I’ve made it to Tarapoto! I was greeted by a double rainbow (all the way across the sky! so intense!)
If you think traffic in (insert city here) is bad, wait til you see this place. It’s like driving through a swarm of bees…if all the bees flew on one way roads up and down hills, with red lights every 30 seconds in 3 wheeled machines that barely have brakes.
I realized this afternoon that I haven’t met another English speaker (other than the Junketeers) since Day 1 of the Mototaxi Junket. Suffice to say, we’re pretty far off the beaten track. My high school Spanish has done my well so far…actually, I don’t know how I’d survive without it.
Today was a relaxing day driving downhill through relatively well-kept roads in the jungle. I only did 117km, so I’ve got a lot of ground to make up tomorrow. My mototaxi is still chugging along.
I’m setting an alarm for 4:30am, but chances are the annoying rooster that crows all night (there’s one in every town) will wake me up before then. I’ve eaten way too much chicken on this trip – but I’d gladly eat some more if I could take a bite out of that 1am cock-a-doodle-dooer! — in Tarapoto.