Two cruise ships tower imposingly over a sleepy port in the Brazilian Amazon where some 50,000 people are gathering for a UN climate conference.

AFP visited the river port of Outeiro in Belem on Brazil's north coast, surrounded by small communities of boat-dwelling fisherfolk awestruck by the enormity of the floating hotels.

With capacity for 6,000 people, the behemoths came from Europe at the last minute to provide extra room for foreign delegates massing on Belem -- a city of 1.4 million residents of whom more than half live in shantytowns.

Some guests have complained about small quarters and the long distance from the port of Outeiro to the conference venue -- some 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) that take about 45 minutes by bus.

Others see it as a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

"You know.

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