La Serpiente.

in Catache, i wake up every morning to roosters crowing and pigs squealing. (the sound of a pig’s uncontrollable squealing is, hands-down, the most horrific sound.) there are more pigs, donkeys, and cows in the streets of my town than there are cars. which brings me to another crazy thing i’ve gotten used to here… the transportation. people don’t have cars here. when they do, they are taxis to get from one caserío to the next. there are, however, a lot of motorcycles. kids drive them as early as 12 or 13 years old! and there are things called mototaxis - or “motos” (see below) - it’s basically a motorcycle with a small carriage attached to the back for people to ride in.

the other way people get around is by bus. (this is my preferred way to travel.) it costs about S/. 4 to get to courtneys town in Santa Cruz, and about S/. 15 to get to Chiclayo, Lambayeque - about 4 hours from here, which is where i check my mail. but as i said earlier, the conditions of the roads are quite awful. unpaved, one-lane, dirt roads that twist and turn around tall mountains with steep cliffs. accidents happen all of the time. if i’m lucky, and i’m on a bus with a good bus driver, he beeps his horn before coming to a curve in the road, so that any buses coming from the other direction will know he’s there. drivers usually pass out plastic bags to the passengers before taking off, just in case someone needs to get sick. they call the road in between Catache and Santa Cruz “La Serpiente” (The Snake) because of its twist and turns. it’s crazy, but i’ve gotten used to people throwing-up out windows and into bags next to me.

so, im actually in Chiclayo now - i was here for the weekend to transfer funds to FEDEX to get a box out of Lima. and im heading back into the mountains in a few hours... via Tourismo Chota (me and courtney's favorite bus line to travel - they all know us by name). this video is one i found on youtube this afternoon - filmed on my road - from the outskirts of my town in the district capital of Catache, through my very large and lovely district, to the Lambayeque department line. none of the buses shown in the video are any of the ones that we use, but this is the main (and only) road from Santa Cruz to Chiclayo..

enjoy!