Amazone boat trip, part II

Posted on: 2008-07-31 00:55:48 - Comments (13)

Iquitos, where the boat trip ended, was amazing. Being the biggest city in the world not reachable by road, everything has to be brought over sea or flown in by plane. Four tenth of a million people only leaving the area through plane or boat. People don´t have money, so the boat is busy as descripted in the previous post.

My hostel was great, and I was happy to finally meet some other travellers again. My Spanish improved because a group of perfect English speaking Chilean boys, forced me to talk with them in Español. ´Que, que´ (what, what) they kept repeating when I tried to insert an English sentence. We played cards, drunk beer and (they) had fun laughing about my Spanish.

Iquitos has a famous, by Mr. Eiffel (that guy from the Eiffel tower) designed house called: The Iron House. Really it´s not even worth looking at, and at first I walked passed it for two times wondering where this impressive building could be. It´s made of, well, Iron and doesn´t even jump out, calling for attention. The book exchange there is good though, I finally got ride of the DaVince Code.

After a week of Iquitos, butterfly farm, jungle, floating (stinking) markets, and especially rain (and boy, does it rain in the jungle), I jumped, alone, on a boat to Yurimaguas. This is what I call a proper boat trip. Literally everything was better than on the first boat. Time for departion was set at 6.30 in the evening and indeed did we leave at 6.30. The food and toilets where heaps better. And last but not least, the living space was much larger with less people. The boat was not nearly as busy. It only took 3 nights before we docked in Yurimaguas in the morning.

I decided to took a bus to Moyobamba where I visited a great relaxing and cheap thermal bath and some botanical garden, which was a bit boring. Now I am in Chachapoyas, where today I went to the second (after Machu Picchu) most impressive ruins of the Peruvian country: Kueláp.

Dave wrote on 2008-08-01 12:48:07:

So the boat trip from hell was probably worth while.

Ow fyi: it's subtropical here also for one week straight. And sitting in an office filled with at least 10 large plants is almost like being in some botanic garden. (If only the phone would stop ringing). So I don't envy you at all. (argh. NOT! I do! Your on holiday for 8 months straight without one person bossing you around. How will you ever adapt to live in the 'real' world?).

ocke wrote on 2008-08-01 23:50:48:

Yeah, 8 months. Is`t heavy, a burden on my shoulders. Ahum, NOT! The most difficult is that I have to search for restaurants all the time, where to eat that particular day :-P.

What can I say? Sell you apartment, stay with your mom for 6 months, work your ass off but don`t spend any money, and in January you hit the road aswell.

hpk wrote on 2008-08-02 01:42:25:

je komt in de buurt ban cora , wonende in loya in zuid ecuador , breng even de groeten over
jij de boot wij de trein naar de kust met alle confoor
wat zijn we toch een reislustige familie

cobiedk wrote on 2008-08-02 09:59:11:

En wat zie ik, Henk (Amazone Boat Trip I)?! 22:54:40??? Dat is toch wel ver over je bedtijd!!

ocke wrote on 2008-08-02 15:16:28:

Nederlandse tijd...

En ik weet dat Cora in Loja (niet Loya) woont. Ik had haar al gesproken en dacht er aan even te bezoeken, maar ga nu rechtstreeks naar Quito.

hpk wrote on 2008-08-03 01:44:21:

is cuenca ook geen optie , moet een erg mooie stad zijn , mooie oude gebouwen , in ieder geval beter dan quito , hoe kom je door de oerwouden , kap je je er een weg door of is de civilisatie daar ook al doorgedrongen .
cobie , blijf wel bij de juiste tijd !

ralph wrote on 2008-08-05 17:36:07:

En wij gaan naar kroatie, lekker puh. Onderweg overnachten in de hoofdstad van Slovenie. Dan in Kroatie lekker klimmen zwemmen en hopelijk nog wat andere dingen. 350 meter klimmen samen met mr. bart en je jongere versie staat ook op het programma.

hpk wrote on 2008-08-08 20:00:04:

al die rivieren , ga eens de zee op , hier heel veel walvissen met jongen gezien , je kon ze bijna aanraken
en daarna in een slingerbus door de nacht 14 uur lang
en dan behoor je te slapen , jij hebt dat vele malen en langer gedaan ,hoe lang continueer je dat nog . Nu in Holambra in hetzelfde huis .

ocke wrote on 2008-08-09 16:22:03:

Een semi-cama, cama or cama-suite bus genomen?

cobiedk wrote on 2008-08-10 00:03:11:

Brief ontvangen 09.08.08, poststempel 31.07.08. Dankjewel, Joke en Henk!

hpk wrote on 2008-08-10 01:13:48:

cama wat , gewoon een luxe bus met slaapstoelen , je kon de stoel flink achterover zetten , maar al dat bochtenwerk was slapen nauwelijks mogelijk
nu slapen weer heerlijk , ondaks salamanders in de slaapkamer , olaf zal wel ergere dingen meemaken
wat is de volgende berg die je gaat beklimmen ?
co kaart van foz is onderweg , enigste die wij versturen! wel op prikbord bevestigen .

cobiedk wrote on 2008-08-10 07:52:42:

Wel gezellig dit kontakt met elkaar, Joke en Henk. En als iemand zich afvraagt wat er eigenlijk gebeurd is met ocke, de eigenaar van deze blog, dan is deze film bezienswaardig: The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)!!!!

ocke wrote on 2008-08-10 14:55:32:

Enige!

Pff, slaapstoelen. Dat heb ik nooit genomen in 8 maanden, veel te duur. Ik nam en neem altijd de goedkoopste.

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