9th November 2006 - In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

My life really doesn't suck right now.

Though, the distance I've travelled in the past few days is pretty astonishing, and the mileage will only clock up over the next two weeks!

The boat journey was fantastic. We paid our S/50 (about $15) for the journey, including food. We were on the top deck and had plenty of space, just us our hammocks and a roof covering, the sides open to the elements. Only a boat of around 120 people, there were 8 or so gringos. The 2nd deck of the boat was filled with around 100 people, four hammocks across all tightly fitted in side by side. We had to navigate through this to get to the bathroom or have dinner. It was exceedingly hot down there, we were quite glad to have the open air. The bottom deck was the cargo hold, full of many a wonderous thing. Kinda. Lots of bananas or plantain (savoury banana) and loads of cows squeezed into a horribly small pen, also 2 pigs. The hens and roosters lived with their owners on the 2nd deck so you had to be careful where you stood sometimes!

It was fantastic to be surrounded by the real Peru, something we hadn't really experienced in the touristy cities of Cusco, Nazca and Arequipa. There were many little boys who'd come and visit us on the top deck and say "hello" and try to talk to us in Spanish, very little of which we could understand.

We spent nearly all the time lying on the hammocks, just reading or watching the world go by. If you ever get a chance to go on a boat down the Amazon, do it. Especially for only eight quid!