7th,8th,9th July

Evening of the 7th of July, it turns out that I spent too long on the Internet, updating my blog to be able to get out of Iquitos in the evening, and reach Mazan.

Instead I ended up finding a hotel for the night - 10 Soles, good deal.

On the morning of the 8th of July, I decided to make sure I get to Mazan - so by 2pm, I'm at the port Productores, and find a 'Lancha' - a slow boat that's going down to Mazan. 2 and a half hours later, I arrive in Mazan, and getting into a motortaxi, get taken to the 'centre'. Finding the cheaper hostel a little too cheap for my taste (what with no en suite, a single bed, and a room that had thin wooden walls that didn't reach the ceiling, but touched the floor), I decided that 10 soles was too much for so little, and moving onto the Hostal Municipal, discovered that for 2 soles extra I would be able to get an en suite (meaning shower and toilet - nothing fancy though... just a room with a loo and a sink, and a shower head with a metal rod sticking out of the wall to turn the shower on and off with..) and haggled my way into a 'Matrimonial' suite which meant a double bed too, for the same price!

That evening I fished around a little for some clues as to what to do next, and ended up finding a bakery selling wholemeal bread, after dinner in the market. Attracted by the wholemeal bread, I started to buy some, and as things go out here, I got talking with the lady of the store, telling her about my 'vision' and quest.

She ends up suggesting a fella named Javier, who get's tracked down and brought to the Bakery store, who sits down with me, looks at my map, hears my story, and agrees to be my 'guide'. Asking him straight up how much it would cost, he kindly offers to come with me 'voluntario' - which I figured meant he was happy to come along for free.

That evening, I went to bed, knowing that in the morning, once we had our transport sorted out, we'd be on our way to the point in the Mazan that my map was showing me was where I should be...