Into the Depths of the Amazon

Well to say the least the trip from Merced to Huanuco was indeed one that I will not forget. The boss said the trip was to take 8 hours even though we left late maybe around 10 at night in what seemed like a miserable and poorly kept bus. Most of my fellow compañeros were that of the chakra or farm; practically all in couples with at least one or more kids clinging to their pant leg. Imagining the upcoming journey was all too much as a tall moreno began passing out tiny plastic bags so that if one might and most definitely did have the urge to vomit it could be contained within the bag. An hour or so into the ride we stopped but because the windows were fogged all I could see was a wet stone wall as the sound of a rushing water echoed from behind. It seemed quite unlike me to feel the sensation of clastrophobia but with the amount of people and the smell of several sweaty human bodies packed in like mexi-illegals crossing the border I felt like I was about to burst through the bus wall. I pounded on the door and finally after a 5 minutes the chofer slowly opened the doors and I blew out of the bus as fast as I could. As I had come to find out there had been a landslide and it wasnt to be fully cleared until 4 in the morning. Seeing as it was only 1 am I took advantage of the fresh air for awhile. Looking down I saw a long trail of trucks and bus that twisted into the darkness and just below the first bend of the road below a river gushed in full potential. The mountains held mossy vegatation with sturdy rocks beneath. After a half hour or so I decided to reboard with the chofer promising not to close the door on me again. I drifted off and when I awoke at 5 in the morning I felt the bus`engine turn and we finally began making our way to Huanuco. Between the three seperate times that the bus broke down and the two times that it ran out of gas, my supposed 8 hour trip turned into 16 hours and when we entered into Huanuco the bus finally gave out its last breath never actually making it to the terminal. I was happy to escape and took the first moto-taxi that I could find. He brought me to another terminal from where I was to leave in order to arrive in Tingo Maria. To say the least this bus too broke down twice and by the time I arrived to Tingo Maria there was little daylight left. One of the taxistas offered a very reasonable price to Pucallpa and seeing as my luck with buses wasnt the best I accepted his offer and as the road began practically breaking apart with water streaming everywhere I was quite happy with the decision I had made. Right now I am in Pucallpa, one of Peru´s biggest cities in the Amazon and as anyone who knows me knows... I hate big cities. With the pounding rain my first days were spent inside my hostal producing as much jewlery as I possibly could and when finally the rains had stopped I set out my display in the PLaza de Armas de Pucallpa hoping that maybe one eager customer would save my day. They didnt but I did meet some of the local artisans and the following day the led me to one of the m0re famous areas of Pucallpa called Yarinacocha. We spent the day in full sun though sales where way under par and by the end of the day I made roughly $10 or so. These days of rain impede any sort of artisanal work and even without them sales just are not enough to support myself in the jungle. I have decided to head back to Lima with only a day for my visa and then start making my way up to Ecuador. I have promised myself that one I will return in the dry season to fully take on what the peruvian jungle has to offer in the meantime Im preparing myself for the 20+ hour bus ride back to Lima. Im only praying that the rains will cease and the passage is clear. Wish me luck!