TDI: 2 What's this?
Too much adventure in the Amazon
Iquitos is the largest city that can’t be reached by road. Not only in Peru… In the whole world. One could get there by an endless boat journey from Lima or by flight. The main reason tourists come there is to visit 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, a guy in front of an 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 we looked back at him and said: ‘’We thought you’d never ask…’’
‘’Adventure Trip?’’ He demanded confirmation.
‘’Yes. How much!’’
The agent gave us a quote for a 5-day/4-night boat trip. Najib and I found 2 more guys from our hostel to join us. That way, we saved some $$ on an already affordable quote.
The first one was Diego, a Bolivian backpacker traveling in Peru on a tight budget (not European-style tight, but rather South American-style tight). He has been sleeping in the hammock on the hostel terrace, so he doesn’t run out of money. Later on, he continued traveling in Central America for months, working at the front desks of 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 to get to hang out and become friends with him. It is very rare to meet a backpacker from a developing country.
2nd was Bernard from Germany, who quit his office job, saved some money, and traveled 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, who served as an assistant. So 6 of us loaded a small wooden boat, just outside of Iquitos, and off we went.
Commando explained to us that 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, take a few steps, then jump back in and let the engine do the work. The tricky part about pushing was that the riverbed was full of tree logs and big branches that we couldn’t see because the water was very murky… You know…like the Amazon River:) Eventually, we started getting bruises from hitting logs & branches on our shins and other parts of our bodies… 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 there while drinking Pisco Sour for 4 days. That’s what Peru is all about, isn’t it?
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 couldn’t jump back into the boat in time. The boat started moving, and everybody was inside except for me. That wasn’t the first time it happened to a member of the crew. 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. When I took a confident step onto the branchless ground at the shore, my foot fell through: I ended up 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 that 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 kept getting stuck, and we kept jumping out and fighting with invisible branches as we walked through the mud. We were all on the same page: We had had enough and desperately wanted Commando to say: ‘’We are here!’’ But none of us complained… just silently suffered.
Eventually, Commando announced those 3 magic words after 4 hours of the boat-pushing journey! We were unloading the boat while thinking about our personal needs: thirst, hunger, toilet (number 1, number 2), cigarettes, breathing… all 4 of us had lists of things we desperately wanted to do as soon as we got to 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 get 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 to the trees, then the tents around them, so from a distance, they looked like flying tents.
During that phase, Commando was working very quickly and urging us to move quickly as well, as we didn’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.
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… Hun, 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 nightfall. 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 to give up and go elsewhere.
Luckily, he didn’t. We managed to push a bit more forward through the weeds and 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 dinner going, ’cause we were starving… hadn’t eaten 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, 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! All of us went to the covered hammocks pretty early. 9 pm or so. Once I got in mine, it felt very comfortable. Also very dark… complete darkness. Only then did I become aware of the jungle noise… Mainly birds and insects, but incredibly complex and rich noise… That was the first time I became truly aware that I am in the jungle.
Very soon, the jungle noise put me to sleep. I did wake up briefly at night. It took me a while to realize where I was. Because of the pure darkness and the loud, intense jungle noise, I thought I was in Midtown Manhattan, where I had lived for a few years. The noise was as chaotic as that in the busy city center, except it was perfect for falling asleep. I enjoyed it for a minute or two before falling back asleep again. I was surprised I didn’t notice that beautiful jungle noise earlier during dinner, cause later in the hammock, it was so overwhelming and spiritual.
You can find plenty of jungle photos, like this one, in my Sri Lanka photo gallery post.
Lost in the Darkness
The following day was pretty relaxing: swimming, chilling, and fishing with no time pressure. 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 that 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 that 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. Now, we could keep sitting by 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 Commando navigated 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 knew where to go.
After another 15 minutes, Commando said he was 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 didn’t know where we were right now… What a nightmare!
Then, just like in the action movie, when the tension rose too high and all of us were 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 saved!
Titicaca – Party time!
Peru shares it with Bolivia. Tourists visit Puno in order to see the lake islands. And so did we. The islands were cute. Touristy as well. But we wanted more…
While I was researching the map of Puno and its surrounding areas, I noticed a small town nearby that I thought could be interesting… So we decided to take a day trip to check it out.
The bus dropped us off in the town center, with a typical, cute Spanish colonial architecture. No tourists in sight. Most of the women were dressed in traditional Quechua style, and there were tiny, tall huts. Those huts appeared too small for the size of an adult’s head. It reminded us of Charlie Chaplin’s signature hat. Women wear them all over Peru and Bolivia.
The Lake Titicaca above is located between Peru and Bolivia, where I have posted plenty of photos.
From the town center, we have decided to walk uphill. The higher we went, the fewer people we saw and the 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 was, where the lake was, and what it looked like further uphill.
While walking up, we heard some sort of orchestra rehearsing down in the village. As soon as we reached the top of the hill, we hiked another hill above it. Then another one. After 2 hours of hiking, we decided to head back. We were also curious about the music we’ve been hearing from the town.
When we came back, this was what we saw at the main plaza: Live music, huge piles of beer cases, and people dancing in circles around the cases… 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 middle-aged 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 & swinging in the circle. There would always be one beer bottle and the glass cruising. Whoever had it had to pour a bit of beer into the glass, drink it, and spill the remaining foam on the floor, for Mother Earth (‘Pacha Mama’), ’cause she’s thirsty, we were told. Then, passed the bottle and the empty glass to the person behind in the circle. That person repeated the same routine and passed on… Whenever the bottle was empty, it was easily replaced with a new one from the pile of beer cases in the middle of the circle.
I really liked the fact that everybody drank from the same glass. Making new friends is more important than getting a bit of germs. Fun fact: all the beer was provided for free by the government or local municipality, ’cause that drinking event was some sort of 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 one’s turn to fill the glass and drink it, they 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.
Whenever I mention Peru, I’m 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 pleasant, and it definitely did not stand out when I think of visiting Peru. I normally travel for small things…
One of them happened on the ride back from Machu Picchu. Our van took a lunch stop at the local eatery specializing in alpaca burgers with alpaca cheese, tomato, and avocado. The fun thing is that all the ingredients came from the backyard. Except alpaca. The neighbor had heard of them.
Like the Peru story? If so, I would recommend checking out my post on Venezuela.