Travelling in style

So I just finished 6 days on the Amazon River. When travelling up or down the river over long distances people here just tie up hammocks and hang out while their on the move. Compared to those of Peru the lancha's in brazil were 10 times nicer and cleaner. Still they packed you in pretty tight, and everytime you pulled up to a place where people were getting on you had to rush back to your hammock because if you weén't there to guard your space someone would tie up theres, literally right on top of you. Thanks by the way to Nathan and Michelle, I'm getting good use out of the hammock. I ended up staying two days at the border in Tapatinga waiting for the boat to leave. It worked out though because unbeknownst(sp?) to me Brazil requires a visa to enter the country. So those two days were filled with paperwork and being zipped from place to place on the back of motorcycle-taxis. The people on the boat I was waiting for were nice enough to let me tie my hammock up and stay there free of charge while I was running errands and waiting for them to leave. Sitting around on the boat all day you end up talking to the people around you. I ended up meeting some very cool people this way, including a cool girl Maria Paracida, and Sidinete and her son Alan, this cool kid Luis and a guy named Fransisco that is part of the indigenous group Kokoma, years ago they were known to paint their faces before going to war (something they did quite a lot) and then to put their victims heads on pikes as trophys and to warn off nearby clans. No Shit! The old man next to me really helped me out by keeping an eye on my stuff even though I don't think either of us understood a thing the other was saying. Of course the bad comes with the good, meaning every once in a while I had to bullshit with this guy Nikolas from sweden who was a cocky putz. Other than that, 3 times a day a whistle would blow to let you know it was time to eat. And when you weren't in your watching the river of the jungle or in your hammock trying to sleep through the heat of the day there were drinks, snacks and beer up on the top deck. It was funny that as soon as the sun went down all the younger people would wash up, put on there nicest clothes and hang out up top. Apparently, for the people down here, a slow boat on the river is a singles paradise.