so far in my travels i have only seen coast, and highlands (ecuador), so i decided it was time for a trip to the "selva" jungle. or perhaps more correctly, a city in the jungle.
..Pucallpa. (eng.fon. poo.kalpa)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pucallpa
i took a 1 hour flight from Lima to Pucallpa, enabling me to avoid something like a 27 hour bus ride through dangerous mountain roads. though as the usual south american punctuality still applied, the 12.30 flight took off at 14.20.. 40 minutes after is was supposed to arrive, but its all good.
its a drastic change from lima, ..as limas cool overcast climate of 20 degrees during the day, 12 at night had actually given me a sniffly nose.. i got off the plane into 35 degrees dead heat and very high humidity. the nights are a steady 30 degress also.
almost all of the vehicles are those "moto carros" ( i dont know the english name for this...maybe rickshaw?)
Moto-Truck hybrid
the houses are fairly basic mostly woooden structures, giving the impression that you are in a small village, but actually its quite a big town with a population of 204,000 people. most foreigners pass through here on their way to the jungle but i get the feeling not many of them hang around long in the town as every place i go i seem to be able to spot someone staring at me as though i am from outer space. though the people so far have been as warm and welcoming as the climate ,and also they have a cute sing-song accent.
The Ucayali river is a major transport channel for this zone. you can even take a boat the whole way to ecuador.
Aguaje, is one of the many fruits which are unique to the jungle region
The drink made here is Aguajina.. and is beautiful to drink with a couple of ice cubes in this heat.
The night i arrived was The Pucallpa version of Oktoberfest, for the Cuzquena beer.
saturday morning, already 29 degrees inside the house at 9.30 am
Here is my friend Vanessa who kindly invited me to stay at her house with her parents. her nephew spent the morning staring at the stranger hehe
vanessa had told me we were going to take a "moto" down to the "coliseo"
i assumed we would be taking a small trip to see some interesting sight or so...
but as the day unfolded i realised there was going to be a huge parade on, and we were in it!
the parade was for the anniversary of the university. around 1000 students take to the street in a huge convoy of "moto carros" and motorbikes. each faculty wears differnt colours, ie. the accountants wore blue, the technology students wore red and so on.. for about an hour and a half, we drove through the town where onlookers stood outside the shops and houses. there were also a few buses whith loud music , a few floats with people dressed up, drums and horns here or there and people handing out little bags of water to pour over your head or squirt at your neighbours in the swealtering midday heat that must have been more than 35 degreees. somehow i didnt get sunburned.
even the police have these "moto" things
"Festejo"
Girl with little pet monkey, i think its a type of Lemur
later that night all went out to an outdoor disco in the college grounds and on to a nightclub.. now thats what i call a saturday!
todays song
(ctrl & left click to open in new window)
Explosion : ya me olvide de ti
the houses are fairly basic mostly woooden structures, giving the impression that you are in a small village, but actually its quite a big town with a population of 204,000 people. most foreigners pass through here on their way to the jungle but i get the feeling not many of them hang around long in the town as every place i go i seem to be able to spot someone staring at me as though i am from outer space. though the people so far have been as warm and welcoming as the climate ,and also they have a cute sing-song accent.
The Ucayali river is a major transport channel for this zone. you can even take a boat the whole way to ecuador.
Aguaje, is one of the many fruits which are unique to the jungle region
The drink made here is Aguajina.. and is beautiful to drink with a couple of ice cubes in this heat.
The night i arrived was The Pucallpa version of Oktoberfest, for the Cuzquena beer.
saturday morning, already 29 degrees inside the house at 9.30 am
Here is my friend Vanessa who kindly invited me to stay at her house with her parents. her nephew spent the morning staring at the stranger hehe
vanessa had told me we were going to take a "moto" down to the "coliseo"
i assumed we would be taking a small trip to see some interesting sight or so...
but as the day unfolded i realised there was going to be a huge parade on, and we were in it!
the parade was for the anniversary of the university. around 1000 students take to the street in a huge convoy of "moto carros" and motorbikes. each faculty wears differnt colours, ie. the accountants wore blue, the technology students wore red and so on.. for about an hour and a half, we drove through the town where onlookers stood outside the shops and houses. there were also a few buses whith loud music , a few floats with people dressed up, drums and horns here or there and people handing out little bags of water to pour over your head or squirt at your neighbours in the swealtering midday heat that must have been more than 35 degreees. somehow i didnt get sunburned.
even the police have these "moto" things
i have seen some big household music systems in south amierca but this one takes it.
then when we arived at the coliseo (which is an indoor sports arena)each group took their place around the seating of the arena. and for the duration of the afternoon, a group of representatives of each faculty went out into the middle of the arena to perform a south american dance routine cheered on by the whole arena and accompanied of course by the bellowing rythmns of cumbia, samba, reggaton,salsa and all the rest. what happy people! im speechless.
then when we arived at the coliseo (which is an indoor sports arena)each group took their place around the seating of the arena. and for the duration of the afternoon, a group of representatives of each faculty went out into the middle of the arena to perform a south american dance routine cheered on by the whole arena and accompanied of course by the bellowing rythmns of cumbia, samba, reggaton,salsa and all the rest. what happy people! im speechless.
"Festejo"
"the accountants" won!
Girl with little pet monkey, i think its a type of Lemur
later that night all went out to an outdoor disco in the college grounds and on to a nightclub.. now thats what i call a saturday!
todays song
(ctrl & left click to open in new window)
Explosion : ya me olvide de ti
3 comments:
All I can saw is WoW!
They didnt get you to sing "Irelands Call" then in the Coliseo? Dont suppose they know who Borat is? hehe. Great Blog Matt, keep it up.
hey matt looks like your having the time of your life!,keep us posted im loving the blog .conor,natalie ,cleo , calin . happy christmas in case i dont get a chance to say it before the day.
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