from: Dilwyn Jenkins: The rough
guide to Peru; Rough Guides, New York, London, Delhi; 6th edition
September 2006; www.roughguides.com
The trip down from Cusco to the
Amazon basin along the Urubamba river - civilization damage
Traditionally the home of
the Matsiguenga and Piro Indians, the Río Urubamba rolls down from the
Inca's Sacred Valley [with Machu Picchu aside] to the humid lower
Andean slopes around the town of Quillabamba,
little more than a pit stop, and at the end of the rail line from Cusco
(though due to a landslide this is likely to be out of operation
between Machu Picchu and Quillabamba for the foreseeable future).
For the next eighty or so unnavigable kilometers, the Urubamba is
trailed by a dirt road to the small settlement of Kiteni, where it meets with the
tributary Río Kosrentni, then continues to the smaller settlement of Monte Carmelo.
From here on, the easily navigable Río Kiteni becomes the main means of
transport, a smooth 3500km through the Amazon Basin to the Atlantic,
interrupted only by the impressive Pongo
de Mainique - whitewater rapids, less than a day downstream,
which are generally too dangerous to pass in November and December.
Unlike the Manu Biosphere Reserve, most of the Urubamba has been
colonized as far as the pongo,
and much of it beyond has suffered more or less permanent exploitation
of one sort or another for over a hundred years (rubber, cattle, oil
and, more recently, gas). Consequently, this isn't really the river for
experiencing pristine virgin forest, but it is nevertheless an exciting
and remote challenge and a genuine example of what's going on in the
Amazon today.
Tour operators in the Urubamba
valley
Far fewer tour companies operate in the Río Urubamba region than do in
Manu or Madre de Dios, but as the political situation continues to
improve, and entrepreneurial optimism revives further around Cusco, it
seems likely that more (p.563)
adventure tours will become available in the lower Urubamba and that
the area will open up further to organized river-rafting and
forest-trekking (p.564).
Quillabamba
Take a bus or a colectivo (combi)
in Cusco to Quillabamba
Buses from Calle Huascar in Cusco terminate by the market and Plaza
Grau side of town (p.565); 2-3 buses per day (most days) go via
Ollantaytambo to Quillabamba, a trip of 12 hours, or 2-3 buses per week
are going also via Calca Lares to Quillabamba, a trip of 24 hours
(p.568).
colectivos from Calle General Buendio, by the San
Pedro railway station in Cusco, or the plaza in Ollantaytambo,
terminate near the market in Quillabamba, as do trucks (best picked up
from the plaza in Ollantaytambo) (p.565).
Coming down the Urubamba valley
Coming from Cusco, the initial section of road is a narrow gravel track
along precipitous cliffs, notoriously dangerous in the rainy season,
but after a few hours, having traveled over the magical Abra Malaga -
the main pass on this road - the slow descent towards Chaullay starts.
From here on, you'll see jungle vegetation beginning to cover the
valley sides; the weather gets steadily warmer and the plant life
thickens as you gradually descend into the Urubamba Valley (p.564).
The main town [Quillabamba] is a stiff climb from the river and the
train station, over a bridge then up a series of steps, though the
station is presently defunct due to a landslide (p.565).
Quillabamba: market, fountain
statue, Sambaray beach, Siete Tinjas waterfall
A rapidly expanding market town, growing fat on profits from coffee,
tropical fruits, chocolate and, to a certain extent perhaps, the
proceeds of cocaine production, QUILLABAMBA is the only Peruvian jungle
town that's easily accessible by road from Cusco, and the main
attraction here for tourists is a quick look at the selva.
Your first sight of the town, which tops a high cliff, is of old tin
roofs, adobe outskirts and coca leaves drying in the gardens. It's a
pleasant enough place to relax, and you can get all the gear [luggage]
you need for going deeper into the jungle; the market sells all the
necessities like machetes, fish-hooks, food and hats. Just ten minutes'
walk from here, the Plaza de Armas with its shady fountain statue of
the town's little-known benefactor, Don Martín Pio Concha, is the other
major landmark.
Other than that, though about 4km away, the once attractive river beach
at Sambaray is a bit of a dump these days; much nicer and quite a
popular resort is the nearby waterfall area of Siete Tinjas (p.564).
Accommodation in Quillabamba
Hotel Cusco
Jirón Cusco 233, T. 084-281161 near Plaza Grau and the market square
is somewhat run-down at present though it suffices.
Hostal Quillabamba
Avenida Prolongación Miguel Grau 590, T. 084-281369, very close to the
market
offers modern rooms that are comfortable, also has a car park, swimming
pool, hot water and a good restaurant
Hostal Señor de Torrechayoc
Avenida Grau 548, T. 084-281553
modern, clean rooms with or without bath
Hotel Don Carlos
Jirón Libertad 546, T. 084-281371
relatively luxurious, newish hotel just up from the Plaza de Armas,
coy, friendly and popular with Peruvians. Rooms are smart and the place
has a pleasant garden courtyard. It's also a good place to make
connections for organized (though relatively costly) overland trips to
Kiteni, and river trips onwards from there.
Hostal Convención
[Jirón] Pio Concha 212, T. 084-281093
is a basic but quaint place with a communal bathroom and no hot water.
It's also the base for the Yoyato Club Tourism Adventure run by Sr.
Rosas (May-Sept), who takes tour
groups to Sambaray, the Pongo de Mainique [waterfall] or
Espíritu Pampa (p.565).
Eating in Quillabamba
Restaurant Los Amantes
along the first block of Jirón Cusco
inexpensive little restaurant, serving decent set meals including the
usual estofado de res [stewed
venison], caldo de gallina
(hen soup) or chicken and chips dishes.
Restaurant La Estrella
along the first block of Jirón Cusco
inexpensive little restaurant, serving decent set meals including the
usual estofado de res [stewed
venison], caldo de gallina
(hen soup) or chicken and chips dishes.
Restaurant Don Cebas
Jirón Espinar 235, on the Plaza de Armas
serving snacks and drinks
Bar-restaurant Peña La Taverna
close by the Restaurant Don Cebas at Jirón Espinar 235, on the Plaza de
Armas
offering good cool drinks and usually decent chicken and rice; it's
downbeat and pleasant.
Restaurant El Bucaro
on the third block of Grau, just off the Plaza de Armas
is a spit-and-sawdust place with a nice, very jungle frontier-like
atmosphere and very cheap set meals.
Heladeria
Jirón España 207, on the corner of the Plaza de Armas and Libertad
is a popular, cool place to while away an hour or two, with good snacks
and wonderful ice creams.
Chifa El Oriental
[Jirón] Libertad 375 on the other side of the Plaza de Armas
serving surprisingly good Chinese meals.
Snack-restaurant Punto-y-coma
[Jirón] Libertad 501, over the road from the Heladeria
is very popular for its tasty and cheap set lunches.
Tourist information of Quillabamba
Banks
-- Banco de Credito on [Jirón] Libertad for changing dollars and
travelers' cheques
-- Banco Continental, on the first block of Jirón España
-- cambistas on the street outside
-- change in the better hotels.
Telephone calls
-- at Telefónica del Perú, [Jirón] Bolognesi 237-249
-- or there's a smaller company at Jirón Cusco 242 (p.565).
From Quillabamba back to Cusco
Heading back to Cusco, the Hidalgo bus leaves Quillabamba from the
market area several times a week, as do the bus companies Turismo Ampay
and the less reliable Carhuamayo; trucks (from block 5 of [Jirón] San
Martín) are more frequent, but slower, and there are currently no
trains (p.566).
Kiteni and the Pongo de Mainique waterfall
Take a bus or truck for Kiteni
To get to Kiteni, buses (the Alto Urubamba service) and colectivos
(trucks start at $3; faster estate cars up to $10 per person) [or
combis?] leave [from Quillabamba] from [Jirón] Ricardo Palma, close to
the Plaza Grau,
every day from 8am to 10am. The road does go beyond Kiteni these days,
as far as Monte Carmelo (almost to the Pongo de Mainique), though this
frontier is constantly moving - trucks sometimes go on the Cumpire and
Tinta at the very end of the road, which keeps more or less to the
course of the Urubamba, but these little settlements offer nothing much
for the independent traveler (p.566).
Little Kiteni mule town
By the time you reach KITENI, five to eight hours deeper into the
jungle, the Río Urubamba is quite wide and, with the forest all around,
the valley is hotter, more exotic and much greener than before. Still a
small poblado [village],
until over twenty-five years ago Kiteni was a small Matsiguenga [tribe]
Indian village. With its ramshackle cluster of buildings, all wooden
except for the schoolhouse and the clinic (where you can get yellow
fever shots if you haven't already done so), it is still a one-street
town, with more mules than cars (p.565).
Accommodation in Kiteni
On arrival, trucks and buses stop at a chain across the dirt track.
Here you have to register with the guardia
[police] in their office on the right before walking into the
town. About 100m straight down the road, at the other end of town is
the basic dormitory-type hostel, the Hotel
Kiteni - a friendly place, attractively situated beside the
bubbling Río Kosrentni, and serving good set meals; there are no locks
on doors so don't leave your valuables lying around. Next to the Hotel Kiteni there's an oroya (stand-up cable car) for
people to pull themselves across the river; a ten-minute stroll on the
far bank takes you to an albergue
[hostel] that has been officially closed for several years but still
occasionally rents out a few rooms for trips organized in advance by
agencies or groups from Cusco; it offers seclusion, an English-speaking
staff, and excellent food for only a few dollars a night (p.566).
Back from Kiteni to Quillabamba
The last transport (mostly combis) from Kiteni to Quillabamba generally
leaves at 3-3.30pm daily (a 6hr trip) (p.566).
Waterfall Pongo de Mainique
Kiteni's main draw - beyond its small jungle-settlement atmosphere - is
as a staging point for the awe-inspiring Pongo de Mainique, possibly
the most dangerous 2km of (barely) navigable river in the entire
Amazonian system, made famous by Michael Palin in his TV travel
documentary. The road from Quillabamba towards the Pongo passes through
Kiteni but ends a few hours further on at the village of Ivochote. Traveling down the river,
just before you reach the pongo
there's a community at San Idriato.
The people here, known as the Israelites, founded their village around
a biblical sect; the men leave their hair long and, like Rastas, they
twist it up under expandable peaked caps. Not far from San Idriato
there's a basic tourist lodge, again now out of general use, right at
the mouth of the rapids - a wonderful spot. Across the Urubamba from San Idriato the small community of Shinguriato, upstream from the Río
Yuyato mouth, is the official entrance to the pongo itself.
The dangerous Urubamba river
rapids of Pongo de Mainique - rafting
You'll have heard a lot about the Pongo de Mainique before you get
there - from the boatmen, the local Machiguenga Indians, colonos and
the Israelites. The rapids are dangerous at any time of year, and
virtually impossible to pass during the rainy season (Nov-Jan). As you
get nearer, you can see a forested mountain range [chain of mountains]
directly in front of you; the river speeds up, and as you get closer,
it's possible to make out the great cut made through the range over the
millennia by the powerful Urubamba.
Then, before you realize, the craft is (p.566)
whisked into a long canyon with soaring rocky cliffs on either side:
gigantic volcanic boulders look like wet monsters of molten steel;
imaginary stone faces can be seen shimmering under cascades; and the
danger of the pongo slips by almost unnoticed as the walls of the
canyon will absorb all your attention. The main hazard is actually a
drop of about 2m, which is seen and then crossed in a split second. Now
and then boats are overturned at this dangerous drop, usually those
that try the run in the rainy season - although even then natives
somehow manage to come upstream in small, non-motorized dugouts.
Beyond the pongo the river is much gentler, but on all major curves as
far down as the Camisea tributary (about 2 days on a raft) there is
whitewater (p.567).
Settlements along this stretch are few and far between - mostly native
villages, settlements of colonos or missions (p.568).
Nearby accommodation
Hostal La Casa de los Ugarte
just downstream on the west bank
Tourist Lodge at the Mission and Machiguenga Indian village of Timpia
upmarket [high level]
Hostal Pongo de Mainique
in the village of Ivochote, located at the end of the road from
Quillabamba and Kiteni (p.566).
Further going
The way back from the Pongo rapids
to Kiteni - or further down to Sepahua
If your boat is going straight back through the pongo to Kiteni, you'll have to
make a quick choice about whether to try your luck going downstream or
return to the relative safety and luxury of town. If you decide to go
further [down the river], the next significant settlement is SEPAHUA; between here and the pongo there are just a few
Machiguenga missions and a presently empty, massive oil- and
gas-exploration camp near the village of Nuevo Mundo ["New World"].
Sepahua: Sepahua has a few
places to stay, including the Hostal
Sepahua and the Hostal Vanessa,
a few shops and bars, and a runway with fairly regular flights to
Satipo (for the road connection with Lima). However, the settlement is
a good two or three days downstream by motorized canoe from the pongo (depending on the type and
size of motor), or four to five days on a raft: to be dropped off in
between could mean waiting a week on the riverbank for another boat or
raft to hitch with. To be on the safe side, you'll need food for at
least ten days if you're going to do this.
From Sepahua to Atalaya - and to
Pucallpa or Satipo-Lima
From Sepahua, it's another couple of days downstream to ATALAYA, where
the Río Urubamba meets the Río Tambo to form the [Río] Ucayali [for
Pucallpa]. Run mainly by local Ashaninka Indian leaders (following
successful development and land-titling projects), it's a small and
relatively isolated jungle town with a reputation for lawlessness. For
a place to stay here, try the Hotel
Denis or the cheaper but less pleasant Hostal d'Souza.
For moving on, there are weekly flights to Satipo, Pucallpa, and less
frequently, to Lima; information on these can be obtained from the TANS
office near the airport. By boat, it's another few days from here to
Pucallpa, and at least five or six more to Iquitos. To get to Lima, you
can catch a boat (generally daily) for a day's travel along the Río
Tambo to Puerto Ocopa [Ocopa port], after which it's a few hours along
a dirt road to Satipo, then ten to twelve hours by a new, surfaced road
to Lima, via La Merced and Tarma; several buses daily cover this route,
plus there are colectivos between Satipo and La Merced (p.568).
