Chachapoyas, kuelap and Gocta waterfall

Wow. What a place!!! Well not so much the small town of Chachapoyas, but the surrounding area. It is so rich in history and mystery. While i was there i went to visit the ruins of kuelap. It was built by the Chachapoyan people from 400AD on. So this predates the incas. It is built at the top of a 3000m high mountain. They had to carry each piece of stone 10km, and it took 1 week for each block. For this reason they compare the building of Kuelap only to the pyramids of Egypt. Truelly amazing!!!!
There were several Chachapoyan tribes, and they were always waring with eachother. But they would join forces to hold out the Incans. They were the most brutal and efficient warriors of perus history. But they were to meet their doom. They cohersed with the spanish and many people died due to disease. And then finally they were starved of water by the Incans and finally taken over in 1400AD. This was evidenced by the fact that some of the later ruins were of Incan design.
I also visited Gocta waterfall. It is meant to be the 3rd highest waterfall in the world. It has 2 tiers, but falls a total of 771m. It was a hard 2 hour walk, but well worth it. Amazing waterfall. It reminded me of jurassic park. Haha. I only wish that there was more water. Its the dry season here at the moment.

Black Sheep Hostel Iquitos

Just wanted to write a little about the hostel that i stayed in in Iquitos. Its called "black sheep hostel". Its a little out of town, but well worth it. The place has a really great vibe. the only staff, Paula is lovely. You have a nice room with a private bathroom, cable tv, comfortable beds, a nice common area with free internet, and you can do your own washing in their machine.
I really enjoyed my time there. It may be a little expensive ( 20 soles ) for some, but its worth the money.
Another great thing is that the owner of the tienda around the corner has 3 gorgeous and friendly monkeys to play with. soooooo cute!! one of them is quite tame and he will sit on your shoulders and nibble your ears and pull on your hair or whatever else he can grab, but gently enough to just make you laugh.
Anyways, all in all, a great hostel with a nice vibe. i reccommend it!!

Iquitos

So here i am in Iquitos. Iquitos is the largest city in the world inaccessible by road. It has about 450,000 inhabitants, most of which have never even left the city due to its isolation.

It is located in the heart of the Amazon basin in peru, on the amazing Amazon river. It really is amazing!!! I knew it was big, but wow!!

Iquitos is quite a unique place. it reminds me a lot of Asia to be honest. there are barely any cars. Just rickshaws and motorbikes. They are so cheap to get around on too.
Im also very amazed at how many people speak english. Everyone told me a wouldnt find anyone in peru who speaks english. But there are so many tourists here, i guess they need to. You dont see too many tourists, but you know they are here.

Everyday people approach you trying to sell you jungle tours. Its a bit too much really. But i do like it here. The people are friendly, and it feels safe too. There are nice bars and restaurants, and some nice old architecture courtesy of the old rubber barrons. The rubber boom has long since died out, but the relics remain.