Usually when driving from Pucallpa to Lima you stop for the night in a town called Huanuco. However, that drive usually takes about 6-8 hours and since we were starting our drive at 2pm we decided that we would stop in Tingo Maria (which is just about 4 hours). Especially since it isn’t that ‘safe’ to drive that particular road at night (bandits and such….). So we got everything loaded into the truck and took off. We had driven about an hour when we began noticing that parts of the road were missing … they had signs at least that said, “only one lane ahead” but we didn’t realize at first that they literally meant there was ONLY one lane!!! Because of the excessive rain the road was deteriorating right before our eyes – we had heard that there had been mudslides and that the road had been closed for awhile, but the bus companies in Pucallpa had assured us that the road was open, so we kept on truckin. After awhile we grew accustomed to the warning signs and missing road until we passed a sign we didn’t understand … we hadn’t been able to read it fully and while trying to figure out what it meant Adam hits a patch of road that has literally sunk down making a huge 2ft drop in the road!! We about bottomed out since we hadn’t slowed down for it … we realized that must have been what the sign said J
The scenery was beautiful and the sun was starting to set – we made it through Aguaytia (which was the half-way point) and headed on toward Tingo Maria. We had driven about 30 minutes when we noticed that all the traffic had stopped on our side of the road and trucks were backed up as far as we could see!!! Trying not to worry and in a bit of shock and awe as we marveled at the never-ending line of trucks – we tried to figure out what to do … Adam (having grown up in Peru) decided he was going to keep on driving, just on the other side of the road (since he couldn’t see any oncoming traffic…) So we drove on the wrong side of the road for at least 15 miles passing truck after truck after truck (when I say ‘trucks’ - I mean semi trucks, dump trucks, trucks loaded down with wood and other various things…). We were coming up on a tunnel and so Adam eased into the right lane of traffic again and we tried to figure out what was going on … about that time we noticed trucks coming out of the tunnel (good thing we had moved!). Adam rolled down his window and talked to the guy next too us – he said that the road had been closed for a MONTH and now that it was open they were sending 10 trucks at a time from either side of the landslide…oh great – that should only take the rest of our lives!!!! Adam asked how far the line of trucks went but he didn’t know.
The good thing was that we were in a ‘small’ truck we were ‘allowed’ to go ahead of everyone else since technically we were faster – wouldn’t get stuck, etc. We waited as the trucks came through the tunnel and then took our turn … we did this for about 2 more miles and then came to a standstill. Some truckers had become impatient and the road was completely blocked. (I should also mention that some of the trucker men weren’t so happy that we were just zooming by since they had been living in their trucks for several weeks … at these times Adam would get out with Sophia and tell them that his family … including his pregnant wife were trying to get to Lima and they would feel so bad for us that they would let us by … this negotiating took time though and we had now been going slowly through this mess for about 3 hours).
It was about 8pm now and Adam was pretty sure we were going to have to spend the night in the car --- I was trying to mentally prepare myself for that when I realized that I really really needed to use the bathroom… as all pregnant women know – when you gotta go, you gotta go!! But I tried to hold it for another hour … unfortunately when the hour was up – we still hadn’t moved L A sense of doom settled over us as we realized that it was painfully clear that we were going to be spending the night in the truck … Adam, aware of my bathroom predicament and seeing the panicked look on my face says, “There are lots of plastic bags in here – I bet I can find one without holes and I can move the front seat all the way forward so that you can squat in the back seat and go in the bag” My husband – always thinking… I laughed and then realized he was serious!!! I looked outside, men were absolutely everywhere – shinning flashlights, running by the truck, yelling at each other – both lanes of traffic were full – there was no way that I was going to be able to go outside without someone seeing me – so I did it… yup I did – I somehow managed to get my big pregnant belly in the back seat and squatted … I was pretty impressed with myself, I won’t lie J
Of course, now that we had that worked out – the next dilemma was trying to find the most comfortable way for us to all sleep in the truck … the situation outside was getting a little tense – some of the truckers were fighting and yelling at each other… all were getting impatient with the current stand still of traffic… about that time the trucks in front of us turned on their lights and started up – there was movement!!! As we started inching forward we were definitely relived but trying not to get our hopes up … we drove slowly for another hour, through mud and rocks and past huge looming cliffs (fortunately it was dark and we couldn’t see how high up we were and how precariously close to the edge we were driving!!) Finally, at about 10:30, we made it through!!! I have never been so excited to go 50 km an hour!!! We arrived without incident in Tingo Maria at about 1am. Sophia had fallen asleep at some point during the drive and so all was quiet. At the edge of town we stopped at a gas station and asked where a hotel was – we followed a taxi driver to a decent hotel --- we got checked-in, took freezing cold showers and just as we got all tucked in and comfy the cantina next door started up its party music … fortunately we were exhausted and it didn’t phase us one bit --- we were all fast asleep by 2am … what a day!!
(side note: I have pictures of the roads and traffic etc. but I can't get them to upload :( Internet is too slow - but I will try and add them on later!)
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