asakiyume | Tuk-tuk ride

We didn't actually ride in a tuk-tuk until we were heading back to the airport on our last day in Leticia, but I thought I'd share these very short videos Wakanomori took because it'll let you see the streets of Leticia and how dominated they are by motorcycles (and secondarily: tuk-tuks).

We saw whole families on one motorcycle: a mom and two schoolkids she just picked up from school,* plus a baby asleep on her shoulder. Most people ride astride, but we saw some passengers sitting sidesaddle. We also saw lots of people carrying home big bottles of water**--the water-cooler water bottles.

Here's a photo of evening motorcycle rush hour, as seen from our open-air eatery:

*A lot about Leticia reminded me of Timor-Leste, and one thing was that there aren't enough school buildings for the students, so kids do school in shifts: some kids go in the morning and some in the afternoon. We went walking one day at around noon and happened to pass a school where parents were picking up kids, and it's quite evident again at sunset that another group of students have been let out.

**The tapwater isn't drinkable in Leticia or in the other municipality we visited, Puerto Nariño. But Leticia is building a water purification plant, so maybe one day? And Gustavo Petro, former guerrilla fighter and new president of Colombia, has promised to invest in the countryside, so maybe for Puerto Nariño, too, one day.

None of this is the rainforest-and-river content you might be expecting from a trip to the Amazon, but I really love, love, love knowing, as best I can, ordinary daily life in the places I visit, and this is part of that.

Part one (40 seconds)

Watch on YouTube

Part two, featuring the roundabout (36 seconds)

Watch on YouTube