Jul 2008
Working on the Trails of the Spirit website
15/07/08 10:28 Filed in: Trails
of the Spirit website
I've been putting a lot of time lately into writing
more information pages and fine tuning existing ones
on my main web site
Trails of the Spirit. It's over 40 pages now and
growing. Every update is like a three dimensional
puzzle, change one part and some of the information
has to be changed elsewhere.
Just last week I got the go ahead to build a Bookstore on my site which is linked into the Amazon online bookstore for fulfilment. I figure this is another way to provide a service to you my visitors, and to be able to donate the proceeds to the Yarina Village Project, (which I need to write more about). I'm excited about the Bookstore not just because I love books, but because I will be able to only show only those which are relevant to people interested in the subjects I cover in my website. Such as journeys and adventures in the Amazon Rainforest, Cusco and the Sacred Valley, Ecology, Peru, Vision Quests in the Wilderness, Plant Diets and Shamanic practices.
So right now it's all about writing. I've loads of notes and ideas I want to get onto my web sites and into print. So it's head down and keep going. If you've any questions, feedback or areas of interest to do with the above let me know and perhaps I can help in some way.
Barry
Just last week I got the go ahead to build a Bookstore on my site which is linked into the Amazon online bookstore for fulfilment. I figure this is another way to provide a service to you my visitors, and to be able to donate the proceeds to the Yarina Village Project, (which I need to write more about). I'm excited about the Bookstore not just because I love books, but because I will be able to only show only those which are relevant to people interested in the subjects I cover in my website. Such as journeys and adventures in the Amazon Rainforest, Cusco and the Sacred Valley, Ecology, Peru, Vision Quests in the Wilderness, Plant Diets and Shamanic practices.
So right now it's all about writing. I've loads of notes and ideas I want to get onto my web sites and into print. So it's head down and keep going. If you've any questions, feedback or areas of interest to do with the above let me know and perhaps I can help in some way.
Barry
Motocaros - the crazy three wheeled taxis of Iquitos
02/07/08 19:21 Filed in: Peru
I was talking to a friend this week about the main
mode of transport in Iquitos, Peru, the Motocaro. It
is hard to get over in words what they're like and
the effect they have in the town. They're basically a
rickshaw powered by a motorbike, the normal motorbike
wheel at the front and two wheels at the back, with a
bench seat and canopy for the paying passengers.
They mostly drive like maniacs and it all gets
very exciting when whizzing along at night at high
speed through a tropical storm.
In the main streets they're like a swarm of very loud manic bees as unfortunately they have all got it into their head that their rigs go faster without the baffles in the silencer! There's a running bureaucratic battle between them and the local major and the police who want to force them to put the baffles back in as the noise pollution has become too much even for the locals, who love to listen to their music cranked up to number 11. Unfortunately every time the police impound a Motocaro due to noise pollution, the town has an instant strike on their hands, and so the Mayor backs off.
There's apparently over 30,000 of the things in
Iquitos with a population of around 500,000.
A few things in their favour is they are cheap, around 2 Soles maximum, (about 45 cents Euro or 70 cents in US currency), to travel most anywhere in the town and because of their great numbers you never have to wait more than a few seconds for one no matter where you are in the town! A great peoples taxi. Now only if they would put the baffles back in then it would be the perfect taxi.
B.
In the main streets they're like a swarm of very loud manic bees as unfortunately they have all got it into their head that their rigs go faster without the baffles in the silencer! There's a running bureaucratic battle between them and the local major and the police who want to force them to put the baffles back in as the noise pollution has become too much even for the locals, who love to listen to their music cranked up to number 11. Unfortunately every time the police impound a Motocaro due to noise pollution, the town has an instant strike on their hands, and so the Mayor backs off.
A few things in their favour is they are cheap, around 2 Soles maximum, (about 45 cents Euro or 70 cents in US currency), to travel most anywhere in the town and because of their great numbers you never have to wait more than a few seconds for one no matter where you are in the town! A great peoples taxi. Now only if they would put the baffles back in then it would be the perfect taxi.
B.