Garage camps inevitably mean an early start but we delayed a little today to stop and wash Landy free from the thick caked on mud that we had picked up over the last couple of days. The tap water itself was a shade of orange mud that suggests it was drawn straight from the still nearby fast flowing river. But it worked and we could see our sponsors logos, number plates and lights again.
Back on the road again we stayed on the main road heading for Chachapoyas, a destination we’d picked up from the guidebook. Arriving there we found the tourist information centre, who were absolutely delighted to have someone to help and gave us a tourist map that, while not exactly an Ordnance Survey roadmap, was a considerable improvement on what we had. They also gave us some hints on camping options and at their suggestion headed out towards Kuelap.
River Utcubamba flows close to the road
With the map we could now tell we were following along the banks of the Rio Utcubamba, still boiling, roiling and broiling. The roads were back to mud tracks, close to the river, at risk of disappearing into the high and fast flowing waters, or under the rock fall from the hills to our other side.
At Tingo we stopped to treat ourselves to some sodas and sweets and were told by a local that the road to Keulap was closed due to rock falls and cars had been damaged and swept away on the hills, and it would take 2 or 3 days before anyone got through to clear the roads.
We pondered what to do. Paul’s instinct was to travel as far as we could and see what we could find. As Kuelap is high away from the river I felt relieved. A blocked road in front of us seemed a preferable option to the possibility of being engulfed by the swirling waters we would have to drive alongside if we returned the way we had come.
As with so many of these things, what you find on the road differs from the information you are given. There was evidence of some rock fall on the road. There was even evidence of some falls that had already been cleared. Occasionally we saw small amounts of mud sliding down the hills in front of us. But there were buses and small lorries and a fair few cars travelling the road in both directions and, apart from some visibility issues as we wound our way around the mountain through the cloud layers, the road was passable.
We finally reached Keulap an hour before dark where we found we were allowed to camp in the muddy car park there.
By now we were at 3,000 metres again and the temperature had dropped. This led to Paul’s first beard related injury – as he hurriedly zipped up his fleece and caught several long bristles in the zip, ripping them out of his chin. I tried to be sympathetic but I’m not sure he was too convinced as my laughter gave the game away.
