An Overnight Bus Ride That I Would Prefer to Erase From Memory

Before the bus even left the terminal in Cajamarca last night, they distributed plastic bags to anyone who wanted one. If I hadn't previously done my research, I would have thought they were for trash.

The view of Cajamarca while returning from Cumbe Mayo yesterday
on a winding and unpaved mountain road.

I had booked seat 4 using Turismo Virgen del Carmen's online reservation system. I've been traveling all over Central and South America for more than nine months now and, ninety-nine percent of the time, seat 4 is in the first row on the passenger side next to the window. It's generally my preferred spot, depending on the overall configuration of the bus. The online seat map indicated that would be the case. But, of course, it was wrong. I was still in the front row, but on the opposite side, directly behind the driver. There was a floor-to-ceiling wall in front of me and almost no leg room, but at least I could still see out the side window.

A screenshot of the bus company's seat map. I reserved
seat 4 which was actually where seat 1 is on this diagram.
The bus had approximately 30 seats total.

Virgen del Carmen is the only company currently operating the route from Cajamarca to Chachapoyas, which follows the incredibly scenic but, by most standards, terrifying road 8B. I had been looking forward to traveling this route for weeks but, when I arrived in Cajamarca and started researching bus schedules, I quickly discovered my options were even more limited than I expected. I even went to the official Peru tourism office to verify that what I was seeing online was accurate. The verdict: due to construction work during daylight hours which blocks a section of the one-lane road completely, it is only possible to travel this route at night.
We departed Cajamarca on time at 6:00 p.m. as the clouds changed from white to golden to fiery pink. There were a few other international travelers (backpackers) on board besides myself, but everyone else was Peruvian. The age 20-something guy beside me immediately started talking at full voice on his cell phone as did the woman in traditional dress sitting directly behind me. The older man beside her was coughing frequently and sounded heavily congested. None of them smelled great either; in fact, I immediately put menthol balm under my nose to mask their collective body odors and stale breath that hovered in the air around me during their lengthy phone conversations.

Soon we were outside of the city limits and quickly climbing up a two-lane paved road. There was a fair amount of traffic in both directions and, of course, the bus driver didn't waste an opportunity to pass anyone going too slow by his standards. In spite of the movie playing on the overhead TV screen at a loud volume, I could still hear the driver talking on the phone and was worried he might get distracted while navigating the frequent, sharp curves with little room for error. People started vomiting within the first hour and, if you haven't already figured it out, used their plastic bags as intended. Thankfully none of them were near me, so I managed to avoid a second-hand barfing incident.

As soon as it was completely dark I realized the moon must be full, as I could still see the majority of the landscape from my window on the left side of the bus. It was also getting much colder as outside air was coming in through a couple of open windows, but I was thankful for the fresh air circulating around me.

After two hours of riding on the winding mountain road, we arrived at the bus terminal in Celendin. We all got off the bus to eat dinner, which was included in the price of the ticket (total 80 soles or around U.S. $15). We sat in a small communal dining room on plastic stools and were all served the same thing: a plate of rice plus a starchy potato concoction and a small piece of chicken, along with a cup of sweetened chamomile tea. It was a bit bland but was hot and tasted fine.

We departed again by 9:00 p.m. and now the bus was completely full plus there were at least three additional people, including a second driver, in the front compartment along with a ratty twin mattress pushed up against the only entry door which they seemed to be taking turns laying on.
I had already attempted to wear my seat belt during the first leg of the trip, but quickly discovered that, while there were two across-the-shoulder belts between each pair of seats, there was nowhere to fasten them. I even used the flashlight on my phone and asked the guy beside me to help look. We checked multiple seats but they were all the same: belts but no fasteners.

As soon as we left the city limits of Celendin, I realized the road was only one lane. Not only that, but there were no shoulders on either side, no guardrails, and no street lights. The drop-offs were straight down; when I looked out my window I often couldn't see the edge of the road, only the vast emptiness of the more than 500 meter drop to the bottom of the canyon. Combine that with what sounded like a party happening in the driver's compartment: loud talking, laughing, music, and smoking. Several times I even detected the odor of alcohol. There was a digital speedometer in the passenger compartment next to the TV screen, so I could clearly see how fast we were going. While the speed limit for almost the entire section of road between Celendin and Leymebamba is 15 - 30 kph, we often would accelerate to 40 or even 50 kph and then have to quickly decelerate to veer around the never-ending sharp curves. It was absolutely terrifying and I had to close my window curtain to avoid having a panic attack.

I was chewing ginger candies, sniffing my menthol stick, and trying not to think about driving off the cliff, but that did nothing to alleviate the unsettled feeling in my stomach which had started gurgling up shortly after we ate dinner. I have been motion sick what seems like hundreds of times in my life, but this time it was the smell of cigarettes coming from the driver's compartment directly in front of me, the inability to move around in my seat, the lack of fresh air, and the food I had just eaten that cumulatively caused me to vomit sometime around midnight. Thankfully I was prepared and, along with plastic bags, I was carrying wet wipes, tissues, etc. and had everything in my day bag which was sitting on my lap.

I felt better after purging my entire dinner, but my stomach was still cramping. We did not stop again for a bathroom break or even to stretch our legs for the duration of the bus ride, so when we arrived in Chachapoyas at 5:30 this morning I was definitely much worse for the wear. I had notified the hostel when I booked a few days ago that I would be checking in very early and, thankfully, they had already agreed to let me have my dorm bed as soon as I arrived. I basically just laid down fully clothed on top of the comforter and put another blanket over me and slept for three hours.

Today I have been sick with intestinal issues all day, which means that I was right about the food causing me to vomit. Of course, the motion of the bus did not help, but I've survived so many bus rides on every type of road imaginable and managed not to throw up on any of them. I hope I feel well enough to start exploring Chachapoyas tomorrow. The good news is that I have not made any definite plans for onward travel so can take as long as I need to rest, recover, and enjoy the sights here before continuing on towards Ecuador.

Above is a screenshot of my Google Map from where I started in Cajamarca last night to where I arrived in Chachapoyas this morning. Whereas the map says you could theoretically drive this in about eight hours, you really have to go very slow on this dangerous one-lane road and by bus, excluding the dinner break, it took just under 11 hours.
Since I could not take any photos, I searched online for someone who might have driven this route in the daytime. Here's the link to their blog post about this particular stretch of road, along with some fantastic photos: https://dare2go.com/when-i-wish-i-could-shrink-our-overland-vehicle/