Sailing the Amazon - Great Journeys
By
Tom Thumb, Posted Dec 10, 2006
The Amazon is the world’s largest river and runs down from Colombia and Peru to the Atlantic coast of Brazil in Belem. A week downstream from Belem to the Colombian border, double that upstream and another week more if you want to head into Peru – sound like the ultimate hard core travel journey?
It’s actually a complete hell trip, churning through the murky brown waters with the jungle kilometres away in the distance, trying not to go insane on overcrowded boats with a few hundred poor Brazilians jabbering away in hammocks.
Still, there’s no real reason why you shouldn’t make a real voyage out of it and try going by raft or canoe. With a good kayak you can go almost anywhere but make sure to bring loads of water purification tablets and mosquito repellent.
The real fun in the Amazon comes from heading through the smaller tributaries and hanging out with the tribes, drinking ayahuasca and discovering your jungle spirit. You’ll get hopelessly lost if you’re trying to cover any distance though and will have to stick to the main drag.

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Hand to Mouth to India is the tale of when I hitchhiked from England to India at the age of 20 with no money at all.
Passing through England, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and finally arriving in Goa where I slept on the beach all season and wrote the book.
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Tales of a Road Junky covers the last 12 years of my journeys around the world. telling the tale of coming of age in the Goa trance scene, rescuing foreign prisoners in Delhi, selling fake Rolex watches in the street in Tokyo, getting into trouble with the medicine mafia in Brazil and delving deep into the heart of Israelity in the Promised Land.
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Imagine you, the room you’re in, the planet and everyone in it were all just a Story, figments of imagination in the mind of a Storyteller. But with Hoomanity set on self-destruction, the Storyteller’s health begins to fail and if he should die, what would become of the Story that he tells?
All hope for our world lies in the hands of a 9 year old boy and a foolish Bloon…
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