Santarem - Ruropolis, Day 13

As expected sleeping on a pavement in a dusty petrol station provided another inadequate nights rest. Spent the morning waiting for midday, as we were told we might get a lift at that time (drivers tell you a lot of things like this: here is best for hitching, I'll give you a lift then etc). The mother and daughter who worked in the cafe wanted to see what our English money was like. I gave them a pound and showed them some notes. Then they showed us their collection of quartz, bauxite and other stones that they had just found. I was given a lucky rock of quartz. If it works for the rest of the trip I'll keep it.

The two Spanish girls we were with sorted themselves a lift for part of the journey, and most importantly onto the Trans-Amazonica highway. Seems being female and attractive helps when you're hitching rides. We went to another stop which we were told held better prospects. In the end we waited round in the sun for a few hours with a poorly crafted sign I had made and then took a bus to Ruropolis, where we could join the highway.

At first I thought the conductor had forgotten to make me pay and the stone was working. However he had actually made Rob pay double. Still the stone has time to work its charm. The journey was five hours long but not uncomfortable, this despite most of it being on the worst road I have ever seen. We were treated to an incredible display of skilled driving as the coach lurched over a dirt track laden with ravines, bath-sized potholes, flimsy looking bridges and other traffic. We even overtook a lorry at one point as well, swerving round it and riding the bumps. The setting was thick and full jungle for as far as you could see, fantastic to look at but there was always a nagging feeling that the road itself maybe shouldn't exist. This sensation was reinforced by the large chunks of deforested land. But I don't really understand all the intricacies of this issue and I suppose a country can't be stuck hundreds of years behind the rest of the world.

Now we're in Ruropolis, a dusty little town. We're in another well-reputed hitch-hiking spot, getting ready to have a shower and hang the hammocks. We're making slow progress to Sao Luis, but its cheap progress and hopefully we'll knock another chunk off the journey tomorrow. If we get to Maraba there is a cheap train the rest of the way, but thats still about 1000 km I think. After only one good nights sleep all week, though, I need to get to bed quick.