Manaus

If you look on the map, it doesn’t seem that you can get deeper into the Amazon than Manaus. In practice, however, Manaus is not really such an isolated jungle-city as the unacquainted would expect. The places I passed during the last week, however, are much more off-route and Manaus benefits from many transportation routes. There is a road connection to Venezuela and the wide Amazon rivers allows large ships to sail up to Manaus’ international harbour, both cargo ships and massive Atlantic cruisers filled with tourists, in addition to the large international airport.

The city itself is tranquil although famous for scams directed towards tourists as the market has become very competitive. I stayed away from jungle tours here to avoid all that mess and also, there are few places directly around Manaus that can actually offer an authentic experience of the rain forest. An expedition reaching non-exploited areas where few tourists go requires an expedition of 5-7 days. Anything closer than 3-4 days is not really worth visiting and I had neither the money nor the time.

The Amazon theatre is a famous landmark of Manaus, which may well have been inspired from some European architecture. I don’t really know but it looks like it.

The harbor where super-cruisers were docked.

As everywhere else I go, I arrive when everything is closed. Central Manaus.