A boy in every port
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2004
1
16
88
Trip End
Feb 01, 2005
Belém,
Brazil
Saturday, March 27, 2004
I liked Belém from the moment I saw my first yellowy glimpse of the Amazon River. My hotel overlooked a busy market street with buses roaring by and people waiting at the bus stop directly in front of the hotel, and I spent many hours watching people from the 2nd floor.
I was keen to get stuck into things with my upcoming Amazon adventure and offloading some weight (2.631kg to be exact) in a box home. Firstly I had to get in touch with Timo and find out where he was staying so we could organise our boat trip. After leaving a couple of messages at different hotels he thought I might stay at, he came and left a message for me at my hotel
01 Street from my window
. As Timo liked Belém he wanted to stay and hang out for a bit, which suited me fine as I also liked the city. Day two in Belém and I managed to find myself another Brazilian boyfriend, Jaime, at the post office. He was a security guard there and when I needed my phrasebook to help me communicate with the teller, he picked it up and flipped through until he found "Would you like to go somewhere".
He met me at my hotel that evening and we went to the docks for a drink. The docks remind me so much of Melbourne and Southgate. There are a plethora of restaurants inside and outside along the riverfront. The minute I walked along the docks I felt so removed from the poverty, grime and noise of the rest of Brazil. It was so similar to back home that I felt a bit uneasy mixing amongst the middle and upper classes whilst backpacking Brazil.
Jaime took quite a shine to me and I must say that I took full advantage of him being a local (and from Santarèm to boot) and asked him for information on the boats to Santarèm. He was only too pleased to help and promised to call a friend the next morning and ask about boats and prices.
02 The Amazon from the Fortress
I met him the next morning and he said that the best boat wasn´t leaving until the following Tuesday. I said that Timo and I wanted to go on Friday so we would check that boat out. He met me later after work and we went for a walk to the docks again and then as we were walking back to the hotel to meet Timo and John, another Aussie guy, we came across the booking agency for the boat. We went in and Jaime managed to get the price down from R$140 to R$110 - the benefits of being with a local!! - on the 11 de Maio leaving 6pm on Friday.
We then went out to a cachaçaria (rum bar) for some drinks and continually looking for the apparently hot nightlife in Belém went to a yuppie bar where I again felt as though I was back home going to a bar in the city with all the beautiful people. It was here that I started to get really frustrated with Jaime and his claustrophobic ways and inability to walk in a straight line while holding my hand. A Brazilian friend, Daniel, had said that Brazilian men are like bubblegum because they stick. This was so true of Jaime. To top things off, I was getting very confused and frustrated speaking solely in Portuguese, a language I really don´t have much of a grasp of beyond talking about my travels, family, getting to the next place and eating. I ended up having a bit of a ´nana and needing to go back to the hotel for some space
03 Canguru
. Jaime obviously didn´t notice or care because he was arranging to meet me again the next night for the last time in Belém.The next day Timo and I went on a hammock buying mission, knowing that we needed to get one instead of putting it off like we had been all week. I know that I got ripped off, I paid R$33 for mine, plus ropes for another R$3, but I couldn´t bargain the guy down anymore. Anyway, I finally had a hammock - a bed for 24 days!
I was wandering the streets and came across some Australian girls I met in Jeri and then again at Timo´s hostel. They said that they were on the same boat as us and had already hung their hammocks telling me that all the good spots were going. They were spending the night on the boat and would keep an eye out for our hammocks.
I was on my way to see Timo for an afternoon tea of cakes from the doceria and instead of cake we were soon speeding our way to the boat with our hammocks in hand. We soon found out that the boat wasn´t the same as in the picture. It was much smaller and shabbier. We found a spot to hang our hammocks and with the help of a man, managed to hang them up. After this, we felt much better and I scoffed 395g of various cakes from the doceria.
Jaime came around again for the last time and we went to the docks for a drink with John and Timo. He walked me back to the hotel and was telling me all sorts of stuff like how he would always remember me and that I was taking a little piece of his heart and all this other lovey dovey stuff which I couldn´t be bothered translating because I really didn´t want to hear it. Anyway, he reckoned he was going to come down to the docks before the boat took off, but I didn´t believe that he could get through the security, but believe I should.
I got on the boat about 12 the next day after stocking up on biscuits and water and spent the day hanging with other gringos, meeting more people and hanging in my hammock reading. I was in my hammock, barely visible due to the surrounding hammocks when Jaime tapped me on the shoulder. I faced my moment of dread and he hung around for awhile before the boat left telling me that he wanted to come to Santarèm with me, and I told him no. He then tried to pash me in front of the whole boat, something I wasn´t up for. I was already over him and didn´t want anymore bad kissing so I told him that he had to go and I said goodbye and went to wait for cast off. Bye bye Belém.
Things I have learned
* Don´t tell them where you are staying as they will wait for you all night if need be.
* Get on the boat quick and meet as many people as possible before cast off.
* In rainy cities you always need to carry an umbrella with you.
