Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [412]
Oxapampa has a BCP on the main plaza and decent accommodation options.
The new Hostal Papaquëll (33-7070; Bolognesi 288; s/d S25/50) fronts the plaza. Large, comfortable rooms have chunky wooden furniture and lovely hot-water bathrooms.
D’Palma Lodge (46-2123; www.depalmalodge.com; Thomas Schauss; lodge per person S100) is extremely conducive to relaxation, set into lush hillside above town. There are several Swiss-style lodges (including three for self-caterers) and a stylishly rustic restaurant-bar. New for 2010: a swimming pool. It’s located at the end of Thomas Schauss.
Pozuzo buses run at 6am, 10am and 1pm from Oxapampa’s Plaza de Armas along a rough road. In Pozuzo, accommodation includes El Tirol, at about S30 per person including meals. Oxapampa’s pleasant bus station is eight blocks from the center on the mostly paved La Merced road. La Merced transport leaves from here, and there are also direct Lima buses in the evenings.
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PUERTO BERMÚDEZ
063 / pop 1000 / elev 500m
Looking at the huddle of dugout canoes tied up to the mud bank of the Río Pachitea flowing past sleepy Puerto Bermúdez, it is difficult to imagine that one could embark on a river journey here that would eventually lead down the Amazon to the Atlantic.
Times were not always so peaceful. The area southeast of Puerto Bermúdez is home to the Asháninka tribespeople, Peru’s largest indigenous Amazon group. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) guerrillas attempted to indoctrinate the Asháninka to become fighters. When this didn’t succeed, they tried intimidation by massacring dozens. Today it’s possible to visit the Asháninka from Puerto Bermúdez: in fact this is one of the best places in the Amazon to interact with indigenous tribes. Contact Albergue Humboldt to arrange Asháninka visits.
Located near the river, Albergue Humboldt (83-0020, 963-72-2363; www.alberguehumboldt.com; r without bathroom S15) is the best place to stay in the region. There are small rustic rooms with shared cold showers, hammocks or camping in the secure, secluded garden. There is no electricity in the mornings. Three meals, plus tea and coffee, can be had for an extra S8 to S20 per day. Chilled beer is available, as is a well-stocked book and DVD library. Hospitable Basque-born owner Jesús López de Dicastillo will arrange all manner of trekking and cultural expeditions deep into Asháninka territory with local guides from S90 per person per day, depending on group size and distance traveled and including food, boats and accommodation in simple shelters. Sometimes, you can help tribes with day-to-day activities such as boat-building. Highly recommended for budget adventurers!
The town’s main street has simple eateries and even an internet cafe.
Trucks to La Merced leave for the arduous journey daily around 6am. Continuing north the road deteriorates: erratic transportation via Ciudad Constitución, Zungaro and Puerto Inca to Pucallpa is often by truck. This trip is very rough and takes one to two days. Boats go north to Ciudad Constitución and Puerto Inca, but do not have particular schedules. Puerto Inca is the best journey breaker, with basic accommodation such as Hospedaje Brisas. During the dry season, the river may be too low for passage, and the road is the better bet. During the wet months, the road can be barely passable, and boats are better. There are no flights to Puerto Bermúdez any more – the mayor is building a town hall on the air strip instead.
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PUCALLPA
061 / pop 205,000 / elev 154m
The busy port of Pucallpa, Peru’s only jungle settlement to be connected by paved road to the rest of the country, has a distinctly less jungle-like