The largest city unreachable by road
Iquitos grew rich on rubber, and some of its old mansions are still covered in imported tiles. It cannot be reached by road, so it is a town of motocarros and river boats. The Belén market sells jungle fruits, fish and medicinal plants, next to a district of floating houses. From here, boats head to lodges on the Amazon and its tributaries, and to the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, a huge flooded forest where pink river dolphins, monkeys, sloths and birds are the reward.