fresh n juicy chunks of oyster :: RTW travel blog

I have revised my initial opinion of Manaus somewhat, even though it is still a bit of a dump, but more on that later. I am absolutely exhausted. The constant heat, running around and moving has finally gotten to me.
It all started with the way here from Sta. Elena, even though it began well enough. Took some taxis (cheap, fast and crowded) across the border and made it to Boa Vista fairly early. There had a delicious eat-all-you-can (Brasilians really know how to cook their meats!) and then thought it'd be a good idea getting a ride with a truck to Manaus (popular trucking route, supposedly). To cut a long story shorter, I ended up taking a nightbus after waiting by the roadside in the blistering sun, by two service stations, chatting to 'friendly' (hmph) truckers promising they'd find me a good ride, etc... for a good 7 hours. I was a mess. Not that I got my deserved rest on the bus either, after I, out of the kindness of my heart or some such (naiveté?) agreed to share my blanket with a guy in shorts (a stupid thing to do on those buses as the air con is generally set to perma-freeze). At any rate, sleep became difficult every few hours after he'd start mildly molesting and cuddling up next to me, at which point I'd have to wake up and make it clear to him that I like 'chicas' and would like to sleep. Needless to say, I rejected the offer of a free place to stay for the night but arrived with an appreciation of what is meant by the 'persistance' of Brasilian men - and a renewed respect for what women are probably putting up with all the time. Stupid men, eh girls? ;)
Anyway, enough about getting here, more about here. Manaus is dirty, big and busy and that about sums it up for the city itself. There's an extravagant Opera house, holding its own against the best of the West End, built during times of excess about 100 years ago during the Brasilian rubber boom. Crazy rich Europeans.
The most interesting bit here IMHO is the market close to the harbour. Teeming with people, life (flies?), death (in the form of smelly fish and meats), great, fresh fruits and produce, lovely scents of spices and occasionally interspersed with a truly horrendous stench from nearby rubbish tips, et voila, you have a perfect example of how I'd prefer Harrods to be like a little more. Manaus also has tons of snack stalls and juice bars, all of which make real nice fresh smoothies with Guarana of which I am guzzling crazy amounts (Guarana, I am constantly reassured by vendors, is the natural Viagra of the jungle, although I'm still wondering if that's a good thing).
In the meantime, I have also decided against a jungle tour (too expensive, too exhausted and always plenty more jungle in Peru + Ecuador I hope) and will instead try and catch a boat tomorrow down the Amazon to Santarém if possible (very confusing and busy at the port, although many Portuguese-speakers are proving to be easier to understand than the fast and furious Venezuelans' Spanish). Two days of hammock on boat will be much welcomed over I'm currently sleeping on (literally, slidy, sweaty plastic mats covered with a sheet :).