We went to see Catarata Tirol on our last evening in San Ramon.
The first pictures are of the little river running through the valley coming from the waterfall, where we had to walk to reach the waterfall.
It had been raining beforehand and was starting to rain a little more when we arrived. Due to this additional water the catarata was extremely powerful.
The town of La Merced is the gateway to the eastern part of Junin. If you wanted a place to buy fresh fruit then this is it – plentiful and cheap – you could buy a crate of fresh fruits for under $3.
La Merced, although poor and only been accessible for a decade or so, is still very beautiful. There is something about the climate here, the greenery and smells, that makes everything seem more pleasant.
After Velo de la Novia we hiked the opposite direction to take a swim in to pool under the catarata de Bayoz. This was a waterfall that lead to another and another, all providing a good place to bathe.
Near the city of La Merced are two amazingly beautiful waterfalls.
The first we visited involved descending down a dangerous path clinging to the side of a cliff with a drop as high as the waterfall.
We stopped to take pictures on the way to Pichanaki – this was the route where we first caught site of the new climate we were in on our first day. It is quite a shock to decend from the barren mountains into the green and lush forests.
The base at San Ramon is a quiet place, mostly due to the fact that they don’t host many aeroplanes.
The night is a different story, when the wildlife tries its hardest to keep you awake.
We stopped for a few minutes in the town of Tarma to confirm directions to San Ramon, where we will be staying at an air force base.
The town is at about 4000m high from where you descend to San Ramón at 700m and the start of the central Peruvian rainforest.
We have embarked on a trip to the central rainforest of Peru, which will take us up over the Andes from Lima into areas formally controlled by the Shining Path terrorists and rebels and into the rainforest.
The journey, by car, takes us up over 5000 metres above sea level on a winding mountain road, with spectacular scenery.
The small industrial town of Huancayo sits in a fertile valley just over the cordillera from Lima.
The plaza is, as ever, full of life. People can bee seen sitting on benches and taking walks while children are chasing pigeons. On one side of the plaza is the old cathedral, opposite is a large indoor market.
