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Iquitos

Peru

Latin America modest ~$50/day
How to get there

The largest city on Earth unreachable by road — fly from Lima, or arrive the old way: days by cargo boat hammock from Yurimaguas.

Where to sleep

A rubber-boom mansion guesthouse in town, then a river lodge or village stay upstream.

What to expect

The Amazon as a working world, not a postcard: floating Belén market, pink dolphins, shamans real and fake, and the jungle pressing on the city from every side.

First move on arrival

Walk Belén market early — dry-goods aisles of things you cannot name — then book three days on the Tahuayo or Yarapa rivers with a local guide.

When to go

June to October, low water

One phrase to carry

A su servicio — at your service; the courteous Peruvian close.

Read before you go

Tree of Rivers by John Hemming — the Amazon's whole human history.

Getting weirder nearby

The Pacaya-Samiria reserve — flooded forest by canoe, days deeper in.

One honest warning

Ayahuasca tourism is a minefield of charlatans — if that interests you, research for months, not days.

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