Whenever the craftsmen of the Amazon River in South America are asked about the online “Amazon”, they turn shy and bashful. The fact is, they probably did not expect that their personally hand-crafted handicrafts can be sold to the world easily through a shopping site that shares the same name as their beloved river and home.

Of course, the Amazon’s terrifying piranha and anaconda, two popular “characters” in numerous thriller or horror movies, have also helped catapult the place to fame although perhaps in a more negative light. Most people are fearful of these animals, and therefore, they are fearful of the Amazon. When I told my friends I was going there for a visit, many asked me if it was a safe place to go. “Is there nowhere else you can go?” they asked.