custom. We cross over the brigde and looking down to the huge river, there are long canoe shapped boats tied up along the shore where the men are standing. Passing open front homes where people sell anything, cook, or just watch the traffic going by.

I feel like im at the top of the world. I am eye level or taller than most of the trees and it feels like my head is in the clouds. So close i can touch them. I cant tell if we are going up or down in altitude. The bus only winds back and forth along the edge of the mountains. i cant even guess what altitude we are at anymore, and look to see no more mountain tops. Only what looks like bumps of hills surrounding us as we ride from one hilltop to the next. Flush green covers everything, so much variety of trees and plants. its unbelieveable.

Only one bright5 star shines in the sky as the yellow and oranges fade down below the hills and the greens, blues, and black shadows of clouds take over the sky. out the other sides window, a faint light was growing as the moon trys to peak through the shadowed black clouds and more stars begin to fill the sky. We entered another town, i saw a sign that said Pulculpa. I asked a woman sitting across from me if this was Pulculpa. Si,Si, Yes, Yes,she says. So i grabbed my stuff and headed for the door. The doorway was filled again with men asking if i needed a taxi. I said no and walked back to get my bag from under the bus.As the guy was handing me my bag, he didnt figure it to be as heavy as it was and it feel to the ground. My quick little taxi man grabbed my bag and started to walk away. I had to chase him and stop him. He already through my bag into the back of his mototaxi and was ready to go. Si Si, hostel, hostel. I just had to laugh..I bargained the price of the moto and then off we were.

I already had a better feeling about his town and glad i left Tingo MAria. We were on the outskirts of town and took a while before getting tot he city. As we passed many restaurants, buisnesses, it almost remeinded me of the strip of Hwy 212 as you enter into my hometown Olivia from the west.

After finally finding a cheap hostel, i settled in for the night and decided to find a boat first thing in the morning.