Tengo resaca...

Today I discovered the Museum of  Sacred, Magical and Medicial Plants. A fascinating exposition of hundreds of plants used for thousands of years in the Andes.  It included coca, tobacco, San Pedro, ayahuasca and hundreds of others from potatoes to maca.  What a shame that in the UK much of the knowledge of herbal remedies has been lost for the majority of people.  Instead many rely on pharmaceuticals for their ailments, both physical and mental.  To make ever more money the pharmaceutical companies that market these drugs create new conditions which require treatment.  Chemical compounds that alter the brain´s biochemistry which suppress uncomfortable mental states such as shyness, anger, depression and hyperactivity.  Perhaps there are better ways to deal with these states of consciousness than popping pills which have questionable side effects.  I am also learning many physical problems from asthma to cancer have their origin in the mind.  Consciousness is primary, matter follows.  Negative mental states or long-suppressed trauma manifest in the body as disease if not addressed at their root. ¡Viva las plantas!

 

Aleisha, John and Jesus

Crudo - hungover.  The first throbbing head of the trip.  It began with a meal in a classy restaurant with my Spanish teacher and a couple of Aussie students.  Estaba contentillo (I was tipsy). We then went on to a bar followed by Don Diablo (the Devil), a club full of locals with no gringos in sight.  Estaba borracho (I was drunk).  I staggered home at four after dancing in the Plaza de las Armas (the main square) in the rain with the many revellers partying late into the night.

Whilst I don´t want this trip to turn into one long piss up, you´ve gotta respect alcohol´s power to grease the wheels of conversation turning strangers into friends with great rapidity.  The Peruvianos certainly know how  to enjoy themselves.  I just wish I knew a plant remedy for hangovers.

San Pedro...

For those who are unfamiliar with San Pedro, it is a cactus that also goes by the name ´The Remedy´.  It´s been used for over 3,000 years in the Andes for healing and divination.  As with other mind-expanding plant preparations, San Pedro is illegal in the UK but permitted in Peru and other South American countries.  The question has to be asked why mind expanding compunds are made illegal by British authorites when mind dulling substances like alcohol are affectively promoted?

San Pedro is ingested as a thick, gloopy liquid.  A full tumbler needs to be drunk as quickly as possible as the texture is difficult to stomach.  The excellent guides, La Gringa and her apprentice Steve, encouraged the four participants to find a quiet space in a secluded garden in the mountains where they could journey.  In this safe environment we could relax and let San Pedro do its work.  Unlike other hallucinogenic substances, this is taken during the day.  The main reason for this being the enhanced perception of colour and form, especially of natural features.  Flowers seemed to glow with increased vitality, the normally ignored presence of insects and birds was in full awareness and the clouds shifted endlessly with their ever-changing formations.  All this under the watchful protection of our guides and their three dogs who continually protected the space.

At the height of the experience Luis, an indigenous shaman who normally lives at 6,000m, gave cleansing and healing to us all.  This produced the only visions I saw which were capillary-like lines of glowing red lava encompassing my entire visual field.  I then sat in a deck chair wrapped in a blanket as the Andean winds became stronger and grey clouds rolled in to replace the blue skies.  As I sat time seemed to compress to a point where the past and future were no more and all that was left was the ever present now.  Pretty amazing.

After exploring the nearby Temple of the Moon we headed back to town feeling a little fragile for an evening of pizza, gentle music and conversation filled with laughter.  An incredible day.

Dizzy heights...

A quick one hour flight from Lima and I´m now in Cuzco.  During the aerial approach and the 12 pence collectivo ride into town it was clear that this is a very special place.  Once an ancient Inca capital, this city of over 350,000 is a sight to behold.  Nestled in the mountains at 3,300m the air is so thin I keep forgetting to breathe deeply enough and find myself gasping for oxygen.  As one German commented whilst climbing the cobbled streets, "Es alto!"

The people here seem incredibly friendly with good-natured locals touing for business from the many tourists.  Even the foreigners are congenial and full of wisdom.  John, a retired lecturer in anthropology at Philadelphia University, described how half his life he´d spent trying to f**k his wife-to-be and the other half trying to stop her f**king him during the ensuing divorce.  All this plus a 5 course meal for £2.50 - a Yorkshireman´s dream.

AccLimatising...

Whenever I arrive in a new city I always hit the streets walking, it's the only way to get a proper feel for a place.  I must have walked the equivalent of the Yorkshire 3 Peaks yesterday, without the peaks... so not really that impressive.  What struck me was how familiar it all seemed.  I want to use the word 'westernised' but Peru is a touch father west than the UK so how about 'consumerised'.  Tall buildings, designer shops, exclusive restaurants, numerous universities, clean streets and better cycle lanes than I could dream of in Leeds!  Lima is a city of 8 million yet doesn't feel hostile or threatening.  Not the 'deepest, darkest' Peru of legend, a little shallow and light if anything.  There's time yet.

Having stopped for a rest in a tranquil little park a policeman approached me.  He wanted to see my passport and the contents of my bag.  After some questioning he called control on his mobile to check me out.  He described me as being 'clean'... three times.  Whilst this was reassuring to hear I hope we don't encounter one another in a couple of months when my hygiene status may well be compromised.  It turns out the reason for his caution was the ten storey building behind me, the Israeli Embassy.  How strange to think that common traits of potential terrorists include tomato sauce stains, dishevelled hair and a propblem with body odour.

Not quite Columbus...

Whoever you think (re)discovered the New World, their journey was certainly a touch more difficult than mine.  Now safely in Lima after a trip as smooth as catching the train to Manchester.  The weather here is blue skies and sunshine, at least it was before we descended beneath the grey clouds.  Let the games begin.

Pure alchemy...

If there was ever a way to charge the travelling batteries this was it.

 Sunday night in Camden with the relatives from Norfolk.

 The asinine grin says it all, mine not hers.

For those who aren't familiar...