Manaus to Belem - Know Before You Go

by Mattfromtexas on November 18, 2010

You arrive at the docks after taking a boat from Manaus to Belem down the Amazon River. On day three of your trip, your boat got stuck on a sandbar (due to the record low water flow), turning your five-day adventure into a nine-day nightmare. Tired, broken and smelly, you stumble into HI's Amazonia Belem looking forward to a fresh water shower, a proper bed and a place to clean your moldy clothes. But wait.

The "friendly" staff at the HI hostel inform you that a three-kilo load of laundry costs R$40 to wash and an extra fee to use their dryer. They are not kidding. This is their price, take it or leave it. Upon inquiring about an alternative laundromat, they point you in the wrong direction without a name, address or any helpful information on how you can get your clothes cleaned for cheap.

The Solution

After an exhaustive two-hour search for a cheap per kilo laundromat, I found the Lav & Lev. Here you can wash and dry a seven-kilo load of laundry for only R$20. For an extra R$10, they will do all the work for you so that all you have to do is drop it off and pick it up a few hours later.

Lav & Lev - Belem
Rua Dr. Moraes, 576
Tel: 3223-7247

From the HI Amazonia Belem, head West toward Praca da Republica. Make a left to head South on Avenida Dr. Moraes. The laundromat is six blocks or so on the right side of the street. It is just past the cemetery.