Army training ground? Ops.

One of my revelations on his trip has been my realisation that I have an urge to play sports, competitively and the raw physical side of things. This has spurred on my drive to get fitter and so myself and John have been trying to get as much exercise in as possible in our free time. Jogging has become a morning event, the 1st jog I have done in quite a wile killed me, i was shattered. The reason I'm gouge on about this is the other day myself an john came across a playing field and outside gym in the centre of town, so swig as it looking like it was for public use we, well use it publicly. 20 minuets into our session, myself jogging and sprinting around a football pitch and John lifting weights we are approached by an armed soldier. Only then does it become evident this is an army training ground, the army base across the road should have been a sign. And so we were told to leave the training area, back onto the streets for jogging in future think!

So puerto veloh.

So Puerto Maldonado was interesting, it was a pretty small town with not much to do, myself and John attempted to find the zoo but couldn't seem to find an address for it anywhere and lonely planet was no help what so ever! We visited the Plaza De Armas which was like most other plazas in Peru, shrubbery with benches and a focal point in the middle, in this case it was a clock tower, usually it has been a old fountain. Another tourist site we visited was the obelisk, a large glass tower in the middle of the town that you were allowed to go up for a few soles. From here we were able to see over the whole town and view the river and newly opened bridge completing the long awaited pan continental highway connecting the Peruvian coast with the Brazilian coast. The day of Arrival was the grand opening of the newly built bridge and the whole town and surrounding towns people had gathered, queuing  up waiting for the arrival of the former president of Peru. Myself and John were going to enter but the cue was immense so instead we killed the time getting breakfast in a small pastry shop, after we were able to see the former president from beyond the barrier. We watched as hundreds of Peruvians crossed the bridge on foot all being filmed by regional new crews, which was aired in the evening. Surprisingly having only been there for a few days it was quite easy for me and john to settle in. we found somewhere for breakfast, lunch and dinner, all different places and all at reasonable prices. Also to mention is somewhere me and John named the "old ladies" just like the one in Cuzco but this place sold refrescos, or super chilled pint size fruit juices for 25p! We had at least 2-3 a day they were that refreshing in this heat, I went for apple and John decided to work his way through them all.

So the time came for us to leave, we had exhausted all tourist attractions, explored the town and it's markets. We left for the bus station only to find we couldn't purchase our ticket from there and by the time we got to the ticket office the bus for that day had left, so we waited an extra night.   *insert drama* so here's where it gets interesting, having missed the bus the previous day we were determined not to miss this one, so we left for the bus station an hour early, but we realised we didn't know where we were meant to meet the bus! Schoolboy boy error I know. So instead of going to the terminal I went with my gut instinct and went straight to the ticket office, by this time we were running low on Peruvian cash as we have been using it over the past couple days so sexist have to exchange it at the boarder. So upon arrival at the office we get told there is another location for the buses heading into Brazil. On the other side of the river! so our taxi takes us to the river; by know cutting it pretty close to departure time, myself and John panicking. We get loaded onto a tiny motor powers boat and have to sit here as it agonisingly snails it's way across the river, the last of our cash to pay the boat man and we were across. Luckily we didn't need another taxi, if we had then we would have missed our 2nd bus in two days! Pure relief when we eventually sore the bus at the end of the dusty road.
Currently in Rio Branco Brazil, Amazon territory, nice and hot! Time to work on this tan that seems to refuse to develop. One negative note......Portuguese, I hate it!

Good bye to the point family.

Inti raymi AKA
inkan sun god

Happy 4th of July.

 Today marks the end of my time at the point. its been an amazing month, I've met so many awesome people. i think i know know what it must have felt like living in that traveler community in "the beach"living with so many different people from all over the world, everybody with a different accents and outlooks on life.. its been great and I've made some amazing friends during my time there, i was truly sad to leave my second family of travellers, but never the less the amazon is calling. I've loved the month of events in Cuzco, waking daily to fireworks (yes even in the day time), dancing in the streets, religious idles being carried through the streets to drumming, trumpets and flutes. i feel like i became a part of Cuzco standing in the streets amongst its people enjoying the celebrations of their culture, inti raymi, corpus Cristi and 100 years anniversary of Manchu Pichu. as well as enjoying bonfires, firework displays and BBQ's for our American and french friends day of independence, the 4th and 14th of july. 

Local markets, yes thats a big guiny pig!

currently sitting on the bus from a Cuzco to a small amazon town called Puerto Maldenado, the rain is pouring and its very hot at 3am, welcome to the jungle I'd say! john doesn't seem to be adjusting to the heat as well or the prospects of all the humidity and mosquitoes. its great to be back on the road again, i had forgotten how much i loved sitting on a bus watching the scenery and climate outside change so dramatically as well as the scenic landscapes (must be the nerdy physical geographer inside me). the bus is currently winding through the jungle, passing previous land slides and small shack villages, before these shack cookeries would worry me but now all i wanna do is go and see what there cooking, is it more strangeness like Guinea pig  ?.
 i cant wait to get to Puerto Maldenado and explore a little bit of the amazon i can see outside my window, similarly there are many things i want to see in Puerto Maldenado, one being a zoo with a collection of amazon flora, fauna and animals. i suppose i should try get some sleep. that's all for now until I've done something interesting to tell. 

Going to miss them all!