Getting There

From Lima:
* BUS: There are several bus companies that offer the trip, but it takes up to 24 hours. Almost all of it is on good roads.
* PLANE: There are no regular flights to Chachapoyas. The most convenient is to fly to Tarapoto.

From Tarapoto (coming from Iquitos):
* BUS: There are no or very few direct lines.
* COLECTIVO: Cars take four passengers and then leave straight to their destination. Slightly more expensive than buses, but a lot faster.
Any local taxi driver can drop passengers off at the colectivo stop to Rioja (or Moyobamba). In Rioja (2-3 hours, 25 soles), passenger then take the next colectivo to Pedro Ruiz (2-3 hours, 20 soles).  In Pedro Ruiz there are colectivos to Chachapoyas (1 hour, 10 soles).
It sounds complicated but it's realy not. Whenever two or three people travel together, there is usually not much wait, making it very easy to do the trip in one day. Often, the driver will drop a passenger off at the mini-terminal for the colectivos to the next destination.

It would be a sin to do this spectacular ride at night!

From the Coast:
BUS: There are daily buses from Chiclayo (12 hours).
COLECTIVO: Travelers can ask a Chiclayo taxidriver to drop them off at the colectivo stop to Jaén. This is about 10 km out of town (about 10 soles). It's only 3-4 hours to cross the Andes to the steamy town of Jaén (35 soles). From this town, colectivos and minibuses leave to Bagua Grande (5-7 soles; one might save himself an hour if he gets off before Jaén, at Chamaya). Don't accept rides to Bagua Chica!
In Bagua Grande take a mototaxi (1-2 soles) to the terminal for colectivos to Chachapoyas or ask for drop-off there. The colectivo will take you on an impressive scenic ride there, taking about three hours (25 soles).

From Ecuador:
From Loja or Vilcabamba, one can take a bus to Zumba. There a bus-truck will take passengers to the frontier at La Balsa. From La Balsa, there are colectivos to San Ignacio, a nice stopover (2 hours, 12 soles). Here one can find a minibus to Jaén (3 hours, 10 soles). Then passengers can travel from Jaén as above.