Nightlife in Pucallpa

Bars, clubs and discos

Pucallpa has a lively night scene at weekends when young locals tend to fill up the clubs. The most popular clubs are not in the centre of Pucallpa, but in Yarinacocha. El Mandingo (Av. Bellavista 1050), and La Granja, both on the road to Pucallpa, are the best clubs in Pucallpa itself, although many of the most popular places are in Yarinacocha at weekends, including the Shimbillo, a restaurant which becomes a lively disco on Saturdays and Sundays.

Cinemas

There is a small, rather poor cinema showing Hollywood releases on Av. San Martin, opposite the Hotel Sol del Oriente

Shopping in Pucallpa

The native communities around Pucallpa produce many crafts that can be bought from the villages themselves or in Pucallpa and Yarinacocha. There are several craft shops that sell these products, although it is generally cheaper to buy them directly from one of the indigenous people who produce them and can often be seen wandering around the city. The crafts market in Puerto Callao has closed down. There are a number of different crafts, although the ceramics and textiles are of a particularly high quality. There is also much jewellery made from plants and beads from the forest.

Supermarkets

The Flor de Cactus is a very small supermarket at Jr. Libertad 550. There are also several grocery stores on Jr. Ucayali.

Markets

The market is located on Jr. Tacna, one block up from the Plaza de Armas.

Getting in Pucallpa

Air connections

The easiest way of getting to and from Pucallpa is by plane. Aerocontinente (Jr. 7 de Junio 861, T 575643) and TANS Peru (Jr. Raymondi 676, T 575421) have good air connections to Lima. Saosa (in the airport, T 578667) flies to Tarapoto daily for USD 57, to Contama daily for USD 34 and occasionally to Atalaya for USD 50.

The airport is modern and airy and easy to reach. Colectivos marked Pista will take you from Jr. Ucayali into the airport building for USD 0.30. Otherwise, a taxi will charge about USD 1.50.

Bus connections

The road to Tingo Maria is largely unpaved and not in great condition, but there are plenty of buses and cars which use it.

Tingo Maria/Huanuco

Colectivos to Tingo Maria take 5 hours and cost USD 10 per person. They leave when full, although it can take a couple of hours for this. The best time is in the mornings. From there it is possible to catch other colectivos to Huanuco. Buses going to Lima pass through Tingo Maria after about 8 hours and charge USD 6. They pass through Huanuco 3 hours later and charge around USD 7 from Pucallpa. Leon de Huanuco (Jr. Tacna 627) has an additional service to Huanuco at 7am.

Lima

The journey to Lima takes around 18 to 20 hours and most companies charge about USD 10 for the journey. The road is rough and unpaved as far as Tingo Maria, from where it is well paved. All buses along this route are basic, making plenty of stops. If you want a better bus, change in Huanuco, from where there are good bus services to Lima. Leon de Huanuco (Jr. Tacna 627) has services at 10am and 10.30am. Turismo Central (Jr. 7 de Junio 955) has a bus at 10am. Transportes Rey (Jr. Raymondi 677) has a bus at 11am. TransAmazonico (Jr. Tacna 628) has a service at 10.30am.
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Introducation of Pucallpa

Pucallpa (Quechua: “red earth”) is a busy Amazon frontier town in Peru which sits on the banks of the Ucayali River, a major tributary which feeds the Amazon River. Pucallpa is the capital of the Ucayali region and has more than 200,000 citizens. Pucallpa is 155 meters above sea level.Pucallpa was founded on October 13, 1888, though a small community had existed on the site since 1534.

Prior the completion of the 846km long Lima-Pucallpa highway (which in recent times the part closest to Pucallpa has disintegrated to a mudhole turning the original 2 day drive to a 2 and a half day drive to Lima) 1945, Pucallpa was a small, isolated town without electricity or paved roads. Today, however, the city has grown greatly in size and is a centre for local agriculture and industry, with numerous sawmills, rosewood oil factories and farms in its vicinity. Pucallpa is also the terminus for a 76km long oil pipeline from the Ganso Azul oilfields in the southwest.

The Alexander von Humboldt and Biabo-Cordillera Azul National Forests are located just to the west of Pucallpa. Pucallpa is not known for being a tourist attraction, because there is not as much to do there as there are in other places, however there are a few interesting places that are close. Just 7 kilometers away is Lake Yarinacocha, where the native community of San Francisco resides. Also close by is Aguatya, where there are waterfalls and a beautiful lake.