Belen Market in Iquitos in the Peruvian Market- One of Peru’s Most Picturesque Markets

Covering 20 blocks, Belen Market is the largest in the Peruvian Amazon, and showcases virtually all of the goods that come into and out of the rainforest. It’s been described as a “time warp”, but it’s also a privileged view into a world you’ve never known before. Its exotic meats and produce are the source for almost all of the food served in area restaurants, lodges and cruise ships- but it sells much more than that.

Belen Market is chaotic, messy, and overwhelming at first glance. The afternoon garbage does pile up, while drunks can be found passed out around the lower, but its far outweigh these unsightly issues.

As soon as you reach Calle 9 de Diciembre, you’ll hear the juice stand blenders whizzing. From the moment you enter the market, vendors begin shouting out their wares. This is part of the upper market, which sells the freshest produce. There’s a wide range of fruits and vegetables that you may never have tried before, among them heart of palm, camu camu fruit, and the scaly aguaje, which is thought by locals to be a female aphrodisiac. (If you’re planning to stock up on supplies, it’s best to visit in the morning when the freshest fruits and vegetables are available. Also, remember to bring smaller bills and change.)

Along the labyrinthine alleyways, parrots and other tropical animals (which you should not buy and will not be able to legally transport) are on offer, as well as products made from jungle animals.

Continuing along, you’ll see lots of locally produced and rolled Mapacho tobacco, which is sprinkled with cane liquor after drying and is a standard for shamanic ceremonies. Local healers blow their smoke over clients’ bodies to rid them of evil spirits, or over wounds so that they heal more quickly.

Salted and dried paiche fish are a market standard in the fish section. In the meat section, some visitors will be put off by the freshly sacrificed and unrefrigerated wares, as splayed turtles and the legs and heads of wild pigs replace the filets you might be used to seeing in your local grocery store.

Along Paquito Street, you’ll find love potions and aphrodisiacs. Exotic natural remedies are also on offer, including literal snake oil rubs!

If you can buy it in the rainforest, you can buy it at Belén. This means that imported products are on sale as well: cheap shoes and lingerie, pirated DVDs, machetes, and probably anything else that you might think of.

If you are looking for an economical meal, you can dine on soups, plaintain tacacho fritters and other fried foes for just a few soles. If it’s immersion you seek, you can find it at Belén Market in Iquitos.

Where the market ends at the steps to Belen proper, everything begins to take on a poorer and more shoddy air. Below the steps, the buildings are on stilts or platforms that allow them to float when the river floods the neighborhood. Although some tourists do hire a boat to view the neighborhood, you are not recommended to continue on from this point alone nor on foot.