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Published: July 19th 2008
Hey everyone!!
Survived the 6 day boat trip up the Amazon and finally have internet again so will get up to date on my blogs!! first of all.... Belem!!
Finally got to Belem after a 36hour coach trip, was quite boring but OK! Michi suggested eating the whole way there so the journey would be more comfortable on my extra padded bottom which i gladly did! Although my first pit stop to get sweets didnt really go to plan as all the "sweets" i bought turned out to be bubblegum!! :o( I thought the woman looked at me a bit strangely when i said i wanted 10 of them! After 5 hours i was bored of reading and the only other thing i could think of to pass the time was to try eating all my bubblegum at once and see if i could blow a bubble as big as my head! :o) I decided not to do it just incase it worked and i would have to spend the next 30hours mummified (dont think thats a word!? oh well it is now! :o) ) in gum! :o) Got to Belem at 11pm the next day and got to
the hostel ok!
I was soooo excited about having a shower the next morning as i hadnt been able to have a shower in forever and typically... there was no water!! Went downstairs and had a mini tantrum and the guy said it would come back on in 20mins, which it didnt so had to wait until the evening! :o( Unfortunately there were barely any travellers in the hostel - dont think Belem is overly popular! There was a Swiss couple i practiced my German on over breakfast but i didnt want to be a tag on so i just did my own thing! There were 2 Brazilian girls in my room when i got there but they couldnt speak any English and were leaving that day so I ended up having the room to myself for the next 2 days!
On the first day i just wandered around town, went to the old town, looked at the sights, went to the markets etc! It was sooooo disgustingly hot though.... i was such a sweaty betty!! Luckily the shower was working again when i got back!! :o) At one point I thought i was going to faint from
the heat and because i was so tired of walking (i was lost again!!) so i bought a bottle of water and crisps and sat down on a bench!! Saw the biggest fattest ants ive ever seen in my life and just as i was thinking how gross it would be if one of those crawled up your leg i saw one disappearing up my skirt!! I havent quite overcome my fear of all insects yet so despite the people sat around me i jumped up screaming, scrabbling around in my skirt until i was sure there were no more in there! The locals (who were already staring before that happened) were then staring at my with their mouths hanging open in utter fascination!! hehe! Oh well, i thought ive got noone else to entertain so i might aswell entertain the locals! :o)
The next day i finally managed to find a travel agency and booked my flight to Manaus which was leaving the next day at 8am - ouch!! :o) That day i just wandered around the old city again and ended up just sitting in a park and reading my book because it was too hot to
move and there wasnt really much else to see! :o) Belem was quite nice though.... a lot richer and well maintained compared to most other Brazilian cities! Apparantly thats because its the gateway to the Amazon so all goods pass through Belem before going to market! The old town is nice to wander around and there are lots of nice parks and squares but apart from that there really isnt that much to see or do!
Not sure if i can upload photos here but will try! Will do Manaus and river boat blogs tomorrow as its already dark here and im not sure how safe it is after dark and im starving so best get going!!! :o)
Lots and lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Michi
non-member comment
ohoh ...
I was joking when suggesting to get a padded bottom! Hope it s gone when you return! hehe! just kidding! Why did we train with the insects when you can not stand an ant now!? Better don't get to the jungle! Michi xxx