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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Feb 22, 2009 07:00 PM My hammock will wait for you...
I dont need my hammock further on this trip so I decided to leave it at Hospedaje Pascana -Pevez street in Iquitos. If somebody of you will be there with the intention to jump on the river boat, just go to Pascana and ask for my hammock - the owner promised to give it back to my friends for free.
I was rainy morning when I took a shared taxi to Iquitos a airport. Surprise was waiting there: they wanted me to pay airport tax for ny domestic flight in cash - 16.50 soles. Usually it is included in the price of the ticket - but, as you see - not in Peru!
I will fly within Peru using award ticket from American Airlines - it is worth to collect miles... By the way - do you know that Oneworld Aliance offers 10 percent discount on all tickets till April 12th? Also circle fares and RTW tickets... they celebrate 10th anniversary.
In Lima I had connection to Arequipa - the LAN flight was 3-hours delayed so when I landed in Arequipa it was dark, cold and it was raining. What a change: from the heat of 36 deg in Iquitos to 12 deg in Arequipa. Brrr... I am in Peruvian Andes!
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Feb 21, 2009 07:00 PM Carnival in Iquitos!!!
It is not famous Rio but they have also here carnival parade going trough the center of the city. No samba but their national flute-and-drums music. Several groups of dancers, a lot of colors and a crowd of people along the streets and on Plaza de Armas. There were of course the Queen of carnival passing by on o decorated pick-up car. Oh, la la! Topless, pretty local lady... And of course there were many other attractions... The dancers get tired very quickly - you can imagine what the effort they did in the strong sun and 36 deg Celsius!
I was taking pictures (hope to show you them in the future) but in the crowd zippers in my camera bag were open twice - nothing was taken from the pockets because there was nothing valuable. But I must tell you - I got angry... - this was in the daylight. So it is time to say goodbye to Iquitos in Amazonia - I am flying off tomorrow...
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Feb 20, 2009 07:00 PM Another boat sail to the tribes...
People from the tourist office in Iquitos will show you the way to cut down the costs of excursions. I wanted to see more native people living close to Iquitos. There is a competition between the boatmen at Bella Vista landing. I decided to rent a boat to go to two other villages on Momon river... On the way there is also snake farm to see. After bargaining I paid 30 soles /like 9 USD/ for the enjoyable half-day tour. We visited villages of Bora and Yagua tribes. Bora girls are definitely prettier. Yes, they charge money for the visit. But the secret is to go there alone and do not accept their high money expectations. For 10 soles they still can buy 10 kgs of rice for the family... Yaguas wanted to trade my watch for their souvenirs ;). They have even the skin of anaconda for sale! On the way back you can see snakes and other animals (15 soles entry). I was more happy to sail to the junction with huge Amazon River where pink dolphins were playing. I had another great day. Let me have my rhum in papaya (do you remember my culinar invention fro the Philippines? - here papaya cost half of a dollar, and a bottle of rhum (0.75l - just 3 dollars!) Delicious!
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Feb 19, 2009 07:00 PM Gringo in Iquitos - Peru
Do you dream about unspoiled Amazonia? Iquitos is the gateway to the Amazon adventures. You will find here many excursion offers. From half day boat tour for 35 USD to the few days stay in the remote jungle lodge where they charge like 120 USD per day. All of that is too expensive for me.
Looking for the cheap solutions I too a motorcarro (motocycle riskshaw) for 2.50 soles to Buena Vista landing place then there are public boats going frequently to Padre Cocha. Locals pay 1,50 but gringos like me - 3 soles. It is still less then a dollar for 20-minutes sail.
From the village Padre Cocha there is 25-min walk to the Pilpintuwasi - butterfly farm and animal orphange. For 15 soles the offer a tour showing you butterfiles of Amazon - big blue/black morphos are just amazing, buty very difficult to photograph. Thera are also Amazonian animals including minkeys, jaguar, tapir...
After return to Padre Cocha I took another walk to San Andres Village where native Indians Bora live.
In their maloka - meeting house they were just preparing food for Bora tribe fiesta on 28th February. They invited me to join, but sorry - I will be far away...
I asked them to wear their national costumes to see some tribal dancing and take few pictures. They asked for donation - they were happy to get 10 soles.
I retirned tp Iquitos tired (the heat is incredible) but happy - such an interesting day cost me just few dollars... Try, Amazon is also for the backpackers!
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Feb 18, 2009 07:00 PM Iquitos - Peruvian Amazon
The city lies on the upper Amazon - I expected that the river will be less wide here - so many kilometrers from Atlantic Ocean. This is not true - the biggest river on the globe here, in Peru is still wide and powerful!
Peru is less expensive for the traveller then Brazil - I stay in the friedly Hospedeje Pascana where they charge just 11 USD for thr room with shower and big fan. If you want also full beakfast it will cost you 8 soles extra. But you can buy eggs (0.30 s, bread - 3,80 per loaf and margarine - 3.60 per 0.25kg) and do it by yourself.
Money changers operates openly in front of the bank and they give 3.25 soles per 1 dollar. Be extremely alerted - they tried to cheat me twice before I finally get proper amount of money! There are also fake banknotes in circulation...
Iquitos for me is nicer then Manaus. In the time of rubber boom they bought an iron house made in Paris by Gustav Eiffel - now it is the main attraction of the city - on the central Plaza de Armas - housing shops and cafe.
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Feb 17, 2009 07:00 PM Rio Amazonas - third night in the hammock
I enjoyed nice sunset in the evening. Yes, I know that there are travellers who spent on the Amazon river boats much more days. Congratulations! It is the adventure to be tried but I think that already on the third day it could be boring and tiring. Unless you want to punish yourself three days on the slow boat is enough to try the taste of sailing the great river... Just let you know: there are also fest boats going from Santa Rosa to Iquitos, they do the route in 12 hours (and you pay hefty 60 USD for ticket) but you have to wait for the sufficient number of passengers, the travel is noisy and you do not go to the villages and little channels beetwen the river islands - I did not like it!
On the slow boat you see more, you have more time for the pictures from the open deck and it is more quiet travel - I was listening even to the birds on the shore!
In Iquitos river harbour I took a motor carro - popular motocycle rickshaw for 4 soles to get to the city. My big river odyssey is over...
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Feb 16, 2009 07:00 PM Sailing the Amazon
First night in the hammock was not so comfortable - the boat is calling villages even during the night making noise, people go up and down...
In the morning they served first meal included in the price: a cup of avena - well watered porridge and few crackers. Then on lunch and dinner you will get a plate af rice/noodles with beans and little piece of meat. Every day the same... No drinks - you can buy them in the"shop". I recognized that in my "cabin" (you cannot sleep there) there is 220 V socket and I was boiling unlimited number of teas.
On the first morning I saw what the rats did in the night in ma "cabin": they like not only my supply of bread but also some of my clothes... I have holes in my underwear now...
But it is big adventure: to sail this huge river, with a lush jungle on the banks (the boat sails very close to the bank due to the currents) and to visit the villages - where the villagers come aboard with exotic fruits and vegetables for sale. It is very, very hot - you can take the shower but of course in the shower there is a "coffee with milk colour" water from the river. It is the pleasure anyway!
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Feb 15, 2009 07:00 PM Amazon - this is not a cruise ship!
¨Lucho¨ arrived finally at 4.30 p.m. This is old and dirty junk boat with capacity of some 150 passengers plus cargo. I was lucky anyway - this boat is not big and gives some privacy to the passengers on the upper deck (if you can consider privacy staying with 20 other people). But I saw there much bigger boats with the real crowd aboard.
¨Lucho¨ has 3 decks. The lower one is for animals, timber, fish containers and so one - you must pass through it going up. I travelled with 4 black bufallos and a number of pigs -the smel wal not so nice... Then there is middle deck with one big hall which can accommodate like 120 hammocks. At the end of the deck there is little shop, 3 toilets/showers with a nice view if you left the door open (it is hard to afford closed door)
An then there is upper deck with few crampy cabins and and the breezy space under the roof. Yopu have to be as soon as possible on board to put your hammock there - this is the most comfortable place to travel.
Captain charged me ¨gringo price¨´- 80 soles to Iquitos (locals pay 60, 1 USD is worth 3,20 soles) Later, ashamed by locals /I complained to them/ he gave me a cabin ("cama") for this 20 extra soles. It is like extremely hot and stinking can of sardines but it is worth to have is to protect you luggage during multiday trip (bring your own lock). We departed at 7 pm. It takes 3 days to Iquitos - they say. The exact time of saling depends on the number of visited villages, capacity of cargo, water currents etc. Ahoy!
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Feb 14, 2009 07:00 PM By boat upstream Amazon river...
The decision was not easy. Data: 6 days on the boat to Tabatinga and then next 3 days to Iquitos. 9 days in total. Or turbo-prop flight Manaus - Tabatinga and then 3 days on the boat. I took the second solution.
Only one little airline: Trip flies to Tabatinga. They operate from terminal 2 in Manaus airport (I did not know about that - but you will save 15 minutes of sweaty walk from the main terminal 1). The flight on little ATR took me 2 hours 40 minutes. There were great views of the Big River en route.
Tabatinga lies at the conjuncjon of 3 frontiers: Columbia, Peru and Brazil - can you find on the map this remote place?
We landed in the empty airstrip at 2 pm. The only transport to the river port here is a taxi. I - the only tourist was asking people about the boats to Iquitos-Peru and they say there will be a boat tonight at 7 pm and then the next on Wednesday evening.
No reason to wait here 3 days till Wednesday! Go!
On the post of Policia Federal in Tabatinga village I got the Brazilian exit stamp - I took me only 5 minutes. Then in the ¨port¨on the huge Amazon River I took a little boat (5 reais fare) and after 10 minutes sail I landed on the other side of the river - in Peru.
They call this village Santa Rosa. Immigration Officer was plaing cards for money on the boat landing. I was waiting patiently more then an hour when they will finish... Then I got the stamp to my passport. Welcome to Peru!
But where is my boat to Iquitos? They hope it will come in the evening. I do hope too!
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Feb 13, 2009 07:00 PM Manaus - in the Amazon - ready for the carnival
This was again TAM hopper flight - before I landed in Manaus we visited Belem and Santarem = 3 flight segments - hot sandwich and beer on each one, like a dinner...
It was 1 o´clock local time when I got my backpack in the Manaus airport terminal. Do not trust tourist information desk and taxi drivers, that in the night there is no bus service to the town. Taxis ask for 49 reais...
When I was waiting patiently the bus 306 appeared and they took me (I was the only passenger) for 2 reais to the city. Day fare is 1 reais...
Hostels are located here close to the main city landmark - Teatro Amazonas. I made a choice of Manaus Tour Trip hostel.
Sorry it is overpriced (showers downstairs), they will try to charge you for the full day if you will come early am. They switch off a/c for the whole day, but... next time I will try Australian hostel...
I took a walk around the town (I have been here years ago). The atmosphere has changed. The river is still wide and there are little passenger ships departing upstream to Tabatinga (360 reais - up to 6 days) and downstream to Belem (190 reais - 4 days) - hot news worth a gold! Do yo want me to take this one to Tabatinga?
Manaus is getting ready for the carnival - it is already ouverture - a lot of beer on the streets (3 cans for 5 reais), a lot af music and perofmance - I hear a noise in the evening...
I bougth a hammock for travel on the deck of the ship - the last expensive costs like 10 USD...
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