Brazil & the Amazon (there is nothing about Brazil or the Amazon in this Blog)

Ay up all,

The question of today is : When is a good time to ask a person their name?


(IS IT HERE...) i met this Gringo girl in a bus station in Northern Brazil where we just got chattin, as gringos tend to do in these parts, and it seems she was heading the same way as me.

(OR HERE...) I got on the bus, and low and behold she was in the seat next to me. We had a 14 hour bus journey ahead of us so we just chatted a bit, listened to music a bit, read books a bit, chatted some more.

(OR IS IT HERE...) When we arrived in Manaus it was 2 in the morning to we decided it was better to jump into a taxi and point at the first Hostel in the Lonely Planet and go there, so we did.

(OR EVEN HERE...) We got to the Hostel and the rooms were a tad pricy so she suggested we share a room and simply go half’s. Sounds good to me. So we were bustled off to the room (WITH AIR CON!!! AHHH LUXURY!) and flounced down onto our beds.

(COME ON, IT MUST BE HERE...) I woke up the next morning and the realisation dawned on me that i had no idea what her name was!? She knew mine so at some point since meeting we must have exchanged names, but i always forget what people tell me as i meet so many new people these days!

(OH, ITS HERE...) Well, all i can say is thank god for luggage bag name tags! whilst she was in the shower i nipped over and had a look at her bag, Tina Somethingorother from Germany. Nice girl.

and now for something completely different...

Sorry to put in something serious here but on my way through the Venezuela / Brazil border me and this American bloke were taken off the bus and i was taken into this little room along with two policemen with big machine guns.

One ordered me to put my big rucksack on the table in front of me, and my day bag was put behind and slightly to the left of me. Both men started taking out all my stuff and i kept watch as good as i could at the both of them, but somehow one of them managed to steal about $80US and even 600BS (Bolivian money) which will be totally useless to him!!

After i realised what had happened, which was at the next stop just over the border it was well too late. The American guy also had a load of $US taken from him and was just as annoyed as i was. Its not the fact that they took the money, in the grand scheme of things it was not a lot of money. I am just annoyed that these two men spoiled my perception of Venezuela. I would have thought that they were there to Protect and Uphold the laws of the country, not to rip people off and act like nothing but the common criminals their more devoted colleagues put into prison.

Then, after the Ying had happened the Yang swang into action.

At the next stop the bus driver came up to me and the American and asked what had happened. After explaining to him he went back into his bus and returned with about 50 Reals, the Brazilian currency and offered it to me. I was so taken aback with his generosity. There was absolutely no need for him to do that, especially with his own money. We declined his offer as the men had not taken my Brazilian money which was in my pocket at the time so i had enough to survive on for one night at least.

After thanking the man productively i walked into the rest stop café and bumped into a gringo girl.



Matt