Voyage

On May 2nd, Joseph, Robert, James, and I set out on a 20 hour bus ride from Trujillo to tropical Tarapoto. From Tarapoto, a collectivo drove us through a deteriorating mud road at high speeds to the river port city of Yurimaguas, where we embarked on a three day journey up the tributaries of the Rio Amazonas to legendary Iquitos, largest city in the world not accessible by road.

In Yurimaguas, we bought hammocks to sleep in, stocked up on snacks, fruit, and beer. We spent those lazy days on sunning on deck and staring at the river, playing poker, and chatting with the interesting cast of characters on the Eduardo's top deck.

Among them was a man taking his champion rooster to Iquitos for a cockfight, in a competition drawing foul from as far away as Colombia and Panama. His animal was an impressive specimen. It's streak of 15 consecutive victories was unmatched in his career as a trainer. As he told us about the animal, a sequence of Jean-Claude Van Damme movies played in the corner. A blinded Jean-Claude, TKOing Asians in "Blood Sport," and gratuitously flexing and flashing his glutes.

At my suggestion, our new friend brought his rooster up for us to meet, allowing us to hold the animal and pet its smooth black feathers. All was genial between us until the last night when he decided to join our poker game. As we drank rum, and his tongue loosened, he began to tell us, in a comic tone, that his rooster had nearly killed another bird in its territory below decks. He confessed further, a little drunkenly, that "women were driving him crazy." He had a girl in Yurimaguas and his wife and child in Iquitos.

When he at last joined the poker game, he was already drunk. Though he'd never played before, he'd been watching us and was quite confident that he'd grasped the game's principles. He'd go to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, he proclaimed, as we dealt the cards. He'd be a world champion one day. Wait and see! he slurred. Within half an hour he was into me for 5 buy-ins, 10 soles at our very low stakes table. Though no harsh words were exchanged, and the money couldn't have meant a whole lot, the joviality and friendliness in our interaction was never recovered.

The meals on the Eduarado's top deck were delicious, and each evening, we were treated to the stunning sunsets that reflect off the river's surface.