At 4:45 am the night was over. I had packed already the night before and wanted to get up to watch the sun rise over the Rio Negro. It was just awesome! At first the sky turned slowly red and orange and then the same came up .... it seemed as if it was rising out of the water .... like a ball of fire .... cool.
Now I am sitting on the boat to Manaus. I skipped the tour to the place "where the 2 rivers meet" because I just did not want to pay another $ 50. Instead I teamed up with an Italian couple and Rene (whom I all met at the Ariau Hotel) to do a quick tour of Manaus. We went to see the local market halls, which were designed by Gustav Eiffel ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Eiffel) and checked out the goods on sale. I have to say that for the size of the city it was quite small, e.g. compared to the one in Arequipa/Peru. Maybe because there was construction going on and we could not enter all the halls? There was a large selection of local fish, fruit and vegetables. Especially they were cooking some plant to produce a yellow liquid (unfortunately I forgot how it was called) that is used for cooking, e.g. fish and chicken. It smelled really good ....
We also went to the "harbor" quickly. Well if you thin harbor as in Hamburg or Rotterdam this was quite different and I am not sure if I should call it harbor, since the water changes dramatically during rainy season. There were many floating pontoons which were used as the "quay" and many ships (primarily passenger ferries) were moored there. Trucks had been driven all the way down to the river bank onto the beach and were loaded and unloaded on the spot, delivering or receiving goods.... it all had a hectic but improvised flair to it.
Next we went to the Opera house - magnificent.... an absolute gem. We did do a quick tour and admired the air condition system, interior design and wooden floors. Unfortunately there was very little historical information provided in English, very little or no information was found about Walter Schumann (?) who actually was the mastermind and financier behind the construction project (according to my guide at the Hotel Ariau Christopher).
Then a strong Thunderstorm moved in and we went to the airport, because sight seeing in the rain is not much fun. The airport was very busy. I had a quick lunch with the Italian couple and exchanged email addresses. We left 30 minutes late to Sao Paolo. Once arrived their I took a taxi to the home of my friends .... well, it was hard to related what all the talk about risk and security was all about, it went really smooth, but I guess when all goes well you never think about being robbed at gun point. The taxi ride was quite expensive, $ 50.
More info on the Manaus Opera house:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Theatre
Now I am sitting on the boat to Manaus. I skipped the tour to the place "where the 2 rivers meet" because I just did not want to pay another $ 50. Instead I teamed up with an Italian couple and Rene (whom I all met at the Ariau Hotel) to do a quick tour of Manaus. We went to see the local market halls, which were designed by Gustav Eiffel ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Eiffel) and checked out the goods on sale. I have to say that for the size of the city it was quite small, e.g. compared to the one in Arequipa/Peru. Maybe because there was construction going on and we could not enter all the halls? There was a large selection of local fish, fruit and vegetables. Especially they were cooking some plant to produce a yellow liquid (unfortunately I forgot how it was called) that is used for cooking, e.g. fish and chicken. It smelled really good ....
We also went to the "harbor" quickly. Well if you thin harbor as in Hamburg or Rotterdam this was quite different and I am not sure if I should call it harbor, since the water changes dramatically during rainy season. There were many floating pontoons which were used as the "quay" and many ships (primarily passenger ferries) were moored there. Trucks had been driven all the way down to the river bank onto the beach and were loaded and unloaded on the spot, delivering or receiving goods.... it all had a hectic but improvised flair to it.
Next we went to the Opera house - magnificent.... an absolute gem. We did do a quick tour and admired the air condition system, interior design and wooden floors. Unfortunately there was very little historical information provided in English, very little or no information was found about Walter Schumann (?) who actually was the mastermind and financier behind the construction project (according to my guide at the Hotel Ariau Christopher).
Then a strong Thunderstorm moved in and we went to the airport, because sight seeing in the rain is not much fun. The airport was very busy. I had a quick lunch with the Italian couple and exchanged email addresses. We left 30 minutes late to Sao Paolo. Once arrived their I took a taxi to the home of my friends .... well, it was hard to related what all the talk about risk and security was all about, it went really smooth, but I guess when all goes well you never think about being robbed at gun point. The taxi ride was quite expensive, $ 50.
More info on the Manaus Opera house:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Theatre
Kitsch 1 .... Sunset over the jungle.
Kitsch 2 .... Sun rise over the Rio Negro.
The battery was dying .... the last shot of the opera. The roof consists of 36,000 colored tiles, the rotunda contains the air condition unit. This was the first public building with an air condition.
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