Tingo Travel Guide

Old Tingo is a minsicule village on the Rio Utcubamba banks. It would be just another village, if not for the nearvy ruins of Kuelap. From Tingo you can walk up to them on foot in between 3 and 5 hours.   The village itself can be discovered in 5 minutes. There is a restaurant, a shop and two hotels. Large part of the village was destroyed by a flood some years ago, which lead to the founding of Nuevo Tingo, a few kilometers up the mountain. You can still see the ruins.   A good way to discover Kuelap is to walk up to them, crash for an hour then discovering the site. The 10 kilometer walk rises over 1000 meters so it is pretty tiring. You can rent a horse or donkey for 20 soles if you don't think you're up to it. Locals say the trip is 3 hours, but that's only true if you don't take any breaks.   On the site itself one can easily lose a few hours, so leave early in the morning. To get back to Tingo you can walk back down, or try to get a ride in one of the tourist minibusses that drive back down at about 4 o'clock. The two hour ride back down is spectacular, although the road is really bumpy. They might drive by your hotel to pick up your luggage, then drive on to Chachapoyas.