Manaus!

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Hey everyone!!

Got to Manaus first thing Friday morning! Everyone in Brazil is so nice and helpful.... i was sat at the bus stop not entirely sure which bus to get on and when a bus came along a woman came up to me, told me it was going to the centre and told me to get on! And she also came and found me again to tell me when to get off the bus without me even asking her! So nice! :o) Found hostel easily (Manaus is quite small) and treated myself to a room with air conditioning instead of a fan for an extra pound! :o) Was SO hot there! Asked the guy at reception about the boat trips to Tabatinga and he said there are only 2 boats a week, one on a Saturday and one on Wednesday! There wasnt really much to do in Manaus, its really just a stopping point for people on their way up or down the Amazon or for jungle trips, which i had already decided I would do from the Bolivian side as it will be cheaper than the Brazilian side, so I decided I would get the boat the next day! The guy told me the boat was leaving at 4pm but you need to get there at 8am to make sure you get a good hammock spot!! As if 7 days on a boat isnt long enough u then need to get there 8 hours before it leaves!! hehe!! :o)

I was quite worried about being the only traveller on the boat as i had heard its mostly locals so i asked the guy at reception if he could phone the company who sells the tickets and ask if there are other travellers on the boat! He spoke to the guy and said that there were definately going to be quite a few travellers on the boat so I decided to book my ticket! Had to pay in cash (like everything here) so went wandering around looking for a cash machine! Found the biggest Mr Whippy icecream ive ever seen in my life and was walking back to the hostel when a guy who looked like Bob Marley told me i was beautiful and asked me to marry him! Im guessing he was joking because i was in the middle of devouring this HUGE icecream and definately had more of it on my face than id managed to get in my mouth! :o) hehe! Or maybe they just like women who like their food! :o)

When the guy came to sell me my ticket I asked him where in town i could buy a hammock and he said he´d show me! So he took me into town to the hammock section of the market and i bought a pink hammock! :o) He couldnt really speak any English but we managed to have a conversation (almost) in Portuguese and he seemed to find everything i said hilarious! Not really sure why! Maybe he was just laughing at me! hehe! :o) After that i just wandered around the markets and went to see the Opera House and the Cathedral which are apparantly the only sights to see in Manaus! The Lonely Planet Guide said Manous wasnt very nice etc but i really liked it there! The people were lovley, as everywhere in Brazil, and it was really colourful and busy!

Id read in the Lonely Planet that you should take water, toilet paper, diorreah (cant spell!) medication (apparantly the food on the boat can give you an upset stomach! uh oh!) etc on the boat! Thought id better go to the chemists just incase as id asked the guy how many toilets were on board and he said 6, then i asked how many people would be on board and he said maybe 200 so that made my decision to go to the chemists final! Thats no time to be getting the squits when youre sharing 6 toilets between 200 people! :o) Needless to say asking for the tablets in the pharmacy was slightly embarrasing as i obviously didnt know what it was called in Portugeuse so both myself and the chemist had to rely solely on hand gestures to communicate!! You can imagine!! hehe!! :o) I could have saved myself the embarrasement though as the food on the boat was fine! phew! :o)

Got an early night that evening as had to be up early the next morning - the guy who sold me the ticket was coming to pick me up at 8am to take me to the boat!

Going to have to do a seperate blog later on or tomorrow for the boat trip as ive run out of time! I met a German guy last night (woohoo finally someone to talk to!! hehe!!) and we are meeting at my hotel at 9am to go to the zoo and see the sights (not that there are many here!) - hope the zoo is animal-friendly otherwise im going to regret going! You know me and animals! :o)

I was supposed to be leaving here tomorrow and going to Iquitos on a fast boat but apparantly theres a big concert on tomorrow night (and its free!!) for the presidents of Colombia, Peru and Brazil! I think! The boy who told me was talking at a 100kph so not sure if i understood and Shakira is going to be there!! Woohoo! The German guy is staying for it and I decided i want to too! So im now staying here until Tuesday! The only rubbish thing about it is that the hotel im staying in (there are no hostels here!) is RUBBISH! There are more insects in my room and in the bathroom than on the Amazon boat, there is no proper window just an insect net thing so its soooo loud! Thats why im up so early - got woken up at half past 5! :o( (But actually it was a good thing as managed to get lots done this morning - went back to Tabatinga in Brazil on a motorbike taxi (very fun!!) to change my ticket!) A plank of wood fell out of the bed as soon as i lay on it (obviously shouldnt have had that burger for dinner hehe!) and its just generally a dump... and no mirror anywhere! nightmare! And its expensive because all the hotels have upped their prices because of this concert! Oh well, it will be worth it! It means i have to stay at the hotel managers house on Sunday evening though because there arent any hotel rooms left! :o( But he said i can stay there for free so thats nice! :o) Might try and get a room in the German guys hotel for Monday night as its cheaper and nicer!

OK i really have to go now and stop babbling!! :o) Will try and quickly attach some photos from Manaus!
Actually sorry will have to upload photos another time as I barely have any battery left on my camera and apparantly Colombia doesnt have European sockets like the rest of South America! :o( Hoping the German guy has an adapter though so can charge up camera and phone! So will add photos soon and do boat trip blog!!

Lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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