Arrived in Manaus on Sunday after a 14hr bus ride from Boa Visata. The bus terminal is a little way out of town, although one can see that this place has a lot of industry and international names here. We haggle with about 7 taxi drivers on price as it seems that no matter what town we arrive in new people provide a constant stream for them to test their Rip Off skills on. We finally settled for an amount which while still high we accepted. We did see however that if we had walked 10 minutes downtown from the station towards the city that we would have been able to get a bus for a 20th of the price. It was stinking hot and we wanted to get into the city to find our hotel.
Our Hotel - the 10th Julio is not bad and is ideally located to get to see the old part of the city and be able to walk to most of the places in Manuas that we want. Loads of travel places and we have no problems finding people wanting to sell us tours.
Advice: Sunday is truly a day of rest here. NOTHING is open and the streets are deserted. We wander around looking for somewhere to eat. We find that the local restaurant on the corner near the hotel does food by weight... Novel concept for us however we are quick learners and it turns out to be a winner. We ate like kings as they have various meats on the BBQ which are great. Washed down with a couple of beers and we are happy bunnies! The guidebook (now been renamed the hitchhikers guide) states the hotel Laundry service is crap so we go in search of one but it appears that everyone either buys new clothes or does their own. We are in a hurry as we have one day of clean stuff as the rest have a smell that comes straight from the depths of Boa Vista jungle and have been wet for days which is not funny. We are chuffed to bits our stuff comes back smelling great.
The town itself is an interesting place and you can see that there are loads of restoration projects on the go with some interesting architecture. People continue to be friendly and we enjoy doing some exploring. The Opera House is great and we decide to head there next Sunday for a free concert. The place gives you a clear picture of what this city must have been like at the height of the rubber boom. We decide to look for a tour and find a real treat in a tour company that has hassled us the least since our arrival - Iguana Tours. Run by Gerry he has a lodge (Juma River Inn) It turned out yo be a great decision as the who experience was fantastic. We set off early the next day after 2 days in Manaus and We met some great people and even though Ems was ill for a couple of days thanks to the Malaria tablets she is on, we had a super time. It has been something that Ems has really wanted to do for many years and it did not disappoint.
One point for Rodney... We met many people in the Amazon and they all seem to have stayed in great shape as they have had very physical lives... We took one picture of a 60 year old chap for you to see what your body is capable of with a bit more gym.... Knew you would be pleased...!! :-) More thumbnails ...
Where I stayed:
10 de Julho
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