Tarapoto
I already picked Tarapoto for my trip before I arrived in Peru. When I was roaming around on google maps, I’ve thought to myself that this area with all the green forests and mountains could be interesting. It isn’t really touristic and especially not among foreign tourists, but the more days I spent here the more I liked it.
And even though I’m telling you it isn’t touristic there are plenty of things to do here. Beautiful mountains, valleys with a ridiculous number of waterfalls everywhere around. There is also a small city nearby where there is a newly built but kind of mediaeval European looking castle.
Transport
One thing that makes this place completely different from other places in Peru is that there are almost no cars here and no one is walking. Everyone drives tuk-tuk-s here or as they call it: Motokar. It is really convenient because you don’t need AC as it is usually completely open and the flow of air is enough to cool you down. It is obviously also much cheaper than a car. There is no public transport in the city. Basically Motokar is the only option. Suburban transportation is also quite different and complicated, there is no central bus Terminal like it is common practice in most parts of South America. There are several small stations usually owned by a single bus company and they are offering a very limited number of destinations.
Economy
According to wikipedia, this is the poorest region in Peru, but somehow I don’t feel it at all. The whole city is packed with fancy, modern shops and restaurants. There are good roads and there is a nice main square.
Walking around in the city, seeing that every street, every corner of the city is full of shops and businesses makes me remember many comments from Hof’s (Hof an der Saale, Germany) Facebook Group where people constantly cry about the lack of shops, the high number of closed businesses, stating that it is a sign of the economic collapse… Well this is obviously not a proper economical study of the situation, but they should come here and look around in the poorest region of Peru, that is in one of the poorest countries of America and rethink their statement.
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:Regiones_de_Per%C3%BA_por_PIB_per_c%C3%A1pita https://elcomercio.pe/respuestas/tramites/cuanto-es-el-sueldo-promedio-en-el-peru-y-en-que-ciudad-se-gana-mas-segun-el-inei-salario-minimo-vital-tdpe-noticia/
