Hello again!
Sounds like it's all going on! Hope you enjoy the clothes show Vic- will be an experience! Haha, good to know Luke hasn't changed! Exciting times in the King house with the NZ crew coming over. Hope your not cleaning too much mother! You should be enjoying your week off! Paul, advent calendar chocolate is poor, so you're not missing much. Although mum does a mean homemade advent calendar with different 'prizes' in each one, I'm sure dad is loving my one!
Monday:
Me, Katie and Ivan got ready and went out for dinner at the 'expensive' buffet place- my meal was a bit cheaper this time, I think I was less greedy and learnt my lesson to scout round and choose my pickings wisely rather than get carried away at the start. It was Katie's last night and she was flying home tomorrow so it was nice to do something. Back at the hostel we sat round chatting with a few others. I managed to book a flight to Manaus for about £300 for tomorrow night.
Tuesday:
Had breakfast and checked out. I then got picked up at 10am to go hang gliding! I had been umming and arghing about whether to do it since I arrived. I liked the idea of a bit of adrenaline pumping activity, but it was expensive and obviously not worth doing when the weather was crap. After mums impressive NZ paragliding adventures, I felt I had to keep up! It was another scorcher today- pure sunshine! My personal chauffeur drove me to the beach and I had to wait around a bit because my instructor was flying with someone else. I sat on the beach- a different one from Copacabana, but again nice and sandy. Then my instructor called me over and drove us along the beach to where his assistant had packed up the wings from the last flight- he loaded them on the roof and we drove to the top of the hill. Watched a few other people take off- a bit of waiting around as they needed the right wind. I spoke to a Finnish girl who'd waited over 2 hours. I only waited about 30 minutes. Then I got strapped in my harness and helmet and had a little practice of running off the edge. Got strapped to the wings and because the wind was good, before I had time to really comprehend it we were running off the edge of the ramp and soaring over Rio! It was fun. The instructor pointed out Sugar Loaf, Rocinha, Copacabana and Christ- not that you could really miss them! He also had us posing for pics on the cameras. It was a bit weird looking down and realising that you are just floating, but a bit tame for me. The flight was about 7 minutes and then we landed on the beach. They loaded all the videos and photos for me to see but it was ridiculous money! I'd already paid about £120 to do it and the wanted £17 just for the photos from one camera and £50 for both videos and all the pics. But it is one of those things that you want a momento of, so I got one set of pics. I wouldn't do it again- it was a tad disappointing for the money, but good to see Rio from a different angle. I sat on the beach for a while until my transfer back arrived. He dropped me at Copacabana and I mooched along the beach, but didn't really have time to sit and sunbathe. I got food on my way back- good old cheap fish, rice, beans and veg. Back at the hostel I organised a few bits then it was time to get a taxi to the domestic airport. My flight was at 7.30pm, but I was there in plenty of time. I checked in and the flight was on time. Again the security is non existent, but the flight was good- only 2 hours to São Paolo, but we had TVs, earphones- lots of channels! They also gave us free drinks and snacks- South America haven't discovered budget airlines yet obviously! At São Paolo it was an hours wait til the flight to Manuas, but bags were transferred automatically so I just chilled. No backpackers or tourists around! On the 2nd flight I chatted a bit to a couple of local guys beside me. Again drinks, food and tv! The flight was about 4 hours to Manaus, which is two hours behind Rio so we arrived about 12.30. I got a taxi to my hostel, which turned out to be a bit crap! When I was checking in I wanted some water but they didn't have any left, in the end the guy gave me a glass of his because he said it wasn't safe to go out and get some. No lockers! Then I got up for breakfast and it was just a roll with ham and cheese in a little pot together. I said I was vege so was there separate cheese or maybe jam, but no! No tea either, just coffee. So I ended up having to go over the road, where I ordered tapioca with banana. I always thought it was like rice pudding, but this was most bizarre. Don't really know how to explain- a rice like bread with cooked banana in the middle- very pleasant though. The boss of the hostel was very apologetic and said he'd get stuff for tomorrow if I stayed, but I'd already decided to switch. I did talk to the one other backpacker there, who was so pleased to see me! We will probably be on the boat to Colombia together which will be cool- he is Japanese so it'll be interesting. So I got my bags and walked to one recommended in the lonely planet- more people and seems cool! They showed me the highlights on a map and advised me on my boat trip to Colombia.
I set out to explore Manaus. It is probably the least touristy place I have been! Which is nice as I feel I am now seeing the real Brazil! But I am back to being stared at as I walk around, as I don't think they see many blonde people. Plus, there is not much to see and do. I walked around the huge markets- wholesale type places selling every fruit and veg and fish! I got lunch at one of the stalls. Walked along the river- a huge cruise ship was docked, but didn't see any tourists. The roads are all packed with people selling their wares- you can't knock their work ethic! I wonder if some of them sell anything- such random things! I visited the opera house, which is the one highlight of Manaus- it was pretty, but I didn't pay to go in. Some of the buildings are very characteristic but Manaus seems to have been left to ruin really. It was soooo hot! Seriously tropical heat! I bought myself a hammock for my boat trip- will be interesting sleeping in a hammock on deck with dozens of other people. I come back for a siesta. Then went out walking again and got acai. Come back to the hostel and chatted to a few people and showered.
Thursday:
Good breakfast in the hostel. Chatting to a few people- a good mix. A few of them were heading by bus to a local port where you could get the boat along the river to a rubber museum and then to the beach, so I tagged along! There was me, 2 German girls, a German guy, a French girl and a Dutch guy. It's always nice to let the organised Germans take the lead! Another scorcher- sunny and really humid- I've never sweated so much! We got the bus ok- it was quite a journey though- Manuas is pretty big! Then a little speed boat to the museum. On the boat we met an old English fella who has lived here 30 years and an American who has also lived here a long time. There were interesting and friendly and it was handy because at the rubber museum the tour was in Portuguese so they translated for us. It was interesting along the river- surrounded by rainforest and the odd little settlement. A huge river!! The museum was the setting for a film about the rubber plantations back in 1910s and funnily enough there was a film crew there today filming so we had to avoid part of it for a while. It was interesting, we learnt all about how they made rubber from the rubber trees and how Manuas became really rich from it in the early 1900s- hence all the nice old buildings. But then the bloody english exported rubber seeds to Malaysia and they started farming rubber, so the economy here collapsed! It was sad learning about how the workers were exploited here and the harsh slave labour. After walking around we got the boat to a beach- most bizarre going to a beach when you are so far inland! But it was beautiful! All sand and surrounded by forest! The water is that tea colour of many Amazonian rivers and it was like bath water! We all jumped in to cool down, but it was warm! Nice and relaxing though. The old men had come with us and they were organised with a picnic! Chilled on the beach for an hour or two, then got the boat and bus back with the two German girls. One of them was advising me on India as she's been.
It was getting late so I dashed to the supermarket to get supplies for my boat trip- never queued for sooo long! I will never moan about English shops again. Plus they charged me £3.50 for a yellow pepper! I managed to get my money back at customer services!! I then got pizza, pineapple juice and my last acai before coming back to the hostel. There was an English lady in my room who was nice and she'd said earlier about going to a bar tonight so me and her headed out for a beer at a place outside that had live Brazilian music- the funniest little old guy was the only one dancing but he loved it! Interesting lady- she's also writing a book and running the London marathon this year so we had a lot in common.
So my boat leaves Friday morning and it takes at least 6.5 days to reach Tabitinga in Colombia which is in the middle of nowhere, so I will have to fly from there to Bogota or somewhere. But the boat is just an old wooden thing, so don't expect any contact from me for a week- no internet! My meals on the boat are included, but it's just rice, beans and meat/fish. So I've stocked up on fruit and a few veg to keep it interesting. The boat will be an experience and relaxing I think! But I will let you know from Colombia!
I've enjoyed Manuas. Nice to see a different side of Brazil! Want lots of messages when I log in from the other side! Take care peeps!