From Kuelap we drove to Leimebamba to visit the highly recommended mummy museum.  We didn’t quite make it on the first go because we encountered a landslide on the main road.  We backtracked a few kilometers and camped at Estancia Chillo for 20 soles a night ($7). At Estancia Chillo we met Susanne and Andreas, two Germans who are driving through South America in their VW Vanagon. They were very nice and came with us to visit the museum in Leimebamba.

We arrive in Leimebamba and head to the museum straight away.  The museum houses the remains found a little over ten years ago in tombs overlooking a man-made lake, made by the indians.  This site was used as a burial site by the Chachapoyas for a long time before the Incas merged cultures.  The Incas introduced the process of mummification and over 200 mummies were found in these tombs in fairly good condition.  The people that were buried here were important individuals of both the Chachapoya and Inca cultures and some were brought great distances to be buried here such as from the coast and the Amazonian jungle.  The museum does an excellent job explaining the history and the meaning of the artifacts found in the tombs.

Also visible is the room where all the mummies are kept for preservation and research.   We were given a tour in Spanish as part of the entrance cost and it was excellent.  We highly recommend this museum.

In Leimebamba we learned our first lesson regarding the unavailability of gasoline in some areas.  Between Chachapoyas and Leimebamba, the only other place to get gas was Tingo.  But as we passed through Tingo, the gas station looked small and abandoned so we passed right by.  Once in Leimebamba, we located the only gas station in town on the road out of town heading to the mummy museum and Celendin.  The station consisted of two pumps, one gas and one diesel and a very tiny little hut next to the pumps which was padlocked.  We pulled up to fill up as we were nearly on empty.  There was no one around.  Unlike in Tingo, now we were desperate; therefore we didn´t give up as easily.  We walked down a hill a bit and asked a few folks sitting outside their house.  They pointed to a man in a cowboy hat walking our way.  Fortunately he was the attendant and we headed back to the pumps with him.  Unfortunately, the pump labeled “diesel” was new and wasn’t working yet, the pump labeled “gasoline” was full of diesel.  He only had 5 gallons of gasoline left which he retrieved from inside the little hut.  The gas was in 5 one gallon plastic containers.  We had no choice, so we bought it.  Later in town, we decided to ask around if anyone knew of more gas in town.  We were directed to a store.   It turns out the owner of the store sells gas out of his basement.  We take him up on it and fill up our tank and our reserve tank.  Here we learned a couple lessons.  First, never pass up the opportunity to tank up, even if it looks like a small abandoned gas station.  Secondly, don’t be shy asking private individuals for gas.  It seems that people sometimes stock up at home in areas where gas is hard to come by.

In Leimebamba we camped in town at Hosteria Lagunas de los Condores for 10 soles per night (~$3).  Not the most scenic place to camp, but it is gated and the facilities were very good with hot water (electric) showers.

To see more pictures from Leimebamba click here: Leimebamba Mummy Museum

Leimebamba Town and People

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