TDI: 2 What's this?
Amazon – Too much adventure
Iquitos is the largest city that can’t be reached by road. Not only in Peru… In the whole world! You could get here by endless boat journey from Lima, or by flight. The main reason why tourists come here is to take a trip to the Amazon. My traveling buddy Najib and I were walking in the city center in order to find out how to get to the Amazon wilderness. At the 1st corner, some guy in front of the agency approached us and asked if we were interested in the Amazon trip.
After responding ‘’Yes’’, he asked us: ‘’Are you looking for a tourist trip or an adventure trip?’’
Najib and I exchanged surprising looks before I looked back at him and said: ‘’We thought you’d never ask…’’
‘’Adventure Trip?’’ He demanded confirmation.
‘’Yes, please!’’
The agent gave us a quote for 5 day / 4-night boat trip. He has also specified how the quote is for the group of 4 people, so if Najib and I find 2 more to join us, we could save some $$.
We easily added 2 more from our hostel. The first one was Diego, a Bolivian backpacker, who is traveling Peru on a tight budget (not European style tight, but rather South American style tight). He has been sleeping in the hammock at the hostel terrace, so he doesn’t run out of money. Later on, he continued traveling Central America for months and working at the front desks of the hostels. Diego is a very, very enthusiastic traveler, a constant source of positive energy. He also had a serious initiative to learn English. I was so happy I got to hang out and become friends with a middle-class Bolivian in the early ’20s that has such an open mind and adventurous mentality. It is extremely rare to run across a backpacker from a developing country.
2nd was Bernard from Germany, who quit his office job, saved some money, and took some time off to travel to Peru and the neighboring countries. He was looking for inspiration… Trying to figure out what to do next in life. I was excited for him. Later on, he ended up living in Italy with his new girlfriend.
The next morning, the agent introduced us to our guide, nicknamed ‘Commando’, and his teenage son, that had the role of an assistant guide. So 6 of us loaded a small wooden boat, just outside of Iquitos, and off we went.
Commando explained to us how we are at the end of the dry season, meaning the water level is very low, so we will get stuck frequently and in that event, we will need to get off the boat and push.
The journey has started very mellowly. Occasionally we would jump out of the boat into the river up to our thighs, make a few steps pushing, then jump back in and let the engine do the work. The tricky part about pushing was, the river ground was full of tree logs and big branches that we weren’t able to see cause the river was very murky… you know…like the Amazon River. So we started getting bruises from hitting the logs & branches on our shins and slipping… the adventure has begun!
Then we were passing by some nice wooden houses by the river. Commando told us these are the lodges for the ‘Tourist Trip’. If we had signed up for that one, he explained, we would be sitting here drinking Pisco Sour for 4 days. That’s what Peru is all about, isn’t it? We were looking at the lodges so happy we haven’t signed up for that option.
As we proceeded, jumping out of the boat into the muddy, branchy river was more frequent. In some cases, we were pushing the boat while the water was at our chest level. While pushing, it was easy to get stuck in the branches or slip. That made jumping back into the boat very challenging.
At one point, while pushing, I wasn’t able to jump back into the boat on time. The boat started moving, everybody was inside except for me. Wasn’t the first time. So I am walking & fighting tree logs and branches in the river that I can’t see… It’s a mess down there! I felt like the whole river was covered with a maze of branches. I looked to the right and saw a small surface of a brunch-free coast. Just dark soil. So, instead of proceeding forward, I told the rest of the crew: “I’ll get to the shore, then move forward along it!’’
I have easily reached the shore, but when I made a confident step on the branch-less ground on the shore, my foot fell through. I Ended up getting stuck in the mud up to my upper thighs! My struggles were quite entertaining for the rest of the crew. Eventually, I made it back to the boat. I had about 2 minutes to relax before the boat got stuck again. At this moment I thought: OK, we have experienced this adventure, but it’s not fun anymore!
After about 2 hours of the journey, we all started to feel tired. But the boat persistently kept getting stuck and we kept jumping out and fighting. We were all on the same page: We had enough and desperately wanted Commando to say: ‘’We are here!’’ But, none of us complained… just silently suffered.
Commando has finally announced those 3 magic words after 4 hours of the boat-pushing journey! We were unloading the boat while thinking of our personal needs: thirsty, hungry, toilet (number 1, number 2), smoking a cigarette, breathing… all 4 of us had a list of things we desperately wanted to do as soon as we get on the shore.
As we were unloading, Commando was introducing us to the further plan: “We need to go fishing and catch enough for dinner before it gets dark. But before fishing, we gotta set tents”. Basically, we had time to take a quick leak, and then back into action. No time for number 2, no time to eat, no time to relax. There was nothing to eat anyway, so fishing was indeed necessary. We were tying the hammocks on the trees, then the tents around them, so from the distance, they looked like flying tents.
During this phase, Commando was working very fast and urging us we don’t have much time. While tying hammocks, I took a quick 360, to get an initial impression of our home for the next 4 days. We were obviously very far away from any possible signs of civilization.
You can find plenty of jungle photos, like this one, in my Sri Lanka photo gallery post.
Once Commando found six long bamboo branches, he started attaching hooks to them so we could use them as fishing rods. Then we had to go back into the boat… Fuck, not again! I really wanted to chill on the shore. The boat ride further down the river was no different… Even worse, actually, cause we had the time pressure. We had to push through to our fishing spot and catch enough fish for 6 of us before night falls. About 40 min later we got seriously stuck. It was super shallow everywhere! We kept pushing from different angles. I wanted to yell at Commando, that we should give up and go elsewhere.
Luckily I didn’t. We managed to push a bit more forward and through the weeds eventually made it to a tiny river source. Then we pulled our fishing rods out. The source was full of fish… All small ones, but in 15 minutes we caught about 25 of them… More than enough for a dinner for 6.
Somehow pushing back was easier than getting to our fishing spot. When we came back to our camping spot we were still under pressure… in a hurry to start a fire and get the dinner going cause we were starving… didn’t eat anything since breakfast.
The dinner was spectacular! How could it not be after a whole day of hard work and stress with no lunch? The ambiance made it even better… 6 of us sitting on the tree logs around the fire in the middle of the Amazon. We just ate fried fish, white rice, and tomatoes. But It felt like a million-dollar dinner.
After one of the most memorable dinners in my life, I had the most memorable night’s sleep ever! We all went to our covered hammocks pretty early. 9 pm or so. Once I got in mine, it felt very comfortable. Also very dark… complete darkness. Only then I became aware of the jungle noise! Pretty much birds and insects, but incredibly complex and rich noise… That was the first time I became truly aware I am in the jungle.
Very soon, the jungle noise put me to sleep. I did wake up briefly at some point at night. It took me a while to realize where I was. Because of the pure darkness with loud and intense jungle noise, I thought I was in Midtown Manhattan, where I had lived for a few years. The noise was as chaotic as the one in the busy city center, except this one was perfect to put you to sleep. I enjoyed it for a minute or two before falling back asleep. I was surprised I didn’t notice the jungle noise earlier during the dinner, cause later in the hammock, it was so overwhelming and spiritual.
Amazon – Lost in the Darkness
The following day was pretty relaxing. Fishing, swimming, chilling. However, the evening wasn’t. After dinner, while we were chatting around the fire, Commando suggested we go to the forest for a night hike. I thought he was joking. He told us after cleaning up the dishes we should get ready. I was really hoping he was joking. Honestly, I wasn’t scared hiking the jungle at night with the company of a guide and 4 friends… it’s just I didn’t feel like it. What’s the point? Just to prove we are not scared? Just to prove we won’t get lost? Why can we just chill by the shore? We have been hiking, fishing, and swimming all day anyway. Here we could see the river under the moon. In the jungle at night, there’s nothing to see!
Well, Commando wasn’t joking. No time to relax, while in Peru. Nobody argued against it, so we went for a hike. It was interesting the first 15 minutes: browsing around in the darkness, listening to the sounds… I was wondering how can Commando navigate since there were no trails… It was a pure wilderness and darkness with absolutely no signs of civilization. Well, it was his idea so I was assuming he knows where to go.
After another 15 minutes, Commando said he is not sure where we were. He mentioned how he was expecting us to reach the river by now, but we were still inside the forest… In the darkness. I wasn’t sure if he was joking. We were just silently following him.
We were a great team of non-complainers. However, I did feel my friends’ energy… they started to get nervous as well. I was just thinking: Well there’s nothing we could do to help this situation right now. The only thing we can do is stay calm and follow the guide. So we did. Commando kept complaining about how he doesn’t know where we were right now. Fucking hell!
Then, just like in the action movie, when everything looks like the main action hero is seriously going to die, 3 minutes before the end… then an unexpected thing happens and all of a sudden everything turns around. At the moment when the tension rose so high and all of us started freaking out at the same time, we saw a light down ahead of us… It was his son floating on the river with the flashlight in the boat. We’re alive!
Titicaca – Party time!
Puno is the largest city on Lake Titicaca – the tallest lake in the world. Peru shares it with Bolivia. Tourists visit Puno in order to see the lake islands. And so did we, my traveling partner Najib and myself. The islands were cute and touristy. We wanted more…
While I was researching the map of Puno and surrounding areas, I noticed there was a small town nearby that could be interesting… The town was on the lake and had hills on the other side. Since the town wasn’t on the list of “Recommended Places To Visit” in our hostel, we decided to go for a day trip and check it out.
The bus dropped us off in the town center – a typical cute Spanish colonial architecture. No tourists in sight. Most of the women were dressed traditionally, Quechua style, with tiny tall huts. Those huts appeared too small for the size of the adult person’s head. It reminded us of Charlie Chaplin’s signature hut. Women wear them all over Peru and Bolivia.
From the town center, we have decided to walk uphill. The higher we went, we saw fewer people and more goats & donkeys. At the end of the highest street, we continued to walk up the trails – not quite hiking trails, but rather a network of goat trails. Luckily the hills were covered with meadows, so it was very easy to navigate – at any point, we were able to see where the village is, where the lake is, and what it looks like further uphill.
The Lake Titicaca above is located between Peru and Bolivia, where I have posted plenty of photos.
While walking up, we heard some sort of orchestra rehearsing down in the village. It seemed like there was no viewpoint or anything we could use for the official end of the hike. As soon as we would reach the top of the hill, we would see another hill above it. After 2 hours of hiking, we decided we have done enough and it was time to head back. We were also curious about what the music in the town was all about.
Back in town, this is what we saw at the main plaza: Live music, huge piles of beer boxes, and people dancing in circles around the boxes… Pretty fun! There were about 5-6 drinking circles of happy people spread all over the plaza We bought 2 cans of beer in the corner store, and sat on the stairs in the corner, where we had a good view of the show.
Within 2 minutes, 2 elderly tipsy gentlemen came over, greeted us, grabbed us by the elbows, and dragged us into the closest drinking circle. We have figured out the game pretty quickly: Everybody is slowly walking & dancing in the circle. There is always one beer bottle and the glass cruising. Whoever has it, has to pour a bit of beer into the glass, drink it, and spill the remaining foam on the floor, for mother earth, ’cause she is thirsty, we were told. Then you pass the bottle and the empty glass to the person behind you in the circle. That person repeats the same routine and passes on… Whenever the bottle is empty, it easily gets replaced with the new one from the pile of beer boxes in the middle of the circle.
I really liked the fact that everybody drinks from the same glass. Making new friends is more important than getting a few germs. Fun fact: all of the beer is provided for free from the government or local municipality, cause that drinking event was some sort of a holiday… probably a popular one!
No need to mention Najib and I got drunk… very, very drunk and had an amazing time! Eventually, I realized: When it’s your turn to fill the glass and drink it, you don’t necessarily have to fill the glass all the way. I had misunderstood the rule. No wonder I woke up the next day in my bed with my jacket and shoes still on. At least I found the right bed.
The Ultimate Burger
Whenever I mention Peru, I get immediately asked: Have you been to Machu Picchu? Yes, I have been to Machu Picchu. Dear reader, if you go to Peru, you are not required to see Machu Picchu. It is indeed an awesome site, but 10000 people around you taking pictures ruins absolutely everything! I am not saying it’s not worth visiting, but my visit to that site wasn’t amazing and it definitely did not stand out when I think of Peru. I normally travel for “small things”… One of them happened to me on the ride back from Machu Picchu. Two actually…
On our way back from Maccu Pihcu, Najib and I were squeezed into the 15-seater with other travelers. Halfway, the bus pulled over in front of a local house that appears to sell something to eat. Perfect! I just got hungry.
There was a small line of people at the counter ordering. A tired-looking woman behind the counter was taking orders. We stood in line and asked the person in front what did they serve. He said: ”Burgers”. Typically we always like to be simple and humble so we didn’t bother asking if they serve anything else. So we decided to stay in line and go for some burgers. Najib was vegetarian at that time and he obviously wanted a no-patty version. We noticed the lady was assembling them with cheese, tomato, and avocado… good enough to satisfy any vegetarian.
I am able to speak Spanish, so when it was our turn to order, I said: “Una hamburgesa regular, y otra sin carne, por favor” (One regular burger and another one without meat, please.) In order to avoid confusion, when I said “Otra sin carne” I pointed to Najib, so I can make her aware I am ordering 2 burgers for 2 people.
Najib and I know very well in most parts of the world vegetarian cosine is non-existent. Peru definitely falls into that category. I already knew I need to be very specific that the second burger we were ordering is “without meat”. So as she was preparing my orders, I repeated a few times the same: “Ona regular I otra sin carne”. Every time I wanted to say: “And the other one without meat”, I would point to my super skinny friend… So she can connect the dots and make some sort of judgment like That guy is too skinny cause he doesn’t eat meat.
In Peru, people just didn’t believe we wanted a dish without meat. I’ve been facing the same problem when I order a coffee without sugar in Africa… Or a glass of water without ice in the USA. Anyway, I was doing whatever it takes so we could get him a vegetarian version.
She handed me two burgers. Guess what… Both of them with meat! No, I am not joking, it actually happened! With disbelief, Najib pulled the patty out of his burger and gave it to me. I assembled it in my burger. Looked delicious. ”Sorry”, I told him, ”I did my best.” After taking the patty out of the burger, it wasn’t quite vegetarian cause some meat fat and smell remained inside.
It was indeed a remarkable experience. We could not believe how could she possibly mess up after me being so specific… Anyway, as I started eating my double patty burger I had another experience more impressive than visiting Macchu Pichu: The burger was absolutely incredible! Every single ingredient was a piece of art. I looked around the house, front yard, back yard, and across the street and came up with the conclusion: every single ingredient is homemade, homegrown, or home raised in this house or perhaps the neighbor’s house: Alpaca meat, alpaca cheese, juicy avocado, dark red tomato, crispy shiny lettuce… the best burger in the world!
“She’s probably very tired”, Najib said.
I responded: “Maybe she refuses to serve it without meat. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be perfect!”
He kept eating with disappointment while I kept eating with joy. Other than that meal, I have been eating very well during my 4-week journey in Peru. I was especially impressed with the Ceviche… completely different than the Mexican version… whey better! The whole Western world knows Ceviche comes from Peru, but they dunno what it’s like cause the Mexican version is the one that’s exported. Weird!
This link has a good example of Rainbow Mountain on a sunny day
Like the Peru story? If yes, I would recommend checking out my Venezuela post.