INTRODUCTION

If we choose between curiosity and fear of the unknown, which one will prove stronger? I think this is the main question that helps one understand what they are willing to do for the sake of their dreams. Having answered this question back in 2019, I decided to embark on a big hitchhiking journey around the world. The culminating point of this journey was rafting down the Amazon River in a handmade canoe. The trip took me 67 unforgettable days. These 67 days there were a whole different life.

I still cannot believe sometimes that it was real and I did not just see it all in a dream. This book is my travel diary where I describe my adventures. I hope that my experience will prove useful, and my readers will be able to draw their own conclusions and muster some more determination to make a step towards their dreams.

Before the diary begins, I would like to tell you a little about myself and the background of this journey. This way it will be easier for you to understand my motives and keep me company on this journey.

My name is Misha. I was born and grew up in the city of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, Russia. For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to the unknown. While other boys in my kindergarten were playing with toy cars, I was in the backyard digging to find the remains of some dinosaur and dreaming of becoming an archaeologist. It did not work out. Later I also threw away my dreams of sailing around the world and travelling as I decided that my family could not afford it. And indeed, where am I and where are they – those glorious travellers from my books?

For several years I combined my studies with a part-time job as a loader, and then I worked in IT for a while. That was when I first experienced freedom. I realised that the world does not belong to people with money, as is commonly believed, but rather it belongs to those who possess knowledge. Every year I gained more and more confidence in my abilities, so I started going on small trips, which usually involved fishing. The further I hiked, the more enchanted I grew with mountainous landscapes. I took up mountaineering. I had less and less limitations. Once I tried hitchhiking, and it was a real discovery for me. It also was not about saving money; it was more about personal growth and experience.

Hitchhiking taught me to talk to people, which has always been my weakness because of my reticence and natural proclivity for introversion. In this manner, I arrived at the point of my 25th birthday and decided to fulfil my childhood dream of travelling around the world and seeing the world for real. This diary will tell you about the final part of my trip to South America.

Why did I choose the Amazon River? There are not many places left in the world that have been underexplored, and the river area tops the list. To this day, the Amazon still holds many mysteries that hide under the crowns of virgin forests or in the depths of its waters. Every year scientists find dozens of species in its basin – unseen before. It would appear at the first glance that urbanization is full on its way to this area, with gas plants springing up everywhere in the jungle. However, the Amazon never ceases to amaze us with its primal power. To me, even the very opportunity to see the river with my own eyes always seemed something right out of a fairy tale. At that time, I had no idea what was in store for me.

When I set off for Latin America, I packed a packraft with me. It is an ultra-light, but reliable boat made of thermopolyurethane. The total weight of the boat and the paddle is no more than 4 kg. Whenever people asked me why I carried it, I answered with a joke along the lines of “I’m thinking of rafting down the Amazon”. People around me usually laughed and shook their heads in amusement. They had no idea how much truth that joke bore.

Six months later, after I had travelled around Latin America, stood on the edge of the world in Ushuaia (the southernmost point of the continent), crossed the Atacama Desert and the Bolivian high plateaus, I knew I was ready. Along the way, I had managed to pick up enough Spanish so that I no longer had trouble communicating with the locals. Looking way ahead, I can say that this was what saved my life more than once on the river.

By the time I reached the Peruvian town of Pucallpa, where all roads end and the river begins, I had barely $300 left. I was not too worried about that, because I had accumulated a lot of knowledge along the way, which was generously shared with me by all sorts of people. I think I talked about the Amazon to literally everyone who might know something, from a hairdresser to a fisherman in the dock. Some will wonder, “Why didn’t you google the information?”, and I honestly tried. There was no reliable information for my kind of plan. I found several books, some blog posts and dozens of videos about tourists ‘surviving on the river for the whole of 3 days’ – and they were instigating all sorts of myths. What excellent entry data for a person who wants to open the veil of mystery over a truly amazing place and write about something really unique and significant!

On 11 April 2023, I reached the upper streams of Amazon – the banks of the Ucayali River, which would later join the Marañon to form the great river. I could not believe my eyes until the last moment, as the journey I had made to get there was incredible on its own. I spent over 10 months hitchhiking, saw a dozen countries and packed several languages under my belt, but the Amazon was a whole new level. It was (and will forever be) the Everest of the jungle for me.

Even though I needed some rest after the long journey, on my first day there I set out to find craftsmen to help me build a canoe. I was running around the harbour with so much fire in my eyes and with such wild energy that it only took me about three hours to find assistance. I met dozens of craftsmen who tried to fool the white stranger. My fluent Spanish was a lot of help! The final price for the construction dropped from the initial sum of $500 to $150 after some bargaining.

The construction time turned out to be frighteningly short. The craftsmen finished the work in just under three days. Yes, I still questioned the reliability of the boat, but I was reassured by the fact that I supervised each stage of the construction, and I participated in it as much as I could. I managed to make all the working surfaces of the canoe smooth with sandpaper, which is not a customary method for the locals. My idea was simple: in this humid climate, any possible splinters could cost me dearly, so I should avoid them as much as I can.

By the time the boat was completed, I almost ran out of money. I purchased a solar panel so I would have enough power for shooting videos on the way. Floating down a river is one thing, but documenting every day of the journey is quite another. It might even save someone’s life in the future.

On my fourth day in Pucallpa, the canoe was completely ready. This is where my daily account of this incredible (no kidding) adventure begins. I will add a disclaimer that the style of the diary changes throughout the journey, reflecting both the emotional and physical changes in my state. Each part of the river presents its own challenges and dangers, so I will be changing too. Enjoy your immersion. The Amazon awaits.