Manaus was founded on the banks of the Amazon River in 1669 with the installation of a Portuguese military fort and catapulted into the industrial age in the mid to late 1800's as canny English merchants uprooted the rubber trees for processing and planted iconic architecture in their place. This sprawling city with 1.7 million inhabitants carrying out their Brazilian ways in the middle of the jungle is yet to be connected by road to any other significant city. Industry still drives the economy today with scores of foreign companies manufacturing automotive and electronics components in the outskirts of the city center.
What do you do in Manaus after Brazil loses the world cup game? Take your shirt and shoes off and dance "Forror" in the street until dawn.
