El Puquio restaurant, Laguna de Pomacochas
My parents are visiting Chachapoyas; they should take the plane tomorrow to Tarapoto, in the San Martin region. I will pick them up and make the return trip to Chachapoyas with them to show them some places of Northern Peru.
It is already more than 10:30 when we leave Chachapoyas, the capital of the Amazonas region for Moyobamba, capital of the San Martin region, 250 km north and then east, towards the Amazon.
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From 2,334 m above sea level in Chachapoyas, we go down into the Utcubamba river Valley to Pedro Ruiz. Pedro Ruiz is located at 1,200m altitude, and we reach it after 50 minutes. You don’t speed in our region, as the distance covered in 50 minutes is actually… 50 kilometres. But the landscape is always spectacular.
At the intersection of Pedro Ruiz, you have the choice of leaving to the left towards the Pacific coast, or toe the right, what we will do, towards the Amazonia.
From Chachapoyas, vegetation changes because of the altitude and also we observe deforestation, which now is getting more and more controlled. Along the way, we pass the Huembo area, a famous birding center 1h15 away from Chachapoyas. Then we reach Pomacochas, a huge lagoon with its clear waters at 82 kms or 1h25 distance from Chachapoyas.
A good stop in Amazonas on the road from San Martin
In a curve, the beautiful Pomacochas Lake appears, about 4km large where you can fish, or get on in canoes…
Since it is past noon, it is time to think about lunch. I have been here and wanted to test a restaurant that we found at the entrance of the town “El Puquio”. From outside it looks very cozy with its wooden decoration like small chalet style.
So I park right outside the restaurant, there is a parking space. Nobody on Monday at noon for lunch and no one in the restaurant to welcome us and invite us to sit, but hey, we are still in Amazonas and this is not surprising.
El Puquio, a small and nice restaurant
However in a moment, someone comes to ask us what we would like to eat. It turns out that people in this restaurant are very friendly. Today they propose pork or chicken as meat. But I feel more like fish, so we ask for a trout ceviche, as well as grilled trout. They assure us that trout are brought directly from a close trout farm, belonging to a member of the family of the restaurant owner and everything is fresh… Let’s go then!
The time they are preparing our dishes, we enjoy the interior decoration of the place, original and all wood. We are sitting on logs, the seats are lined with small carpets made in crochet, nice.
Regional dishes
The grilled trout arrives; it’s cooked perfectly and with crispy skin ! It is served with yucca and fried plantains … The ceviche is not too spicy, because we are strangers they rectified the seasoning?
A good relationship quality/price
To complete the picture of this restaurant, it is worth mentionning that the toilet was clean, there was toilet paper and liquid soap.
The restaurant rates are not excessive because the dishes are 15 or 4 dollars at the current rate.
A nice area to discover
Now that we have all eaten and are satisfied with our stop, we continue our road to Moyobamba. As always, this is a very beautiful and spectacular road.
In any case, I will return to Pomacochas and its lake with the clear waters, I think there are many other things to see and do. Another beautiful destination for your visit in Northern Peru.
To see more articles :
- Hostal Ruminpata, La Casa de Seizo
- Staying at El Porton Hotel
- A magnificent day at the Tingana Ecotourism Reserve!