We had anticipated that the boat trip up the Amazon would stretch our patience, as it was so long, but in actual fact it turned out to be really relaxing - plenty of practice for entry into the olympics in the sleeping category! The journey took us from Manaus to Iquitos in the Brazilian Amazon region - a journey of 1200 miles, taking us a total of 2500 miles up the Amazon from the Atlantic. The boat itself was very busy. The third class travel that we mentioned earlier was actually a hammock on deck - which in its own right is fine - but when there are 100 other people in a space of about 25 feet by 20 feet, it becomes "cosy", to say the least. In a couple of cases, hammocks were actually strung up like bunk beds - its at that point you hope your neighbour is fit and well (if you know what we mean!). We had plenty of opportunity to view the Amazon habitat from the boat and the thing we really noticed between Brazil and Peru is that people along the river in Peru seem a lot poorer, until you get near Iquitos and there were more green plains on the banks of the river in Peru rather than the jungle coming close up to the river bank, as in Brazil. Because we were so far from anywhere, the was no light pollution and so we had great views of the night sky. We were able to clearly see the Milky Way, masses of starts and even satellities moving in orbit. On some other nights we had terrific storms with amazing light shows generated by the lightening. Amazing facts about the Amazon - 67% of the worlds oxygen is generated by the trees in the Amazon - 23% of all the freshwater in the world is located here - The river is upto 100 miles wide in parts Thankfully, food was also included in the trip. You wont be surprised to hear that we never made breakfast, served at the ungodly hour of 6am. Lunch and dinner though were basically the same (for all 6 days!) - rice, beans (a national dish for Brazil) and spaghetti as the staples to every meal with the added variety of chicken or beef as an accompaniement - well, we say beef but that isnt a certainty! By the time we got off the boat we were desperate for some "normal" food. Chris has been dreaming about Pizza Express in fact and may even attempt a hostile take over when he gets home! That stage of the journey stopped in Tabatinga on the border with Peru and Colombia. We stayed overnight in Leticia in Colombia as that was the livlier town of the area and really enjoyed getting into the swing of it. There were very few cars but thousands of mopeds and motorbikes - instead of people watching we got into bike watching to find the most ridiculous sight. The most people we saw on a single moped was 4 and were amused to see that no road/lane holding, no indication and talking on your mobile (or even just the guy on the next bike!) are all alive and well in Colombia - and probably every other area of South America. In oder to stay in Leticia we had to pretty much sneek across the border into Columbia, without getting a passport stamp and we lived to tell the tale. We booked ourselves onto the fast boat to Iquitos, which took 12 hours - we couldn't face another 3 days of rice and beans on the normal boat. In order to arrive at its destination at a reasonable time the boat left at 5am from the town on the Peruvian side of the border. This meant us having to get back from Leticia in Columbia to Tabatinga in Brazil to get a taxi boat across the water to Peru in time and we arranged for one to pick us up at 3.30am. Unfortunatley no-one mentioned that the time was an hour earlier than Manaus, this far west so we were ready and waiting at the hotel reception at 2.30am local time. Trying to explain our predicament with the receptionist in pigeon Spanish was a site to behold until he eventually got it through to us that we had the wrong time, not that the taxi hadnt turned up! Another event to put down to experience and at least we now know to check the local time wherever we go. It was a little strange, though, waiting on the dock for the taxi boat as we were the only people there, apart from those who use it as board and lodging in the evenings. Eventually a guy (with lovely purple nail varnish) came on his little speedboat from the other side of the water and it all turned out OK. Once we arrived at the Port we were met by about 30 cab drivers all offering the best deal in town to get to our destination. We had never experienced anything like it before and in many ways it was unnerving - whilst people were friendly they were just in your face constantly. I referred to them as taxi drivers but that isnt quite true. Taxis here are more like mopeds with a carriage on the back for 2 passengers . It was actually great fun riding in them as we were racing along with a Dutch couple we met on the boat, to see who could get to the hotel first - and all for 20p for a 10 minute ride! Iquitos itself is actually like a smaller version of Manaus - again the product of the rubber boom 100 years ago and testament to a time when ocean going ships used to make their way up the Amazon from the Atlantic. We learned that that all deteriorated when a scientist took some of the rubber trees over to Malaysia and started an alternative supply of Rubber from there. Becasue of its position on the river and the fact that the nearest road from Iquitos is about 300 miles away, it is a bit of an end of the journey town for many people. We met the President of the Birmingham City FC supporters association (Amazon Branch - members 1) who now lives over here since vising many years ago. In addition, we also had a drink with the British consulate in the Regal Restaurant, which he owns, which is housed within the Iron House. You will see this on the pictures - it was designed by Eiffel, of the Tower fame - in 1889 for the Paris exhibition and was shipped out in pieces for one of the rubber barons. Next door was the Yellow Rose of Texas - run by Gerry the Texan and his Fiancee Pamela. We seemed to spend most of our days in here, hanging out , drinking and eating great food of Texas portions. The bar game of choice was Frogs and the previous record was a score of 78 - which Chris smashed through with a world beating score of 111, to become the reigning all time champion! They even had satellite TV and you will notice on one of the pictures us eating a full English breakfast in a lounge chair whilst watching the Premiership live. The next step of the journey was thankfully by plane and not by boat and took only 2 hours - during which we had some amazing views as we crossed the Andes to Lima.