What an unbelievable day yesterday, what unbelievable experiences since the day of my theft in Quito. Did I really deserve so much help and kindness? What have I done to deserve this or what do you want me to do in the future to pay back? However, the greatest challenge was waiting for me in Yurimaguas and in Iquitos when I would have to buy a ticket to get on board of one of the ships to continue my journey. Maybe I should wait until then with my judgement? No I had the right to judge today and my thoughts were right, my thoughts were emotional and I was overwhelmed by the help that I had received so far, everything was a little bit unbelievable to me and I considered myself to be a lucky, lucky bastard.
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I had slept at the bus terminal, I had been received very friendly by the security, had been guided to my sleeping bench and had been promised tranquility and security for the night. The security had kept his word and I woke up natural this morning and was ready for the day, I was thirsty and had to spend 2 Soles for a drink. I had dealt with hunger quiet well and did not have any problem with hunger; I have had an extreme experience during my adventure to Mount Roraima and was very well prepared to deal with hunger. Already then I had more problems with thirst. I was travelling along the equator, sometimes above, sometimes below, the temperature was high, the sun intense and I was thirsty many, many times.
The day started slow and difficult and I had to wait for an hour to get the first lift for just 25 kilometers to the village of Rioja from a couple who were driving a construction truck and were actually expecting a contribution. My story convinced them but did not make them really happy; we decided not to talk for the next 30 minutes. The beginning rain made my situation a little bit more complicated; I did not have proper clothes and walking in the rain was impossible; I had to search for cover and I wanted to get to the next gas station to have at least the chance to ask for a lift.
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The manager of the gas station offered me his chair and I sat down and waited for the few cars that stopped at the gas station. The manager’s wife brought some hot coffee and I accepted, more to warm my hands than to drink, I do not like and drink coffee usually. Now the assistant went to the bakery and brought some bread and I accepted, more to cover for the future than out of hunger, I do not like and have breakfast usually. In numbers I had to wait only 4 cars but in time I had to wait almost 2 hours before another construction truck took me for another 25 kilometers, this time we decided to talk for the next 30 minutes.
The offer to drop me off at the gas station in the next village was under the circumstances of the pouring rain the best option; the gas station though was on the wrong side of the street. The gas station on the right side of the street was just 400 meters further down the road at the last roundabout. I walked a bit in the rain, a bit under the roofs and the trees where possible and arrived at the roundabout. Out of the 3 gas stations at the roundabout I decided for the second. My money was running out but I had to spend 2 Soles for another drink. The nice assistant was looking for a small conversation and told me about his 3 year old daughter and her serious health problems and the lack of help from the government. I was thinking of my baby Matilda, she was 4 years old and I was thinking of her sister Madeline who was suffering from epilepsy and small mental and motoric disorder.
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The rain had stopped and I was back on the street at the exit of the gas station but I had no luck. I asked for the distance to the next toll station and decided to walk the 2 kilometers. Whoever passes the toll station would go to Tarapoto, my minimum destination for today. I did not bother to lift my thumb, the toll station would supply me with my next lift.
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A pick-up pulling a moto taxi stopped and asked me where I would be going. I told my story first and then answered the question. The driver asked me to jump on the back and we drove off. After the luck that I have had the last days I was already used to a lot of generosity but a car that stopped without a single sign of me was new to me and completed the stories of all the curiosities that I had experienced since my theft in Quito.
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We passed the toll station and we drove higher into the mountains, it began to rain again but before I could move to a better place to cover, the driver stopped and asked for me to join him in the cabin. We just spoke the necessary, not because we did not like each other, no, because it was our personality. The rain stopped and we stopped and I saw 4 people coming towards the car; I decided quickly to go back to my backpack and enjoy an open air drive again. It was obvious by now that we would go all the way to Tarapoto and I was not worried anymore about the rain, I was happy to have made another 200 kilometers.
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We arrived in Tarapoto, dropped off the moto taxi and arrived at the final destination, a side street quiet close to the center. The driver came to me, explained me the way and handed me 5 Soles. We had not spoken a lot but he had understood my situation very well. I was speechless but said thank you. I tried to put as much energy as possible into the hand shake and make him feel my gratitude, thank you. I walked the whole bypass to the other end of Tarapoto and was tired and exhausted when I reached the last roundabout. I had to smile though when I saw the sign board who indicated Iquitos 793 km, Manaus 2675 km, Atlantic Ocean 4175 km.
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The street workers were smiling about the German Gringo who was trying to get a lift but I could still see them looking when a commercial car stopped and I got in. We had just driven a kilometer when Santiago stopped to buy some ice cream, 1 for him, 1 for the female client and 1 for the poor German Gringo. We drove for half an hour and Santiago stopped again, this time at a bakery to buy bread, 1 for him, 1 for the female client and 1 for the poor German Gringo. I had understood that Santiago would drive to Poto but Poto was the client’s destination, Santiago drove back to his home, back to Yurimaguas and Santiago asked me to stay.
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We arrived late in Yurimaguas and stopped in front of his office ‘Etrisa Transport and Tourist Company’. Everybody welcomed Santiago and welcomed me very friendly and I had to take a final picture of Santiago and the whole staff and had to promise to publish the picture showing the company sign board on my site. I promised, said thank you to Santiago and walked to the port.
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The port was dirty, busy, muddy and a bit rough and I went to the only ship leaving for Iquitos and asked for the price, 100 Soles. All I had was 5 Soles from this afternoon and I knew that I had to ask for help now, from the captain, from the passengers, from the mayor, from the priest, from the population of Yurimaguas, I had time until tomorrow 17:30 hours and I had to start immediately. It was getting dark but the shops were still open and so I left the boat and ran into some backpackers who were just coming back from their shopping. I asked for their nationality, German and so I told my story in German and received my first 5 Soles, again, a good start and thank you very much, see you later, thank you very much.
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I walked the city center several times and asked here and there, him and her, rich and poor, black and white, thick and thin, small and tall and after one hour I had 37 Soles in my pocket. The shops were closing but the church would still finish and I wanted to test the Christianity of the population of Yurimaguas. I asked the young guy and after identifying me as German he replied in German, switched to English, switched to Spanish and finally switched 5 Soles. I talked to the Gringo who was sitting on a bench in the park opposite the church, he grabbed in his pocket and handed me all the coins he had. I grabbed in my pocket and had 53 Soles.
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It was now too late to continue and I decided to go back to the ship and talk to the captain if I could stay for the night. The ship was silent, the captain was sleeping, all staff was sleeping, all passengers were sleeping and so I walked to the third deck, entered my sleeping bag and lay down on the floor with my head on the backpack and was confident to achieve the target tomorrow until 17:30 hours, another 47 Soles to buy the ticket and have transport, food and drink for the next 3 days.
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For a small understanding of the days travel, I have included a Google Earth map. The red pins mark the locations I have stopped and taken pictures. At the bottom of the page you will find a link for all the pictures I have taken. The link will open in a Google+ Album.
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See map and distances / Siehe Karte und Entfernungen / Ver mapa e distâncias / Ver mapa y distancias
0 km Nueva Cajamarca
55 km Moyobamba
110 km Pacayzapa
185 km Tarapoto
230 km Pongo de Caynarachi
315 km Yurimaguas
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