It could have been so easy, but the bus from Máncora to Chiclayo already was a bit late on departure and since it picked up some passengers at unplanned stops (probably the driver made some extra money) we arrived about 1.30 hours late – exactly the time to change to the Cajamarca-bound bus. Of course that one was punctual, it left the terminal right before we entered. The next bus would leave at 1.30 p.m., which is 14 hours later. Luckily a Peruvian lady was also affected so we were two discussing with the remaining staff in the bus station (they were about to close). In the end we agreed to take the next bus (what other chance did we have), but I managed to make the bus company pay for my hotel (a very basic one though) – I had not expected that to be possible.
So I walked around Chiclayo a bit in the morning, but it really seems not to offer a lot for tourists. At least I found a nice café for breakfest.
The next bus was absolutely new and very nice. Apart from that the curtains were closed, because people often throw stones at busses on this route, the view was spectacular. So besides wasting almost the whole day I would have definitely missed those views on the overnight bus.
We arrived in Cajamarca when it was already dark. Because most bus stations are in close proximity to each other I walked around asking for a bus to Chachapoyas and was slightly disappointed again. There is no overnight bus at all, so I’ll have to waste another day. Thursday I will have the pleasure to catch the bus at 4.30 a.m.
The rest of the evening was more successful, I booked two tours for the next day and found a decent hotel close to the main square. It’s just 7 Euro per night in a single room and has hot showers (which is a luxury at times here in Peru). It was a bit spooky finding my room in the labyrinth-like structure of the hotel with most floors being dark, but in the end I even managed to turn on the light on my floor (one of three switches did the trick).
Good thing the tour starts at 9.30 tomorrow, I’m looking forward to it 🙂