chachapoyas, peru

Chachapoyas was recommended to us by our hostel in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. We had been told that the third tallest waterfall in the world was situated here and we were excited to see it. We were also surprised with an amazing canyon and some Incan ruins (Kuelup) which have been compared to that of Machu Picchu. We stayed in Chachapoyas longer than expected (the little town doesn't have a whooooole lot to offer) but some rain kept us there.

Valentines Day
This not-so-special day happened to fall while we were in Chachapoyas. A local invited us to attend an event that his girlfriend was organising. The ticket was a little over $4 each and included a bottle of wine. "Why the hell not," we thought, absolutely knowing that this would promise us a quality bottle of wine. The event was a good laugh. Too-loud music (we have learnt that this is to be expected in both Central and South America), Shawn getting down on one knee to Kassandra offering a single red rose in front of a crowd of people, free make-up for Kassandra and free deodorant for Shawn, a wonderful bottle wine and some OK live musical performances.


During our hike to the watefall we were treated to a few special sights and experiences. Beautiful butterflies, some of the most delicious bananas we have ever eaten, budgerigars (which was a very weird juxtaposition) and some freshly squeezed sugar-cane juice provided to us by a local family. After our sugar-cane juice we heard what we initially though was hike-ending thunder (and thus rain). However luckily it turned out to be a landslide happening just a few kilometers away. It was a pretty cool thing to see as it happened!