Proper Photos

Here they are.

Encante

I was sitting in a no name bar in a no name town drinking no name local rum somewhere in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon. Kerosene lamps and warm drinks in this no electricity town, with plenty of mosquitos and heat to keep me company. In the jungle we pass around one cup and one pitcher. You fill the cup, pass the pitcher. After you finish your drink from the glass, you pass the glass to the man with the pitcher. It can go on like this for hours. After some Spanglish small talk with some of the town residents, I went down by the boat dock (the only means to get to this small village on a blackwater tributary of the Amazon). I needed to relieve myself from drinking the rum, and when I finished and turned back to the thatched roof bar I was in, I saw a pretty, fair skinned women clad in flowing white standing on the river bank. Buenos tardes, I said to her. Where are you from, she asked. I am from the United States, a long way from here. I only know the jungle, she told me. I like the jungle I said, but not the mosquitos. I live in a jungle city, she said, but it has no mosquitos. I would like that city I think. Do people look like you in your city? Yes, but we like to wear jewelry, like you. Would you like a necklace, she asked. She gave me a green necklace and put it over my head. It is very nice I told her, I am sorry I have no gift for you. I do not need gifts, she said, I have almost everything I need in Encante. It sounds like a very nice place. And she invited me to visit her city, but I told her that I could not because I could not leave my friends at the thatched roof bar. She said that she was sorry to hear that, and that she would go. I told her goodbye, and when I turned to return to the bar I heard a splash, and when I looked back into the black water I saw a pink river dolphin bob to the surface. Then I felt me necklace fall off my neck and I saw on the ground a bright green tree snake slithering away. The dolphin made a loud breath from the water and I went back to the no name bar in the no name town in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon.

Making a Decision

Well, I decided to fork out the cash and head to Mayuna Jungle Lodge - I mean, how many chances will I get to spend 5 days in the Amazon Lowland? I spend tonight in Iquitos, and leave at half nine tomorrow morning. There are tons of things to do here, so I really do not think that I will be bored. As I suggested in an earlier post, I will be ´sin email´ at the Lodge, so check back Friday for an update. With the notable exception of the wedding, this is my last adventure in Peru, so I hope to make it a good one.



Have a great week, and as always, thanks for stopping by.

Adventures in Iquitos

Wow, I really should have learned more Spanish before I got here.

I am having a drink by myself at a streetside bar just off the Plaza de Armas last night, and a nice Iquiteno invited me to join his friends for a beer last night. Victor spoke some English, but his friends spoke virtually none (including several Peruvian tax lawyers!). There were 4 of them in total, 2 guys and 2 girls. I ended up on the back of some girl´s morobike en route to another bar here where a band was warming up. Although we were soon joined by another Iquitena, Victor has vanished with his girlfriend. Which left me at the bar with 3 people that don´t speak English. And while I am proud of how far my Spanish has come in three and a half weeks, it isn´t really good enough for proper bar chattting. Eventually Victor came back to the place, but by that point he was too drunk for English. (Although the band was quite good once they started.) We whittled down to three, with Rony, Victor and I getting on one motorbike and speeding off to an outdoor discoteque somewhere here in Iquitos. I did my best impersonation of a person who can dance to Latin music for an hour or so, and then Rony brought me back to my hostal on his motorbike. Somewhere, we lost Victor outside the club. What a night.

I am going off to the jungle tomorrow, probably until Thursday. Cannot decide whether to take the budget option, or the more expensive nicer place (3X the price). I want a proper jungle experience, yet at the same time I think I am more likely to meet interesting travellers at the cheap place. Yet the chances of an English speaking guide are very slim there. I dunno. In any event, I will certainly be off blog Sunday morning through Thursday afternoon.

Welcome to the Jungle

After an overnight bus ride from Trujillo, I found myself once again briefly in the friendly confines of Casa Peschiera de San Isidro this morning. Natalia, Luis´s housekeeper, is the bomb - I was there for like 5 hours, and she made me breakfast, a fantastic lunch (some sort of organ meat, I think) and did my laundry: COMPLETE WITH MANUALLY SCRUBBING STAINS OUT OF MY TROUSERS AND SOCKS. Seriously, whatever he pays for her, she is a bargain.

After a circuitous taxi ride to evade Lima traffic, I arrived at Jorge Chavez Internacional for my flight to Iquitos. Two hours in the air over two of Peru´s climates - coastal desert and mountains - left me in its third, the selva Amazonas. I was struck immediately when exiting the plane for the tarmac by a familiar feeling: the smell of slash-and-burn agriculture and the moist heat reminded me of my first foray into the jungle (in Southeast Asia). A motocarro took me on a hair-raising trip through chaotic traffic from the airport into downtown Iquitos, and into my guesthouse (without air-con or hot water).

The Plaza de Armas is pleasant here, with some very attractive lighting on the main catedral. The largest city in the world inacccesible by road, Iquitos is certainly a thriving jungle town. The roar of motorbikes and motocarros is constant!

Wow, is the jungle muggy. I hear that the discoteques of Iquitos are really good fun, and I hope to find out this evening. In any event, a few cervecas are are in order to cool down this noche caliente.

Enjoy the weekend.