Iquitos: Motos and More

Iquitos, Peru

Iquitos is a large, thriving city in  the Peruvian part of the Amazon and is only accessible by boat (a four day trip from Pucallpa) or by plane. We chose an airplane. We were told that the government is planning a highway that will provide overland access.  However, the government has been promising that since the mid 19th century.

Traffic is dominated by moto-taxis and motorcycles. Cars are rarely seen, although buses and trucks navigate their way through the mass of motos. This is a link to a video of Iquitos traffic, which is about how we experienced it. Although the traffic may not have been as crowded, it certainly moved faster.Iquitos traffic

This is a short, clever video which provides a sense of the city from a mototaxi. The latter part shows the park along the river in front of our hotel. We went to Church Sunday morning and the city as shown in the video seemed much like the relatively quiet, easy going city we saw that Sunday morning.Iquitos Sunday Morning. Check it out.

As if there weren't enough already, here is a truck full of additional motos for the streets.

Evie in front of the fountains at the Plaza de Armas.

Just off the plaza was a popular ice cream and sandwich shop, attracting a lot of the locals and street musicians playing for tips. These guys were really pretty good.

During the Rubber Boom days, this was the river dock for the steamboats and is right in front of our hotels.  (Back when the hotels were homes, the Rubber Baron could see his boats and rubber come and go from his window.) Some years later the river was re-routed.  Also, we were there when the river was low. This steamboat was not just abandoned, but has been turned into a very interesting museum.

The city has several other museums, including this museum of indigenous Amazon cultures, which we also visited. These cultures were much more diverse and sophisticated than I had thought and what remains today.  There is evidence of large, powerful and sophisticated ancient cultures in the Amazon.

The hotel had a long staircase with a mirror at the bottom, perfect for selfies.