Chachapoyas to Yurimaguas - The Amazon experience begins

Chachapoyas to Pedro Ruiz

We were really excited to experience the Amazon basin and decided to do it in the Pacaya Samiria Reserve near Lagunas, Peru. Its on the way to Iquitos and is an immense national reserve that doesn't get the attention it deserves. Navigating this part of Peru needs a lot of time and patience. Timings are never quite what you expect - its all + or - half a day. Thats how this part of the world rolls. There is beauty in it and we learned to appreciate it in time.

Highlights:

Chacha to Pedro Ruiz - 2 hrs and 10s/person by collectivo

Pedro Ruiz to Yurimaguas - 50 soles/person in a/c bus. Buy tickets from travel offices on main road. 

Pedro Ruiz is a small town that is 2 hours from Chachapoyas and it is only from here that one can go to Yurimaguas. Now is about where you need to start going with the flow - stock up yourself with snacks, drinks and reading material and let the Amazonian world unfold around you at its own pace.

Once we reached Pedro Ruiz, it was about 7 pm in the evening. The main road where you will get off the collectivo is lined with tourist offices and you can enquire for bus tickets here. Once you buy them, you will need to find a place to eat. One look at the dusty, remote town and I was sure there would be nothing vegetarian here. But Swami, ever the optimist, decided to ask. I had made up my mind that he would get recommendations for pasta or rice, but I was completely confounded when a local answered to S's question: "vegetarian food? of course, walk that way and there is a restaurant.". When I pressed him for the name of the resto, I got a reply "solo restaurante vegetariano". Needless to say, we discovered that EVERYONE in that remote, Peruvian town, knew this place! I absolutely cannot remember how to get to this place. But I can tell you, if you find yourself in Pedro Ruiz, give yourself a chance and ask the locals where to find "Restaurante Vegetariano". Update: I do have a picture of the restaurant, absolutely go here!

Vegetarian restaurant in Pedro Ruiz, Peru: Restaurante Monte Sinai

soy saltado in Pedro Ruiz

Pedro Ruiz to Yurimaguas

We boarded the bus to Yurimaguas, it cost us 50 soles each. It was really late and we ended up sitting next to the driver in the spare driver's seats. I think they took the bunk beds right behind us. Once a few seats cleared up, we went back into the bus. The bus had a flat tire and we reached Yuri at least 5 hours late! Welcome to the Amazon.

Yurimaguas is a river town and not a place for sightseeing. We checked into hotel Rio Huallaga, which is the river the town is situated on, as they had very inexpensive dorm beds that no one else was using. Very clean though! Yuri also has a nice chifa that looks the town's only fine dining place. Just ask "Donde esta chifa grande, and someone will tell you".

For those who want to do an amazon jungle trip in Pacaya Samiria, Yurimaguas is the cheapest way to do it. It is much more expensive from Iquitos. From here, you will go by boat to Lagunas and there you will commence your Amazon basin jungle trip. We don't actually see the Amazon river until we are in Iquitos, but this is the Amazon basin.

In Yurimaguas, remember to do the following:

• Buy snacks (plenty of it) and some food for the boat trip to Lagunas next day. No vegetarian food on the boats. We packed tomatoes, avocado and bread and made our own sandwiches.
• ATM - the last ATM until you reach Iquitos. Get enough money for the Amazon trip, which costs ~100 soles/person/day. This was a great deal in 2011, so expect to pay more!
• Hammocks and a lunch box - you absolutely need a hammock. The boats do not come with hammocks nor do they provide plates/spoons for your food, if you choose to eat there. We bought hammocks and boxes for our food. Even if you plan to not eat, it is easy to keep things like bread or just get some rice.

Chachapoyas - a hidden gem in Northern Peru!

I know tons of people who go to Peru every year. With one of the world's top most attractions to see in Southern Peru (Macchu Picchu, I am looking at you!) northern Peru doesnt get much of a chance. Especially when its way out in the middle of nowhere. We discovered that Northern Peru is our favorite part of Peru, thanks to a gem called Chachapoyas. To get to Chacha from Ecuador or elsewhere in Peru is no easy task. Check out my previous post  about how to get here.

Chacha is located amidst some beautiful natural scenery. Its the base if you want to visit Kuelap ruins and Gocta falls. We stayed at the kind and friendly Hotel Amazonas on the main plaza (just walk around it once and you'll find it) @ 40 soles/night (private room + bathroom).

Highlights of Chachapoyas:

Market scene

Gotca Falls

Purple corn - maiz morada

Fruit bounty in the market

spotted! soya milk

Plaza de armas - Chachapoyas

A ubiquitous juice shop in the market -  The quinoa drink here is very good

•  Super laid back main square with really friendly people. We would get stopped every now and then by a curious local wanting to know more about us. By the end of our stay there, we were greeting people with holas every time we went to the square.
• We met Diana, the bollywood fan. She was helping her friend sell some jewelry and she jumped with delight when she saw us. She was eager to tell us that she loved Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerjee and Kajol.
• We met a school teacher, who likes to visit the plaza every day in the evening. We even got interviewed for the local paper by his reporter friend.
• 2 vegetarian restaurants and a superb market selling the freshest of produce. See my blog post here.
• Finding vegan cookies at the mini mart on the plaza and other goodies. See the map in the link above for more info. What a delightful mini mart!
• We got lost in Chacha's market. There is a spice vendor there who will sell various spice mixes, freshly mixed.
• The Peru Tourism Office on the main plaza is a great find. They are a nation wide tourism chain and have fantastic maps. They speak very good english and will call other offices to find specific information for you.
• The spicy sauce in Las Rocas restaurant on the main plaza. Very friendly owner!
• Totally safe and muy tranquillo.
• Base for the wonderful Kuelap ruins, which is a beautiful ruin.

Cost Facts:

• Day trips to Kuelap cost 50 soles/person and includes lunch and a guide. Book at Turismo Explorer on the main plaza.
• Day trips to Gocta falls cost 60 soles/person, incl. lunch and guide. (vegetarian options available). In fact, lunch was really tasty!

Salento, Colombia Travel Guide

I never get tired of repeating this. Salento, Colombia was one of the highlights of our South America trip. The verdant valleys, long walks, the day trip to an eco farm and the warm hospitality of the La Serrana hostel are enough to make any traveler happy. Here are a few drawings that I drew showing what is where in Salento, Colombia. I love drawing little maps in my notebook. 

Here is how to get to Salento. Its not exactly on the main road or a routine stop with plenty of buses going to it. Its tucked away and we have heard stories of robberies in that stretch.

Best way to get here: take the bus to Armenia (get there before 8 PM) and take a mini bus to Salento. You could get off at the midway point shown below, but only if you are in a group and its daylight.

A little map of Salento. The viewpoint on the top of the hill is really pretty and has a swing! Jesus Martin coffee is not to be missed too.

The really beautiful Valle De Cocora:

If you are only interested in a good view of the palms and not a long hike, the follow the road from where the jeep drops you for another 10 minutes and turn into the black gate on the right. A bit further you will find excellent views for photos. Walk however long you want and return. The rest of the hike is quite beautiful, but the wax palms are only visible towards the end.

Ecuador-Peru Border Crossing at Zumba/San Ignacio/La Balsa

Of all the border crossings to enter Peru from Ecuador, this is probably the least traveled route. It is also the longest and quite tricky and requires a good deal of patience. Plus point though is that it is very scenic, no one fleeced us and it was like an adventure.

Highlights:

• (all costs are for two people)
• Overnight bus from Vilcabamba to Zumba in 6 hours - $13
• Collectivo or taxi to La Balsa (border village) $18
• Cross the border to Peru
• Take a collectivo to San Ignacio 28 soles
• Take a moto taxi in San Ignacio to the terminal for a mini bus to Jaen
• Mini bus to Jaen costs 24 soles
• Stay at Hotel Jaen - 40 soles for a private room with bathroom
• Next day morning - collective to Bagua Grande - 12 soles
• Another collective to Chachapoyas - 42 soles
• Pack plenty of snacks. There is no food in any of the stops along the way, especially vegetarian. I recommend bread, cookies and the likes.

Vilcabamba to La Balsa, Ecuador

This border crossing was the nearest to Vilcabamba and its valley of longevity. After a really relaxing meal of locally produced Tofu at Vilcabamba, we walked to the bus stop to board our 10.30 PM overnight bus to Zumba. The trip ended up taking over 10 hours instead of the usual 6 hours because there was a road block due to landslide along the way. Since the bus couldn't go anywhere and no one would clear the remote mountain road in the middle of the night, the driver turned off the engine and went to sleep! There were only a handful of people in the bus.

Waiting for the road block to be cleared:

Because of this delay, we reached Zumba at 8 AM and missed an earlier collective that goes to the border, La Balsa. We were tired and hungry when we got off. Finally we brokered a deal with the taxi driver to take us to a place for breakfast and then on to the border. The bus terminal at Zumba was so spanking new that restrooms were not yet open to the public. There was one restaurant, but they didn't have any usual breakfast items. But they did have a tourist booth, where we were handed tourist maps and ostensibly made to sign the tourist register.

The new terminal at Zumba:

Enroute from Zumba to La Balsa:

The taxi driver took us to a spotless little restaurant with an equally clean bathroom, where we got a chance to freshen up and eat. Zumba is very scenic and so untouched. The taxi ride to the border was fun and roads weren't great, but the driver chatted with us the entire way and played his favorite music from a little pen drive. We passed a checkpoint where a cop checked out our passports and then we arrived at 'La Balsa'. La Balsa is a street with a few shops and the immigration building. Just beyond is a bridge that goes to the Peruvian side. There are a few exchange shops, a couple of stalls to buy snacks. The immigration building is like a small store and was locked when we walked up to it. Yes, locked! After a few minutes, a guy with full army gear slowly walked up to us and gave us a cheerful grin. He said hello and proceeded to open the locked door to the office. He stamped us out and we were on our way in less than a minute. When we walked to the border-bridge, it was quite empty with no tourist in sight.

Immigration officer fully decked out in army gear:

Spotted: in the Peruvian immigration police checkpoint - Taj Mahal on the calendar

Onwards to the Peruvian Side and Jaen

The Peruvian side seemed even more relaxed. A group of people were standing and chatting. We blithely walked up to them and asked for the way to the immigration office. One guy seperated from the group and nodded his head towards a small building. We then noticed the text on his jacket "migracion". He stamped us in and sent us to the police booth across the street about 100 meters away. This immigration guy even helped us get a cab to San Ignacio.

I had to hold this cute Peruvian baby in the collectivo while the mom sorted out her things. She just got in, placed the baby on my lap with a smile and started settling herself and then took the baby back.

Collectivo to Jaen:

• After two collectivo rides, we finally reached Jaen. Be careful about prices you pay everywhere. Make sure you agree on a price before hand.
• In Jaen, try Hotel Jaen or Hotel Cesar on the main road close to the bus stand. Bargain for hotel rooms.
• Jaen has a chifa where we got vegetarian food. We also noticed a vegetarian restaurant, but it was closed.
• After dinner, we walked to the plaza de armas in Jaen. It is very pleasantly crowded and fun to people watch.

Jaen to Chachapoyas, Peru

We needed a break from the non stop monotony of collectivos. The night stay at Jaen did the trick. After breakfast at a coffee shop in the morning, we took a collectivo from near the bus stand to Bagua Grande (6 soles per person, ~ 3 hrs). Bagua Grande was hot and dusty with nothing to eat. We found a collectivo to Chachapoyas, but had to wait for it to fill up before we could leave. 21 soles per person, ~ 2 hours. Pack food and drinks in Jaen.

Finally in Chachapoyas:

How much does backpacking in South America cost for a couple?

Whenever the topic of long term travel comes up, a lot of people are curious about how much it costs. Long term travel has the reputation of being really expensive, versus say, living at one place for the same duration of time. However, we found out that compared to living at one place, paying rent and utilities and eating out, its not that much more expensive. It could even cost the same or less, depending on your lifestyle! The big difference, however, is the fact that you are earning a steady income while at home and unless you are a really talented writer or one of those people with really flexible remote consulting jobs, your income on the road takes a hit.

I thought I'd dispel some myths about how long term travel is not so far reaching after all, by sharing some real numbers about how much our four-month-south-america trip actually cost. Here is a high level overview:

From the time we started our trip at the airport in the USA, including the airfare and travel insurance, we spent a total of $13952 over a period of 133 days. I have dissected the cost in a couple of different ways below and all figures are for two people and in USD in the year 2011-2012.

Cost By Category

Airfares (both to and fro and within South America) - 2,947
Food (includes groceries) - 2,143
Trip insurance (the best money we ever spent)  - 756
Post-Loss - replacement passports, replacement American visas, new airfares as we had to reschedule old flights - 1,575
Miscellaneous - 437
Shopping - 347
Sightseeing - (also includes the cost for 14 nights of stay due to various trips and treks) - 1,637
Stay - (Does not include stays incorporated as a part of multi day trips with stay-included fares) - 1,974
Transportation (non-plane and includes several overnight buses and one overnight train) - 1,747
Visas - 390
Grand Total - 13,952

If we hadn't lost our backpack in Calama, Chile, we would have saved at least $1575. We also lot a lost more in sheer value of goods lost. This cost is only for TRIP INTERRUPTION, which is the extra amount we spent only for identification documents and rescheduled air fares. I am not even counting the money spent in food and shelter or transportation to two different embassies.

Cost By Country (ONLY includes categories: food, miscellaneous, shopping, sightseeing, stay and transportation)

Bolivia - 693 in 24 days @ $29/day
Chile - 2,703 in 30 days @ $90/day
Colombia - 1,630 in 26 days @ $63/day
Ecuador - 1,183 in 22 days @ $54/day
Peru - 1,886 in 31days @ $61/day
Total for basic travel expenses - 8095 in 133 days @ $61/day

Lowest Hotel rate per night - $4 for a very clean lake view basic room on the shores of Isla Del Sol, Bolivia

Highest hotel rate per night - $81 at La Casa De Mireya in San Pedro De Atacama, Chile

Average hotel rate per night - $21

Average hotel rate per night if we didn't stay in Chile - $17

Number of ATM withdrawals - 49

Amount in ATM fees - $78 (all refunded back to us thanks to an excellent debit card)

Since we lost our stuff our morale was a bit on the lower side and we were really busy collecting documentation for replacing our belongings, we were less diligent about tracking our expenses in Bolivia. Even if I padded my expenses in Bolivia by a generous 10%, the cost per day will still only go up to ~ $33/day and thats for two people.

How did we travel?

These numbers dont mean a lot unless they impart some sense of how we travel. For lodging, we usually chose hostels or small family run guesthouses. In expensive cities, we went with bunk beds and while mostly we had private rooms. In Bolivia and Peru, we almost always had a private room with a private/shared bathroom.

We cooked a lot at hostels, got groceries such as bread, fruit, vegetables, rice and pasta. However, whenever we spotted a vegetarian restaurant, we had at least one meal there. We heavily favored Hare Krishna restaurants in the cities for their reasonably priced, vegan friendly, set lunches. In Bolivia, we ate a lot at markets as you could coffee, bread, juice and api (corn meal porridge) at really low prices.

Transportation - almost always public buses/metros and collectivos. We took taxis when we had to go to bus stand or airport to go to a different city. Long distance buses were mostly semi cama or sometimes cama (fully reclined seats).

Sightseeing - apart from the jungle trips and treks, we mostly organized our own tours. We took public buses to places of attraction and did our own 'sightseeing'. However, sometimes we'd book a tour from the hostel if its convenient and includes transport and fees.

Travel Logistics - Backpacks and Luggage

Months before, no years before, our adventure commenced, I obsessed over what to take with us - we bought our backpacks 3 years before we actually left. We ended up using it quite well by taking it with us everywhere we went. However, the reality is that our views and perspectives change so much over a period of time, I have decided that what pack to take and what to put in it are not worth agonizing over.

When we first selected our backpacks, we endlessly thought and considered between a hiking backpack (top loading) and a travel backpack (front loading). After hours of research, we finally bought the Eagle Creek Explorer LT (Men and Women's) at the price of $250 each. These packs are no longer produced, but they last to this day and are extremely practical and worth the money.

Somewhere along the way, we started enjoying multi day hikes as well and got ourselves hiking backpacks too, so we had a choice in what we could take with us on our trip.

Niru's main backpack - Eagle Creek Explorer LT Women's version; 50 Litres. Front loading travel pack. No longer under production. Comes with matching 15L day pack, which I did not take, much to my regret.
Niru's other bag - Ebags Piazza day bag. I also carry a foldable REI day pack in my bag. This is a great bag and is very useful for just around town. Can hold a small water bottle, a note book, a kindle and other essentials.
Swami's main backpack - Gregory Z55 top loading hiking backpack
Swami is also carrying an REI daypack and a small camera bag.

Hiking Backpack vs Travel Backpack while travel backpacking

You may agonize over this endlessly, but in reality, it will not matter what you take. It needs to be something that is comfortable to carry with wide hip belts and good quality shoulder belts. Travel backpacks are easier to pack, but with packing cubes organization is much easier. Hiking packs can take more things than a travel pack - as you tend to stuff more into them and they end up being heavier. They are also easier when your trip involves a multi day trek and you need to carry camping equipment. I carried a travel backpack and Swami carried a hiking backpack - neither of us regret our choice even though we did city travel and multi day hikes.

Daypack - what worked and what didn't

We made some not so great choices in this department. Swami's daypack + camera bag combo did not work for all the gadgets he was carrying (gadgets - a topic by itself). The camera bag shoulder strap dug into his shoulders and did not work well with his main pack. In Colombia we ended up getting another big day pack, which eventually got stolen.

I too found the REI day pack very difficult to pack and take on day trips. If I had to do this differently, I would just take the day pack that came with my eagle creek. Somewhere under 20 litres with pockets for small stuff and one big pocket for big stuff will work really well, especially when the day pack is the stand along luggage (for example: Inca Jungle Trek, where we only took a day pack).

Packing Cubes and other accessories

Packing cubes ROCK! These are our favorite travel accessories. We find the small size and long size ones to be very useful to stuff inside backpacks. I also carried one medium size packing cube in my backpack.

Size of Backpack

We saw a lot of folks carrying enormous backpacks. Ours was one of the smaller ones out there and was often remarked for its size. I found 50 litres to be quite big as I could carry quite a few things in it and found the weight bothersome. In Quito, we shipped quite a few things home and donated some of our clothes too. I found that I could easily have managed with a 40-45 litre backpack and a 15-20 litre daypack.

Where to stay in South America

We loved most of the hostels we stayed in South America. I added a page with a list of hostels we stayed in.

Our prerequisites:

• clean beds and bathrooms
• wifi
• kitchen to cook meals
• not a party hostel with teenagers and early 20 somethings

We would choose a dorm room or a private room depending on the price. In big cities, we tended to go towards dorm rooms (4-bed dorms), while in countries like Peru and Bolivia, we almost entirely stayed in private rooms.

You can find the list of hotels/hostels here.

Otavalo's Saturday Market

I was really looking forward to Otavalo's saturday market. I had read somewhere that its South America's largest outdoor market and boy, its huge. There are rows and rows of stalls spread out across the entire town on Saturdays, filled with tourists of all shapes, sizes and nationalities. Bargaining doesnt work well at all and I suspect this is due to most tourists paying whats asked for. Stalls sell really beautiful scarves, beaded jewelry, purses and bags of all shapes and sizes

Getting there:

We went to the Otavalo from Tulcan at the Colombia-Ecuador border. Cross the border at Ipiales and arrive on Ecuadorian side. Get a collective for 75 cents to Tulcan. From the Tulcan bus stop, a bus to Otavalo will cost approximately $3 for a 3 hour ride. Pay the fare after you see the bus and make sure it looks okay. As you approach the bus stop, you will be approached by bus company agents asking you if Otavalo is your destination.

Stay:

In Otavalo, we stayed at Hostal Valle Del Amanecer on Calle Roca y Quiroga. Its a nice little place with clean bathrooms, no kitchen, good breakfast and a shaded central courtyard to sit and relax. Saturday is the best day to experience the market and the animal market (which we did not get to see). Go prepared with plenty of change and will power - you'll need it if you dont want to shop too much.

Otavalo is home to a successful indigenous community who still pride on their traditional ways. You'll find otavalenos wearing traditional clothing, super cool bead jewelry and travelling in really modern cars. Multiple strings of golden beads are really common:

Stalls selling really beautiful and colorful art:

Not just home decor, but also incredibly fresh looking produce:

Irresistible pink cheeked babies:

Our Ecuador Summary

Ecuador is a bite sized delight that is maximum on flavor. For such a small country, you have the ocean, the Andes, the Galapagos, the amazonia, some action at Baños, some slow time at Vilcabamba and the colonial town experience in Cuenca.

After an interesting border crossing experience from Ipiales in Colombia, we made it to Ecuador just before new years eve. We planned to arrive in Otavalo on Friday evening, just in time to enjoy and experience the Saturday market - which is one of Ecuador's most famous attractions next to the Galapagos Islands. Otavalo's incredibly colorful and vibrant Saturday market is a dangerous proposition for long term backpackers as the market is insanely tempting and you'll have to carry all the stuff with you while you travel.

From Otavalo, we took the 2 hour bus ride to the capital city of Quito. We didnt plan on doing very much here. Just lie low, take it easy through the slow holiday weekend and plan the rest of our stay in Ecuador. We did walk around old town quite a bit and ended up eating Indian food after a long long time!

Just south of Quito is Latacunga, which is a convenient base for some volcano climbing (Cotopaxi!) or the less travelled 'Quilotoa Loop'. The Quilotoa loop is literally the road less travelled. Buses to this area ply only once or twice a day. And to get back to Latacunga from here, you might even have to wake up at 4AM to catch a milk truck back to town! A lot of people just walk the loop, stopping at villages along the way to spend the night. The star attraction here though is the Quilotoa lake, Ecuador's away-from-the-tourist-trail crater lake.

We spent 2 nights on the Quilotoa loop and then headed back to Latacunga for our trip South.

Just south of Latacunga is Ecuador's adventure capital Baños. We ended up loving Baños so much that we stayed there for a week. Baños has a lot going for it - very reasonably priced adventure activities (rafting, zip lining, paragliding, biking, bridge jumping, volcano climbing etc.), but its also home to some cheap spa massages and many vegetarian friendly restaurants run by its sizable expatriate population. We stayed at the super friendly Princessa Maria hostel which boasted a pretty nice kitchen and was right next door to a lovely market, so we ended up cooking many of our meals.

From Baños, our next stop was Riobamba. Swami really wanted to go hike Chimborazo, Ecuador's tallest mountain, but arranging a climb to the top wasnt working out the way we wanted. So we satisfied our curiosity by taking  a bus to the Chimborazo national park, which is absolutely in the middle of nowhere. 

The next stop was Cuenca. Cuenca is a beautiful, peaceful colonial town in Southern Ecuador which just whisks you to a bygone era. Just outside Cuenca is El Cajas national park that just wowed us with its unpretentious beauty and well marked hiking trails.

 

Just something we saw on our way to get some dinner:

Our last stop in Ecuador was Vilcabamba, also known as the valley of longevity. Nestled in a lush green valley, this place is a haven for middle aged expatriates from the US and Europe who have settled here. They'll gather around a restaurant and chat the day away enjoying some mighty fine weather and make you incredibly jealous of their relaxed lifestyle. :)

From here, we began a long journey across the border using several modes of transportation and eventually arrived at our destination in Peru - Chachapoyas after nearly 48 hours!

I'll be writing a few more posts about Ecuador, focussing specifically on the individual towns.

Losing our valuable belongings - Part 2

Getting the Police Report

We were resigned to the fact that our things were lost and had to figure out what to do next. We were stuck in Calama for the time being and had to wait at least until we got the copy of the police report. And as luck would have it, it was a Saturday. Who will give us a police report on Sunday? I thought we'd get the same day - all I knew thought the police report was that it is a document that will probably be signed by the officer who answered the call. Apparently that is not the case. The police report is not issued by the police, but by the Fiscalia which is housed in the building next door. The Fiscalia is like the district attorney's office and we were told by the smiling police officer who said with a shrug that we cant get the report that day and that we can only get it the next day. The next day was Sunday! He insisted the fiscalia is open on Sunday, but I had my doubts. We now had no choice but to spend the night in Calama. There isnt much to do there either. Even if there were, we were simply not in the mood to do anything. Using our smart phone, we checked emails, called the insurance company, informed our families and bunked down to spend the day and the night.

Newspaper ad for stolen Green Card

We read online that in order to replace a stolen green card, we'll need a copy and the receipt of a newspaper ad that we place in the local daily where the green card is lost. We couldn't get a confirmation about this from the US embassy, so we decided to give it our best shot and get an ad placed anyway, as we didn't want to return to Calama for this alone. Unfortunately, the ads desk was already closed. While we didnt place an ad, we managed to get the story published in the local newspaper! (details soon...)

Getting the police report at the Fiscalia in Calama

The following morning after day 0, our main goal was to get our police report so that we could be on our way to Santiago to apply for a replacement passport. When we reached the fiscalia, we were told that we would not get our reports today (it being sunday) and that we would have to come again on Monday. We were incredibly frustrated, but were determined not to give up. We walked back and forth between the police station and the fiscalia (there was only a rather stubborn front desk person there) and they were only pointing fingers at each other. At our wits end, we decided to beg, demand and do whatever works. This involved me at one building, swami at the other building, both trying our best persuasive hats. This was compounded by our inability to communicate all this in Spanish. All I ever learnt was "where can I get vegetarian food?" and now I was struggling to say "nosotros robado mochilla, por favor necessito denuncia - es muy importante, no pasaporte". Just when I was close to tears, the front desk person placed a call and a guy in crisp formal wear showed up from inside the building a few minutes later and asked us in flawless english "Hello, What seems to be the problem?". We were so relieved to speak English that we quickly poured out our story to him. He confirmed that he couldn't give us a report just then, but can scan it and mail it to us the next day. We were not sure if this would happen, but we did get a printout of our police report from the police station just in case its needed (without any signatures or stamps). It turned out that in 2 days, we would get a signed and scanned copy of the police report emailed to us. We are trained to expect bureaucracy while traveling in some countries, and instances like this really make the day. :)

Knocking at the doors of the Indian Embassy in Santiago after business hours

We took the long 22 hour journey back to Santiago to reapply for our passports. We checked out the Indian embassy's website and found that it closes for visitors at 4.30 PM. Knowing how things work in India, we didnt expect to get anything accomplished that day since it was already 4.30 PM. Imagine our surprise when we showed up at the embassy when we were warmly welcomed, served Indian chai and biscuits and the officials chatted with us, getting to know our story and helping us figure out the quickest way to get our passports. They also offered us the services of their printers and copiers in case we needed to print anything for the passport application. And the best part, we got introduced to a fellow tamilian who works at the embassy, who invited us home and along with us wife, shared their wonderful hospitality with us for two days. We got our passports the very next day - which is quite amazing no matter which country you belong to. We had lost our Bolivian visa along with our old passport, so we had to reapply for that too.

Swami and I would play the "lets count our blessings" game. Every time something cool happened on the aftermath of our robbery or we realized we did not lose something, we'd say "at least we didnt lose this or that" or "we would never meet such nice people if we didnt lose our stuff" or "when would we get to ride in a Chilean police jeep?". Such incidents can happen to the most seasoned travelers and we learned our lessons the hard way. Its best to take travel insurance, pack light, make sure you dont carry anything invaluable.  Keep your passport, debit card, credit card and other important travel documents close to your body and hope for the best.

Losing all our belongings - Part 1

The blog posts are not in chronological order of events. We have completed our four month journey and I am now catching up on posts and updates. Please review the tags and categories for location specific information. Thanks!

It was Swami's birthday and we just got off a 22 hour bus journey from Santiago to Calama, Chile. We were really tired from the long journey and our day pack was incredibly heavy (mistake #1). People were trickling out of the bus and getting ready to get on with their day, having reached their destination. We placed all our packs (our big packs and day packs) on the ground and stood right next to it (mistake #2) and took turns guarding our packs, while we used the facilities and made enquiries about our next bus to San Pedro de Atacama.

At some point we realized that we were missing one of our day packs - with our most important day pack. Panic ensued and after about 30 minutes of frenzied activity trying to locate the pack, we had to conclude that the pack was lost to us. Along with it went our laptop, SLR, passports, green cards and a bunch of other belongings. We called the police and they arrived in 30 minutes and gave us a ride to the police station in their pickup. We kept thinking how riding on the caged back of a police pick up truck was one experience we could do without on our travels. Upon reaching the police station, what did we find? Another backpacking couple sitting rather forlorn, having lost the same stuff we lost.

We ended up spending a few hours in the police station, observing life in a Chilean police station. We shared Swami's birthday cake with the cops for which one happily quipped "you got some mean birthday present!". The cops were really friendly, trying to get us comfortable, offered us some juice to drink. One cop even got his computer so that we could use the internet on it to communicate using google translate. Google translate was invaluable in helping us overcome language barriers when dealing with the Police.

Luckily, we had travel insurance (we'll shortly be able to tell you about how good it is and if we can recommend it, as I am sure we're in a position to pass that judgement). Losing our things was a big blow to us. One thing we were fortunate about was that we had a smart phone and we had our wallets. So debit cards, credit cards, access to cash and Driver's license to prove identification.