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Hot Hot Amazon Paris
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Overnight we crossed the equator (a first for me).
We found a cabbie in town who took us to a bank and then to the hotel we wanted to stay at. Quite a nice fellow.
We got to the hotel, and Antonio (a guide for one of the many jungle companies here) helped us get a room and a place on the boat to Belem on Monday.
Manaus is described by the Lonely planet as a town that was almost the tropical Paris in the late 19th century but now is the tropical Cleveland. We could not agree more.
The old architecture of the theatre and some hotels and lighthouse is astonishing yet completely run down. We walked around the main parts of the city, the port, the new and old market (quite interesting and tons of crafts to buy, and very much full of life during the day).
Our new diet here is much better. Instead of cheap deep fried pastries, we have BBQ skewers of meat or chicken for $.50 - $.75 and very cheap fruit.
We ended up on Saturday night in what is described as the square in town and the Bar in town. There were some children skipping rope and riding motorized little cars, and a few people having beers, but in general nothing was happening. The city was dead. Quite disappointing. We were looking forward to a bit of nightlife but there was none to be had.
Sunday we took a bus to a marina 12km east of town to see the Joining of the waters, where two rivers joining to become one (the amazon). One of the rivers is the colour of a Cafe Ou Lait and the other is very very dark. They ran parallel for many kilometers without mixing. The boat trip was about 45 minutes and costs $1.50 each way. Quite worth it since other than the joining of the rivers we also saw dolphins quite close and some people have to pay $50/day to see that.
This day is election day in Brazil. All buses are free, and you cannot sell or serve alcohol until just after midnight. Everything is closed and very VERY dead.
The guide we meet explained that we are lucky because it is cool and pleasant right now. We checked our thermometer and it read 35 degrees. Apperantly it was 42 last week.
We did this day trip with a British couple who is just finishing of a year long trip to South America. They gave us some hints and stories of their trip.
Latest Comments (1)
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czesc dzielni podroznicy (reply)
Oct 2, 2006 18:50 EST by daria
Ogladamy Ameryke Poludniowa waszymi oczami i bardzo bardzo bardzo nam sie ona podoba. Moze tez wybierzemy sie w podroz... Mielismy nadzieje, ze wpadniecie na Michala imieniny - mielismy 'male' przyjecie i duzo jedzenia - ale widocznie byliscie bardzo zajeci :-). Zostawilismy kawalek sernika dla was. Sciskamy was mocno
Buziaki
Daria
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