Isolation in Iquitos

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Hola.

Just made it to Iquitos today. Had to fly on standby this morning because I didn´t book it far enough in advance to do it on the internet. It made for a hectic morning. I woke up at 6 after a late night at the hostel bar. The plane took off at 9:00 so I arrived 2 hours early at 7am... after a speedy and terrifying taxi ride to the aeropuerto. They told me to come up to the ticket desk at 8:30 to see if anything opens up. Thanks to a little good luck, they were able to find a seat for me on the plane. I just had to withdraw some cash (they dont take cards at the counter with Starperu) and pay at a different counter before coming back to check my bag and receive my ticket. Once I got back to the ticket counter, I had about 15 minutes to spare. One of the ticket ladies frantically handed my ticket, while the other took off sprinting through the airport, beckoning me to follow. It was quite a debaucle, as she helped me cut the 20 min line to pay airport tax, as well as cut in line for security. We were running the entire time, and made the flight minutes before takeoff.

I arrived in Iquito around 12:30 after a quick stop in Pucallpa. Iquito is a town set back deep in the Amazon in Northeastern Peru. It is the largest city in the world not accessible by land; yep, only reachable by planes and lanchas (boats). Everyone here drives motorbikes... and the taxis are (mostly) all tuktuks. The streets are surprisingly full of them, which made for a mildly chaotic ride from the airport...as per usual. My travel book describes Iquito as a sassy, yet chaotic town. Most accurate description ever. The driver of my tuk tuk (google it, they are interesting to see) took me for a tour of the city, free of charge, which included barreling through the narrow sidewalk in the mercado... stopping briefly to buy me some plantanas (bananas). I checked into a hostel and had some lunch right on the river, overlooking the entire floodplane and amazon jungle (selva). I ordered alligator (when in rome I guess) which tasted like a very tough filet of chicked. I also made it to Puerto Mazusa, and checked out the times of departures for the boats. With the help of another tuk tuk driver, I was able to efficiently figure out my plans for tomorrow. I will be boarding a cargo boat headed for desolate Lagunas where I will stop for 2 days to do a jungle tour to see some of the wildlife, firsthand. After Lagunas, I will catch a different boat which will take me onto Yurimaguas, and complete my river journey. Should cost a little more than 100 soles to reserve a spot for my hammock on the second floor. It is double the cost of the lower floor, but much less crowded and my bag will be much safer.

Tomorrow, I plan on gathering the essentials for my boating trip: Hammock, food, booze, water, and a new book. They serve meals on the boat, but I spoke with a tourista today that told me they are a bit dodgy! Apparently the bugs aren´t bad on the river, only when trecking into the trees of the jungle, luckily.

Might be out of touch for a few days, until I complete my river trip to Yurimaguas. It is strange traveling alone, but not lonely. I find myself trying to talk to the locals more, and becoming engaged in conversation with most tourists. Plus I have cable tv at my hostel... woot!

Well, time for dinner. Ciao!

I still need to catch up about Machu Picchu, and my second visit to Lima... but I figure I will just upload some pictures. They will do the most justice.

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