Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [380]
MUSEO LEIMEBAMBA
The mummies found at Laguna de los Cóndores are now being studied in the Museo Leimebamba (www.museoleymebamba.org; adult S10; 9:30am-4:30pm Tue-Sun), located 3km south of town. The museum is in a wonderfully constructed complex with multi-tiered roofs, all generously funded by the Austrian Archaeological Society. Most of the mummies are wrapped in bundles and can be seen in glass cases; some have been unwrapped for your gruesome viewing pleasure. Well-presented artifacts on display include ceramics, textiles, wood figures and photos of Laguna de los Cóndores.
Kentikafé (www.museoleymebamba.org/kentikafe.htm; admission S10; 9:30am-4:30pm Tue-Sun), just a short stroll across the street and up the hill, is owned by an Austrian member of the team that built the museum. Perched on a hill with views of the museum and valley below, Kentikafé maintains about a dozen feeders visited by the Marvelous Spatuletail Hummingbird (Click here) and 16 other hummingbird species – they drink some 5kg of sugar per day! You can lie in wait for glimpses of the Spatuletail while sipping super-fresh gourmet coffee and homemade cakes.
Tours & Guides
Local guides (inquire at the museums) will arrange trips to the tombs and various other sites; some are easily visited on a day trip, while others require several days. Homer Ullilen, the son of the owner of the Albergue Turístico de la Laguna de los Cóndores (Amazonas 320), can guide you to sites near their land. Expect to pay around S30 per day for a guide (not including food) and S18 to S30 for horses.
Sleeping & Eating
One of the better cheapies in town, Hotel Escobedo (Calle 16 de Julio 514; s/d without bathroom S9/27) has rickety wooden rooms. Further along the same street, Albergue Turístico de la Laguna de los Cóndores (Amazonas 320; s S40/66, s/d without bathroom S15/30), located half a block from the plaza, is a family-run affair with a verdant courtyard and lots of comfortable sitting areas draped in thick, colorful blankets. They have hot showers, cozy rooms and tours of the area can be arranged from here. La Casona (83-0106; Amazonas 221, s/d S18/12) has polished floors in its neat rooms and new bathrooms with electric hot water. Some rooms have little balconies looking onto the quiet, cobblestoned street below. There’s also a small restaurant at La Casona.
On the plaza, LucyBell (menús S4-6; 7am-10pm) does one of the better menús in town and attracts roast-chicken lovers. Cely’s Pizza (La Verdad 530; pizzas S6-14; 6:30am-10:30pm) does perfectly respectable pizza, as well as a bunch of Peruvian dishes.
Shopping
AMAL (San Augustine 429; 9am-6pm) Located on the plaza, AMAL is a women’s artisan cooperative selling top-grade handicrafts and local weavings.
Getting There & Away
Minibuses for Chachapoyas leave frightfully early – at 3am and 5am (S27, three to four hours) – from a signed areas on the plaza. Reserve a seat the night before. A taxi to Chachapoyas costs S80. The two weekly buses to Chachapoyas (S27, three to four hours) from Celendín pass through at about 5pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. In the reverse direction, heading toward Celendín (S18, seven to nine hours), they pass at about 10pm on Mondays, 7am on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and about 9am on Sundays. Occasional trucks and private vehicles pick up paying passengers to Chachapoyas and Celendín.
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PEDRO RUÍZ
041 / elev 1400m
This dusty transit town sits at the junction of the Chiclayo–Tarapoto road and the turnoff to Chachapoyas. When traveling from Chachapoyas, you can board east- or west-bound buses here. The pick of the sorry hotels in Pedro Ruíz is the Casablanca Hotel (83-0135; s/d S9/13.50), by the road junction, but try to get a room away from the noisy highway. Hostal Amazonense is cheaper, simpler and, more often than not, closed.
Buses from the coast pick up passengers heading to Rioja or Moyobamba (S18 to S24, five hours) and Tarapoto (S22 to S27, seven hours). Several come through daily, but they may be crowded.