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NAME: Rod North & Anne Luard
rodnorth@calara.fsnet.co.uk
DATES:
22 July 1999 - 02 August 1999
EXCHANGE:
1$US = 1.75R$
WEATHER:
Hot. Wet in the North, dry in the South
TERRAIN:
Jungle - Natural & Concrete!
TRIP RATING :8
ROUTE:
La Paz-Oruro | Bus | Fenix | Bs.10.00 | about 3 hours
Santa Elena de Uairén -> Boa Vista. | Bus - União Cascavel | B$6000 |3 hrs |. You could live on one of these buses. 5 star accommodation.
Boa Vista -> Manaus. | Bus -> União Cascavel.|48R$ |12 hrs|Same company as above.
Hard to believe that this was the Amazon when travelling in such luxury.
Manaus -> Porto Velho |Riverboat - Almte; Paulo Arnold |70R$ (1st class hammock space)
|4 days |Fast Boat, good crew, good cooking.
Porto Velho -> Guajará-Mirim |Shared Taxi.|25R$ |3 hrs. |Fast & efficient - the
best way to go.
Porto Velho -> Guajará-Mirim (don't ask!). | Bus - Viação Rondônia. |
15R$. 7 hrs. | Bus broke down en route - should have taken 5 hrs. However you get
dropped off way outside Guajará-Mirim and it costs 6R$ for a taxi to the port. Best to
get a taxi all the way (and not leave your passport in Porto Velho!)
Guajará-Mirim -> Guayaramerin (Bol) |Ferry |2R$ |10 mins |If you're going into Bolivia
stay here rather than in Brazil (cheaper).
HOTELS:
Hotels. All room prices are for doubles unless stated otherwise.
Boa Vista |Três Nações, Av Ville Roy 1885 |20R$ |Twin room, ac, bathroom. A bit basic
but very convenient for rodoviária. Friendly restaurant next door.
Manaus |Hospedaria Turística Dez de Julho, Dez de Julio 679 |28R$ |A/C, TV, bathroom,
breakfast. Nice place close to the Opera House out of the noise, but not out of the
centre.
Porto Velho. |Pousada da Sete, Av Sete de Setembro 894 |20R$ | Ac, bathroom. Probably not
the nicest place in town but must be the most honest. I left my wallet with flight
tickets, passport, cash dollars & credit cards in the bathroom when I left. It took
about 7 hours to get back to Porto Vehlo where everything was returned to me intact - what
higher recommendation can I give?
Porto Vehlo |Hotel Lider, Av Carlos Gomez |25R$ |Ac, TV, bathroom. Excellent value -
I've seen worse 3 star hotels than this. Beautiful bathroom and very handy for rodoviária
if you have an early bus. Food. Try out the ice cream by the kilo places in Manaus -
anyone who's into ice cream will be in their element here. We are vegetarian and found the
kilo places in general to be the best for us - you can see what you're getting. Apart from
that, the pizza places outside the old railway station in Porto Vehlo provided the most
memorable night, and the fruit market in Manaus the most exotic experience. Under no
circumstances buy any Brazillian wine, unless you like bad sweet sherry.
ESSENTIALS:
You will need a hammock for river travel even if you chicken out and rent a cabin. They're
available everywhere - we bought one expensive hard one in Santa Elena, and a cheaper soft
one Boa Vista. Again for the river, you will need a good supply of paperbacks to read. A
phrase book would be useful if you speak no Portugese.
COMMENTS:
This was part of a larger trip between Caracas and Lima, the rest of which has been filed
separately. We hadn't planned to spend much time in Brazil as when we were planning the
trip it was the most expensive section and we didn't have unlimited funds. However an
economic crisis just before we arrived made everything cheaper than Venezuela so we got to
spend a little more time there.
The border at Santa Elena de Uairén has changed a little since the most recent
guidebooks. Venezuelan customs are now carried out at the border itself and not in the
town. The paint was barely dry on the smart new migracion building when we were there.
Also there is no land tax (got left with a load of surplus Bolivares for this which we had
to change into Reals at a crap rate) and I suspect that the visas we had bought in London
for £22 each were no longer needed either - we heard of others who had flown into
Venezuela crossing this border without visas - don't suppose there's any chance of a
refund though. Make sure you check the current situation here before travelling. The
border itself was painless as indeed were all borders in South America - where are all
these evil, bribe taking, miserable gits? Everyone we encountered was extra friendly and
efficient.
Highlights included the Opera House in Manaus which was absolutely breathtaking, and the
old railway between Porto Velho and Guajará-Mirim which has been abandoned to the jungle
in the most extraordinary way, and has an extraordinary history to match. The river trip
was great fun, watching the wildlife waking up in the morning a bonus. The aforementioned
ice cream parlor in Manaus will certainly take some beating on the food front.
People told us that if you know Spanish then you'll know Portugese. This isn't true, while
the words may look the same they are pronounced totally differently. Take a phrase book or
take lessons. We know we didn't really touch Brazil, as one of our fellow passengers
on the river boat said - "Amazonas is not Brazil. Amazonas is International."
This route is certainly possible, the first part at least is unbelievably comfortable, and
we would both recommend it as an alternative to flying between Venezuela and the Andes.
Happy Travels.
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