Stalled

Trip Start Jun 07, 2008
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Trip End Sep 14, 2008


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Flag of Brazil  , State of Maranhao,
Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Thanks to all the delays of the preceeding week, I also missed the boat I'd hoped to catch out of Manaus. This left me with three days to get to know this huge international port city in the middle of the Amazon. Unfortunately, one would have been plenty. Got there on a Sunday and that night discovered that there was vitually nowhere to eat. After a bit of wandering around I eventually found a few food stalls on the street. Strolling around at night here wasn't particuarly advisable (as the employees at my hostel constantly reminded me). Lots of dark, deserted streets and virtually no other tourists. Never had any trouble though, just didn't feel very safe.

On my second day I met a guy from England who'd just finished a month of dental volunteer work in Bolivia. We toured the former mansion of a rubber baron and attempted to visit a forest preserve only to find it closed. Pigged out on ice cream and a lunch buffet too. One of my favorite things about Brazil is their per-kilo lunch buffets. Pretty simple, you load your plate up with whatever you want and pay based on weight instead of the all-you-can-eat version you find back at home. A great way to try out a lot of new foods, and this way no one wastes anything. Most places cost at least $12 a kilo, which is not a bad deal for Brazil. Yes, Brazil is expensive. Almost as expensive as the US. Especially painful after paying Bolivian prices.

After much hunting, I managed to find a book exchange at Hostel Manaus. A big relief as I had nothing left to read and was about to embark on seven days of doing not much besides laying in a hammock! Armed with plenty of new reading material, I was ready for my longest Amazon boat journey.

More photos from Manaus on flickr.
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