Belem and some damn good Amazonia beer

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Tim Version:
* Stayed with an incredibly good couchsurfing host and got to meet a few other CSers around.
* Bought my first hammock (my future bed for the boat ride), checked out Belem and enjoyed some seriously good Amazonia brand on tap beer and food!

The version that still hasn't learn that when you're at a buffet you don't have to try and eat the whole damn thing:

... however, remember I AM backpacking on a budget! If you can swipe sauce and sugar packets, you do, and that kinda stuff, so when you pay for a buffet you kinda expect not to have to eat for the next two meals (and often you don't have any money to anyway!!)

Anyway, Belem, argh of a bus ride! The roads between Fortaleza and Belem aren't the greatest. Coming out of Jericoacoara there is no direct way to Belem. You can go to Jijoca and down to PLACE or you can go to Camino and then down to the same town but trying to find info on both routes was failing and it was all to meet the bus from Fortaleza to Belem on its way. It also looked like it was going to be more expensive to use these other "shorter" routes (transit time and missed connections add up to a lot) so I ended up backtracking myself - 7 hours from Jericoacoara to Fortaleza, a few hours in transit there, then 24 hours which turned into 27 hours by bus to Belem. Im getting so used to long travelling times it is just normal now. It did however give me more time with my Portuguese language tapes and I gotta tell ya, they're working now! In 3 weeks I speak more Portuguese than I do Spanish and I'm starting to understand more than the usual travel questions and conversation.

Humour, man I miss it! I only get it with English speakers and Im not around them that much now, and without humour half my personality just disappears!! Heh that may say something of my personality but I prefer to just ignore that! A life without jokes, sarcastic comments, and the odd dig at someone just isn't life!! I hope so much and have the while-Im-in-Brazil goal of trying to get my language skills in Portuguese to that point and I hope so much I can reach it!! I.e. right now I'm with a Uruguayan, 2 French, and 3 Brazilians and its all pure Portuguese meaning Im in a lot of the general conversation but when someone speaks fast, enters a more intricate topic or makes a joke then I totally miss everything and its killin me!!

Wow heh sidetracked. Belem is good. Its a port town but its good, which is a big thing because port towns are often the seediest and dirtiest places around!! I arrived late and went to my hosts place so didn't see much on day 1. We were going to head out that night but my host noticed and pointed out that I was contantly squinting with tired red eyes while talking to her and that it was probably smarter to get some sleep tonight so I agreed and slept like a... well, someone who had stuck for 2 days and nights on buses heh. The next day and those after though I got to see the XXXX lookout, bird house and butterfly enclosure, and got my first real view of the Amazon river (well, technically I don't think it is yet... its the murky one only and it hasn't mixed with the Rio Negro yet) and was excited to try out this river voyage! Because of the humidity up here many buildings look aged far beyond their years, or are covered in tiles to battle the humidity (giving a retro look) giving the city an interesting look. It also at time of writing has a lot of new buildings going up and looks to be a real city on the up and up!

Now normally I do my walking thing but here, nope, not gonna happen! Sporadic tropical rain has taken on a whole new meaning for me, and it's funny but you have to walk around in shorts and Tshirt sweating but also always having an umbrella on the ready for the rain. Part of the reason is that because it is so damn humid if you get wet then you are not going to dry despite the heat and sunshine. I personally still love this weather but I can see how it drives others crazy!! My host however very kindly took us around mostly in her car, but it showed just how essential having a car is here, not for distances like at home in Perth but just to combat the weather issues here.

Down at the markets I got to buy my very first hammock! Im pretty sure every Central and South American kid has their first hammock and knows how to use and tie one up by age 2, but for me it was a big thing! I got one of the 15real travel ones, light and simple and cheap, all synthetic and perfect for travelling with! A little rope is always essential too so don't forget to buy that. This was to be my bed for my upcoming 3 day voyage down the river to Santarem, but as I also found out through a Canadian guy I met with some other couchsurfers, it would also be my bed in Alter Do Chao!

A yes, searching for river boat tickets. OK, there are people selling everywhere. I personally bought mine from the Hidrovario (bus terminal for boats). We (well really my host in her perfect Brazilian portuguese, my accent here just raises prices for things like this) found a trusty looking vendor and bargained a price out, got him to take us to the ticket booth from the company where we could see a picture of the boat, then left and checked out other places heh. We did however return to the same people and bought a ticket so we didn't waste their time... My boat had the name N/M Santarem, ironic and easy to remember as it was my destination, and was a fairly large one. As it turns out it looks like it is one of if not the best boat to catch down to Santarem. One thing to find out though is where does it leave from! Heh I only found this out on the day I was leavin by going from one terminal to the next trying to find my boat, and it turned out that it left from a location quite a long way away. I also found that I couldn't leave Belem at all fo 4 days as that is when the first boat was leaving so that entended my stay here and Im glad it did!

Another highlight of Belem is the Amazonia brewery / restaurant / pub. Its awesome, located on the docks in a converted ship wharehouse (sound familiar to Little Creatures in Perth?), but with something a little new I hadn't seen before - a band located on a moving aerial platform that changes throughout the night so everyone gets to hear the music evenly! What an incredible idea! As the area already had a frieght container crane inside it, instead of ripping it out they have instead converted it into a platform for a full size band that plays over the top of those eating their meals inside, and inbetween songs the platform moves back and forth over the top of the restaurant diners so that everyone has equal chance at hearing the band at its best. An incredible idea!! As it is we sat outside heh but still. This is also where we had the buffet, which includes all the beer and food you can drink, so I well and truly lived that up in great part owing to Amazonia Black, an incredibly delicious dark ale that they make and sell that I fell in love with! With a view over the river and the well lit up lively dock areas all around (nearly all the docks in this part are converted to things like this) it was a perfect night and was my finish to my time in Belem.

Besides all of that and some other nights out with other CSers at other various pubs, I just thoroughly enjoyed living a kind of normal life for a few days with my incredible host! Wake up, have breakfast, work on the PC planning some things, go out and buy what I need and research, then finish the day with food and drinks with friends. Its exciting and different to do now!

The time however came around lunch time on my last day to go and find and get a spot on my boat to Santarem, something you are advised to do early as hammock spots on the boats fill fast, so no more bed and no more house with everything - back to basic cramped living and on a hammock! I know these rides are rumoured to be mind numbingly boring and Im sure it will be true to an extent but really Im willing to take some boredom as it'll be mixed in with cruising down the Amazon getting to see the river and jungle first hand. Not a bad trade!

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Photos

Room with a view
From my very kind host's apartment, an incredible view of part of the City of Belem

Down at the docks
Just outside the Amazonia beer place

"Damn those birds look tasty..."
"If only it weren't for the damn mesh!"

Birds dressed up for Carnaval
The colour of these birds is incredible!