4th semaniversary... almost our 1st mesiversary. And what better way to see it in than on a bus! Despite it being extremely uneventful, today I achieved a first... I read on a bus. Usually I get travel sick but quite unbelievably I read 2/3rds of my new book (quite an improvement on 1 month for my last book).

The landscape was similar to much of the rest of Brazil: various palms, green vegetation, donkeys, cows, horses, goats, villages, bicycles / motorcycles, village plazas and Jesus statues. We stopped for lunch at an excellent buffet, complete with churrasqueria (BBQ´d meats) - the best buffet yet. With new fellow passengers in the afternoon (we seemed to be the only ones making the full journey from Fortaleza to Belem... probably because it takes 27 hours) we got to enjoy first of all a DVD of some Brazilian music concert, an then a fair few hours of various men (one dressed as a cowboy) playing music out loud on their phones... often all at the same time.

As we enjoyed yet another bus sunset we had to resort to using our head torches to read as the driver had turned the lights on and we didn´t know what light was in Portguese. We must have looked a right pair sat their with our head torches on the bus! We finally arrived in Belem ON TIME, around 9:30pm and we seemlessly got a taxi to our hostel where we had our own private room waiting for us! After many days of buses and camping this is a real treat!

Day 29 - we got up early today as we had a lot to do - washing, bank, book boat to Manaus and then buy a hammock. We had a great walk around the Commercio which was jam-packed with clothes and fabric stalls in the middle of the street, and lined with other clothes shops that had men with microphones coercing people in. But everyone was SO nice and really friendly, especially for such a big city. Then something exciting happened - we found a stall selling Brazil nuts! We had completely forgotten that a nut came specifically from Brazil, and so we bought some. We successfully bought some hammocks but it wasn't until we got them home that we realised they said something about God in them in Portuguese! Continued walking around the old town to the Forte do Presepio (where I got unecessarily told off for walking on the grass) and the waterfront, which is full of traders bringing goods from the Amazon. The mercado ver-o-peso was really cool and transitioned from fruit and veg, to herbal remedies, then dried shrimp and salt, a few wooden handicrafts, birds and finally eatery stalls. It was here that we decided to try what the Lonely Planet terms as a 'delicious indigenous soup' made from jambu leaves (that make your tongue numb), salted shrimp and manioc gum (which looks and taste like old-fashioned shoe-glue). Neither of us could finish it, but the spanish girl next to us looked to be convincing herself it was nice!

After lunch we went to an over-subscribed internet cafe and as we sat down to book a hostel Alex noticed that the guy sat next to us was watching porn. I spent 3 hours updating the blog and other jobs and Alex went off and did some sketching. She came back full of beans, and shopping bags. I felt like a husband toiling away at work to come home to a wife who's been out spending my money again! Luckily she had bought me something... a notebook to put my lists in and a beer.

Later in the evening we went to the estacao das docas, which is a restored dock complete with yellow derricks and air conditioning. We decided to try a beer at the micro-brewery but unbelievably my IPA had been flavoured by the same thing that flavoured that bloody soup at lunchtime! I couldn't drink 2 sips and I had reached my limit - later we ordered steak with gorgonzola rissotto and a half bottle of red wine! While we ate we enjoyed (and paid for) a man with a ponytail playing 90s classics on a moving stage above our heads.

We walked back towards the hostel and felt strangely stalked by the tourist police in a 4x4 with flashing lights driving very slowly alongside us. Slightly odd but we shook them off and went to the Bar do Parque - a curious stand and the pavement nextdoor to the theatre where little old-men waiters in bow ties served us very small, strong caiprinhas.

Day 21 - For breakfast we went to the nearby deli and had a selection of cake / bread and coffee. Behind us was a group of old men that obviously go there every morning and put the world to rights! We caught a bus to the Jardim Botanico Rodrigues Alves which is a city block of established rainforest. It was pretty cool because we saw lots of turtles, tortoises, mackaws, monkeys and... a manatee! Although I hate any kind of captivity, it was pretty cool to see the animals up close, and I like to think they were born that way, maybe?!

Bought snacks for the boat and then a final vegetarian buffet to stock up on nutrients - we have no idea what kind of food the boat will offer! We arrived at the hidroviaria at 2:30pm as the hostel-lady said we needed to be there by 3pm. When we got there however, they said they wouldn't be boarding until 5pm at the latest, so we sat ourselves down and made ourselves comfy! As more people turned up we became acquainted with the other gringoes in the waiting area - a Swiss Christian (or as we might say, a Swisstian) called Simon, a Polish couple, Maria - the spaniard we met at the tacaca stand and the same German couple we met at the Jeri campsite!

6pm came and went and we were still sat in the waiting area. Alex secured the last two coxinha in the building and at around 6:30 everyone springed into action. We weren't at the front of the queue, but we were definitely higher up than half way. However, when we boarded our boat the entire level appeared to be completely full with hammocks already. As it turned out in the Brazilian mind there was plenty of space for (many) more people and with the help of some very nice locals we managed to put our hammocks up in the least amount of space necessary - forget that we have to get in them and sleep at some point! The whole event was totally crazy! Alex ended up with someone either side and underneath her.