TravelStream™ news feed for member christosp on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/christosp en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:56:56 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1240185600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1240185600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1240185600/tpod.html Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:56:56 -0400 "The Mountain Nomad" - Round the world via some big peaks!

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Arequipa, Peru

Day 103 - 19/04/09Arrived in Arequipa this morning as the sun was rising after another overnight bus ride in Peru. Recently I've gone all posh and been traveling on the expensive (for Peru) "Cruz del Sur" buses which are five times cheaper than the expensive Brazilian buses and to be honest far better. Arequipa is the home to numerous 6000 metre volcanoes, geothermal hot springs, beautiful religious colonial architecture, and the biggest canyons in the world, even bigger than the Grand Canyon in the US!! This place has it all and over the coming days I hope to have a good explore of the city and the surrounding area.I've found an amazing place to stay in the centre of town called Hostel Lary. The old colonial building is constructed out of volcanic rock collected from the surrounding volcanically active area. My room is like a wine cellar with a vaulted ceiling and a circular sky light, it's basic but ooze's character. Had a great breakfast overlooking Plaza de Armas, the skies were completely clear and the peaks of the surrounding volcanoes were poking out over the roofs of the impressive colonial churches and buildings. What a beautiful spot!Had to have a siesta after breakfast, feeling completely drained after very little sleep over the last couple of days on the buses. In the afternoon I had a good explore of this picturesque city, just wandered around aimlessly on the cobbled streets. Tomorrow I'll investigate the trekking options around Arequipa at the tour agencies and visit "Monastery Santa Catarina" which is a walled citadel within the city centre. Hopefully I'll be feeling a little less tired tomorrow after a good night sleep.Day 104 - 20/04/09This morning I visited monastery Santa Catarina, A 400 year old citadel surrounded by high walls in the centre of town. The monastery was founded by a wealthy Spanish family in the 16th century after the colonisation. Spent all morning in the monastery wandering around this maze like complex which is like a self contained city with small streets, kitchens, laundry, hospital and cemetery. The nuns who lived in the monastery weren't permitted to leave, hence all the infrastructure to allow the nuns to have a comfortable life without having to leave the high volcanic stone walls of the monastery.After leaving Santa Catarina visited the many travel agencies around Plaza de Armas to check out treks in Canyon country. Managed to find an outfit who appeared to be professional for a 3 day trek into one of the biggest canyon's in the world, the Cocha canyon. I leave tomorrow morning at a crazy 3.30am. The rest of the day was spent buying some supplies for the trek and just relaxing and enjoying this picturesque city. Need to try and get an early night tonight  before the ridiculously early start tomorrow morning.
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Nazca, Peru

Day 101 - 17/04/09Lima to NazcaArrived in Lima before sunrise after a terrible nights sleep on the bus. A guy a couple of rows down was snoring like an Australian road-train speeding through a tunnel. Slept for a couple of hours at the most!Had a short 2 hour wait in Lima for my 7.30am departure to Nazca, an 8 hour bus journey through the coastal deserts and sand dunes of the southern half of Peru. This desolate landscape is a stark contrast to other environments I've seen in Peru so far. As soon as we left the city limits of Lima, big rolling sand dunes appeared out of the mist set back hundreds of metres from the coastline.After arriving in Nazca I was greeted by a group of shouting hostel touts. I was so tired I just accepted one of their offers of a room. Ended up being the right decision, a really nice clean place with a hot water shower (A real novelty in the places I've been staying) called Hostel Yemaya.Dropped the bags off at the hostel and went for a wander. Like most towns in Peru, the Plaza de Armas is the focal point and centre of town, so I headed there first to enquire about flights over the mysterious Nazca lines. The landscape around Nazca is very similar to Death Valley in California, with moon like peaks and flat lifeless valley's. A harsh and stark environment, but never the less very beautiful.Went to a pizzeria this evening for dinner and was served by an hilarious women and her little fluffy white dog. Then had a Pisco sour in a 90's bar which played mostly British Indie music such as "The Verve" and "Oasis", really strange considering where I am in the world.Tomorrow I will organise a flight over the Nazca lines, the soul purpose why I'm here in Nazca. I've decided to just tip up at the airport rather than booking a flight with an agent in town. I think this will be the cheapest option. Will hopefully find some other things to do around Nazca before my 10pm bus ride to Arequipa. Arequipa is suppose to be a beautiful city surrounded by 6000 metre volcanoes and is located in one of the most volcanically active areas of the Andes, should be an impressive place!Day 102 - 18/04/09NazcaWent to the airport early this morning to book a flight over the Nazca lines. Within 30 minutes of arriving at the airport I was sat in a 4 seater Cessna with a pilot called Alex. We speedily took off for the 35 minute flight over one of the most mysterious human-made formations on the planet. Even today nobody really knows who or why these crazy patterns were etched on to the hard desert earth. Of course there are many theories such as landing strips for little green men, or astronomical alignment charts, just to name a few. What a beautiful landscape from the air, we had perfect weather with not a cloud in sight. The first 5 minutes in the air we flew over a patch work of irrigated fields and channels before reaching the parched flat desert plain. Little barren rocky outcrops scattered the landscape like small islands in a sea of dust and sand. We reached the famous Nazca formations and the pilot starts to perform some crazy manoeuvres to give us the best view possible of the lines. I didn't really expect to see so many patterns and lines, I was of course aware of the famous formations like the monkey with it's spiral tail, the whale and hummingbird but the whole desert is littered with geometric shapes and patterns. The flight was a bit of a stomach churning one, I felt fine but one of the girls in the plane was sick, luckily in a plastic bag. I didn't even realise until we were back down on terra-firma, I was so pre-occupied taking photographs and staring out of the window in amazement to notice.After safely landing, myself and a few others arranged a taxi to take us to the pre-Incan cemetery of Chauchilla. The 2000 year old cemetery is a 30 minute drive from Nazca through the parched desert. The cemetery is really spectacular, there are bits of bone and textiles scattered across the landscape with open tombs sunk into the sand. These tombs contain the body's of the Chauchilla people who are wonderfully preserved considering they've been buried in the desert for 2000 years! The bodies sit crossed legged draped in beautiful textiles with certain individuals having a single dread-lock, some two metres long still attached to their skull's. Some individuals even have leather-like skin still intact. The bodies are so well preserved due to the dry arid conditions in this region of Peru, it very rarely rains here so the bodies take a very long time to decompose. We then caught another cab to one of Nazca's other gems, Cahuachi. We received special treatment at Cahuachi by the curator of this vast pre-Incan site. It was the end of the day, the sun was setting and we were the only people there. The curator gave us a guided tour, he very kindly let us go where tourists normally aren't allowed to roam. The site is in the process of been dug out of the desert. It will take decades and cost millions to clear this ancient city. The complex is spread across several square kilometres and only a small area has been cleared and pain-stakingly restored. Would be an amazing sight to see the city restored to it's former glory.Really happy about having such a productive day of sightseeing in Nazca. Nazca had many more places of interest than I initially expected apart from the obvious of course. In the evening I caught the overnight bus to Arequipa, I hope I get some sleep!
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Huaraz, Peru

Arrived in Huaraz at 6am and was approached by several guys offering hostels and treks. At this point I just wanted to get my head down for a proper sleep after being completely frozen on the bus for most of the 9 hour journey. Must be close to freezing here in the Andes, not use to these chilly temperatures after spending so much time in the hot and humid Amazon. At least they'll be no mosquito's!!One of the local touts took me to the Gyula hostel in the centre of town, it's cheap and cheerful and I have the privacy of my own room. Will be a good base to organise some trips over the coming days. After a few hours sleep I had a stroll around town. The city was flattened by an earthquake in the 70's so it's now a bit of a concrete jungle. The chaotic traffic, the hustle and bustle, the traditionally dressed women and the snow capped peaks of the Andes as the back drop, I've finally arrived in the real Peru!! This is exactly how I imagined the Andes to be, and I like it!!This afternoon I organised a couple of day trips, one to ancient archelogical site of Chavin, the other to some sacred lakes high in the Andes. This should give me enough time to acclimatise to the altitude before climbing higher to possiblely do some trekking. In general I feel pretty good, i'm having no problems with the altitude so far even though I've come straight up from sea level. This evening I went out for some chicken and chips which I hope doesn't poison me and retired back to the hostel for an early night.
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Yungay, Peru

Today I went on a tour of the emerald Llanganuco lakes in the Cordillera Blanca range high in the Andes. I was wide awake at sun rise after an early night, so I dropped off my laundry and just hung around town enjoying the early morning sun. I departed Huaraz at 9.30am to begin the tour, I'm the only Gringo on the bus which is actually quite nice for a change, the rest of the people are local tourists. The tour first stopped at the city of Yungay. Yungay was built at the foot of the highest mountain in Peru, Huascaran which stands at 6768 metres above sea level. Yungay was completely destroyed by an avalanche which was triggered by a massive earthquake in 1970. The entire city was buried killing nearly all of it's 18000 inhabitants in the worst Andean disaster in living memory. The new settlement is located one mile from the original site which is now a memorial to those who died in the tragedy. A massive statue of Christ is perched on a small hill in the old cemetery which overlooks the destroyed settlement, a few remains of the city can still be seen including sections of the fallen cathedral. A crushed bus has been left where it was dragged by the snow and ice as a reminder of the power of nature and the devastation it can cause. The whole site has been very tastefully turned into a shine with roses and flowers to remember the dead. Walking round was a very sobering experience when you think about the massive human loss due to this colossal force of nature. We left the sombre Yungay and ascended a tight and windy dirt track with massive drops into the valley below. The scenery as we climbed was beautiful with big Andean peaks either side of the road. The peaks in this area of Peru are some of the largest on the continent with many towering over 6000 metres, so the scenery was truly majestic. We reached the Llanganuco lakes in the UNESCO listed Huascaran national park and was greeted by low cloud and drizzle, just like the weather at home. The poor weather soon lifted though after having a quick bite to eat, so I went for a short walk on one of the trails which hug the lakes shore. The sun made a guest appearance, lit up the turquoise waters and the cloud shrouding mount Huascaran lifted to reveal the glacial and snow covered peak. I returned back to the bus after a short but beautiful 1 hour hike. We stopped at a few towns on the way back to Huaraz including the little colonial town of Caraz. Arrived back in Huaraz in the early evening, went out to eat some more chicken and chips as it didn't poison me last night. I retired to my guesthouse early once again as I have another early start in the morning to visit the pre-Incan archaeological site of Chavin.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1239926400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1239926400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1239926400/tpod.html Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:33:19 -0400 "The Mountain Nomad" - Round the world via some big peaks!

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Chavin, Peru

Woke up this morning to a perfectly clear blue sky and a stunning view of Mount Huascaran from the comfort of my warm bed, certainly a nice way to start the day. I've met I really nice local guy who organised the trips for me over the last couple of days. He can also organise expeditions to climb Huascaran, may come back next summer and give it a crack. It's a relatively technically climb but the peak can be scaled in 8 days and it's an extremely cheap expedition compared to expensive Aconcauga in Argentina, which is only a couple of hundred metres higher.I bought two bus tickets this morning. I've decided to leave Huaraz tonight for Nazca after today's tour of the Chavin archaeological site. I've decided not do a trek in the Huaraz area as I'm short of time as per usual! I'm planning to do some trekking in Arequipa and Cuzco and there's never enough time to do everything. I'll defiantly be back in this region one day to climb Huascaran anyway. I'll catch the bus to Lima tonight and then a connecting bus to Nazca early tomorrow morning, another epic 24 hours of travel!I thought the scenery yesterday was impressive but today was jaw-dropping as we crossed from west to east over the Andes. We stopped for half an hour at Lake Querococha in the Huascaran national park. The pale blue waters sit at 4000 metres above sea level and the surrounding 6000 metre plus peaks were stunning shrouded in white cotton wool cloud. We then crossed a 4517 metre saddle which leads to the eastern slopes of the Andes. After driving through a small tunnel which looked like it had been hand-dug, we descended into the valley's below towards the town of Chavin and the Archaeological site of the same name. The three and a half hour ride from Huaraz was really rough with frequent landslides blocking parts of the dirt track road especially on the eastern slopes. It was a vertebrae popping and bone crushing journey but this hardship was rewarded with stunning views of the altiplano which justified the uncomfortable ride. I really hope it doesn't rain later as there's no way we'll cross the 4517 metre pass in our two wheel drive minibus back to the western slopes. The water induced landslides obstructing the roads would be impossible to negotiate. It's looking rather overcast high in the Andes, fingers crossed for good weather later!We finally arrived in the town of Chavin and had a much needed lunch in a local restaurant, I was completely starving. We then made the short drive to the Chavin architecture site from the centre of town. The Chavin's were a pre-Inca civilisation and the complex was build in 1200 BC although sections were added as late as 800 BC. The Chavin took copious amounts of the hallucinogenic San Petro cactus to gain access to the sprit world which was dominated by animals such as the Puma, Condor, Snake and Crocodile. The site is full of this hallucinogenic iconography of the merging of reality and the sprit world. Out of all the animals the Chavin worshiped, the Puma was the most sacred. Half-human, half-feline carvings scatter the site on numerous colossal stones. A maze of alleys, ducts, underground chambers and passages lead to a sacred stone which was the most important symbol to the Chavin's. This ornately carved stone sits in an underground chamber at the centre of the complex. The whole site is aligned to the southern cross star constellation and astronomy was an important aspect of Chavin culture as there're many more astronomical references all around the complex. The site is an amazing piece of engineering for a people that lived nearly 3000 years ago. Our guide was speaking in Spanish all day, I understood some of what was being said but I no doubt missed a lot. I'll need to research the Chavin's myself when I find the time, there're a fascinating people.After 3 or so hours looking around this interesting complex we left and headed back to Huranz. We stopped along the way at the impressive Chavin museum which was recently build with donations from the Japanese. Then the long bumpy drive back to Huaraz in the darkness, which we thankfully managed without being blocked by landslides. We arrived back in Huaraz, I had a quick meal, picked up my bags from the guesthouse and caught my overnight bus to Lima.
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Lima, Peru

Day 95 - 11/04/09Woke-up this morning feeling mentally and physically on top of the world. I think the Ayahuasca has cleansed my soul and the violent vomiting has detoxed my body. Haven't felt this good in months!! The Ayahuasca's psychotic effects have completely vanished, thankfully! Thought I might be seeing none existent people and hearing voices in my head for the rest of my days.I walked to the sea front in Miraflores and watched the early morning fog roll in from the pacific, it's a stunning view from high on the cliffs. The fog cleared quickly so I thought today was the perfect day to explore Lima. I headed for the central district with it's beautiful colonial buildings. I walked most of the 7km from Miraflores to Plaza de Armas in the centre. Surrounding Plaza de Armas is some of the prettiest colonial architecture I've seen on my travels in south America. There's example's of exquisite 16th and 17th century Spanish colonial architecture everywhere. I wandered the cobbled streets for hours enjoying the temperate pacific coast climate, it's so nice to be away from the humidity of the Amazon.The French guys arrived in Lima tonight from Iquitos and we had a chat about our shaman experience. I think the experience for the guys was in many ways a lot more intense, they widnessed the shamanic strangeness without being under the influence of a powerful narcotic. After discussing our experience I'm starting to remember some more snippets about this strange evening in the forest, maybe over the coming days more things will come to light. We disscussed my fall in the river the morning after the cermony. After falling in the river I was mortified that my PDA was broken, the shaman told me not to worry, he said it would be fine and would work later, he was right. Also my passport was bone dry inside, how can this be possible after being submerged in water? My wallet was completely soaked and I had to dry the notes, but the passport was dry! I can remember having this sudden urge to step off the wooden blank into the water. Did the shaman make me fall in the river after I refused to heed his advise to cleanse? Did he somehow protect the important items in my pockets? I really don't know, my logical brain can't explain this weird series of events. The more I begin to remember about the last 24 hours the weirder the whole experience becomes. Normally I'm a bit of a sceptic when it comes to these supernatural pagan type things, but this whole experience has proven to be unexplainable and unbelievably freaky.The French guys also told me that the shaman didn't drink any Ayahuasca but still had visions and vomited violently just after I did. The shaman wouldn't say what he saw, I just hope it wasn't anything too bad. Probably best I don't know.Day 96 - 12/04/09Didn't do anything today, felt very tired and just hung around the hostel and slept for most of the day. This is really strange as I was full of energy yesterday. Maybe the Ayahuasca is still playing tricks on my body. I haven't been able stop thinking about my experience with the shaman in the Amazon. The Ayahuasca has made me think about what we perceive to be reality. I think there's a fine line between conscious and unconscious thought or dream like states. I think the human brain is far more complex than we could ever imagine and I don't think humans will ever fully understand this complex biological machine. My perception of the world is completely different to someone else's, but I can only every understand and peceive my own personal world. The Ayahuasca obviously reduces this gap between the conscious and unconscious thought. The Ayahuasca world could be the real reality, you never know!Day 97 - 13/04/09Once again I'm feeling very lethargic today, sat in the park in Miraflores in the early afternoon and watched the world go by. Didn't really do anything else apart from surf the Internet at the hostel and get ready for my departure tonight.In my opinion Miraflores is not the real Peru, the clean affluent streets with swish apartments feels more like a rich European city. Certainly doesn't feel like the capital of one of the poorest nations in South America. Although Miraflores feels like a bit of a contradiction, I do really like the place. It's safe, close to the Pacific and it's generally a nice place to be. Maybe I like Miraflores because it feels so close to the world I've been accustomed too for most of my life. Although my past comfortable life has now been substituted with my simple nomadic lifestyle, which to be honest I infinatly prefer.Tonight I caught the bus to Huaraz in the Cordillea de los Andes. The town sits at a dizzy 3100 metres and I hope to do some trekking amongst the numerous 6000 metres peaks which surrounds the city. I caught a cab to a run down bus station in central Lima, looks pretty dodgy to be honest. This is more like the Lima I was expecting to see before I arrived in Peru's capital, the opposite end of the spectrum to Miraflores. I wondered why my bus ticket was so cheap when I bought it a few days ago. I now know why after boarding the rather tatty uncomfortable bus. No problem though, it's only a 9 hour journey which is stones throw away compared to the bus journey's I've taken over the last couple of months in Brazil. A few hours after leaving Lima the bus started to climb the western slopes of the Andes. I could see the silhouette's of the mountains in the moonlight, I'm finally back in my natural habit!! I was checking the altitude on my GPS and in the early hours of the morning we reached 4200 metres, that's sea level to over 4km in the sky in just 4 hours. Think my head might be a little dizzy in the morning after such a quick ascent. Any acclimatisation I build-up on Aconcauga has now been lost after 10 weeks at sea level in Uruguay and Brazil. I'll need to acclimatise again in the coming days, no doubt.
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Lima, Peru

I was woken by the shaman at 10am not knowing where the hell I was. I was still heavily under the influence of the Ayahuasca. Later I realised the shaman had stayed with me in the hut where we performed last nights ceremony for my safety. The shaman put me in a boat and took me back to the village where the French guys slept last night. When we arrived back in the village I was given some fresh fruit to eat, I can't eat anything substantial for 24 hours after taking the Ayahuasca. Over breakfast the French guys told me how freaked-out they were during the ceremony. Apparently I was in complete control until an hour after taking the Ayahuasca they said. They told me they looked in my eyes when the Ayahuasca had taken it's full effect and said I looked evil and possessed. I didn't feel possessed at any point last night but I've never been in a mental state even close before. Was I possessed or just completely wasted?After breakfast the shaman told me to go and wash in the river, he said this was the final part of the ceremony. To be honest I didn't fancy it as all the villagers waste is deposited straight in the muddy waters, so I declined. 10 minutes later I visited the toilet which was just a hole in a wooden blank at the end of a raised gangway above the river. As I walked along the gangway, I had sudden urge to step off the foot-wide blank and predictable fell in to the neck deep water fully clothed with my passport, wallet and PDA in my pocket. Does the shaman have control of me or was this event just a freaky coincidence! I don't really know, but the shaman got his way and I was cleansed in the waters. Really freaky!!!I was worryingly still having complex hallucinations this morning on the boat back Iquitos. I'd see people I thought I knew in the small boat but I couldn't fully recognise them. They'd ask me a question, which I replied too, but when I turned to look at them, they'd vanish. It was only me, the shaman and the driver in the boat as the French guys are staying in the forest for another night. I knew this, but every-time one of these hallucinations happened I'd still verbally respond. This happened half a dozen times during the journey. My vision is very blurred too and I generally don't feel like my usual self. I was expecting the Ayahuasca to have worn off by now. I've been completely comfortable with the entire experience until this point. I think I'm still in some half-house between the conscious and unconscious worlds. Will these hallucinations stop or I'm now some kind of schizophrenic? To demonstrate my state of mind, he's an example of something I wrote this morning on the boat, 12 hours after ingesting the potent vine; <i>Also it was a bright and clear nasty, same up more my tonight on nice out I.... "christmas party, BBQ sausage's and it's all the best you can eat the show which people walk being Buff!! This is slightly worrying I'm sure you'll agree!! Only time will tell whether this crazy state of mind subsides, I really hope it does!I arrived back at the hostel in Iquitos, picked up my bags and caught a tuk-tuk to the airport. My flight was delayed by an hour which was no tragedy as it gave some more time to come round. When the plane finally took off the sun was setting over the Amazon forest. What a beautiful sight to see this majestic forest from the air. The low sunlight reflecting on the rivers and tributaries with thick dark green canopy as far as the eye could see. It was a nice farewell to the Amazon after almost 3 weeks in the biggest expanse of rainforest on the planet.I arrived in Lima and caught a cab to Miraflores where I'm staying at the Hitchhikers hostel. Miraflores is apparently the safest place to stay in the city and is the upmarket area of Lima. The hostel is only 8 bucks a night, which isn't too bad. Hopefully I can began to save some cash in Peru after haemorrhaging a couple of grand in Brazil.
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Nauta, Peru

We took numerous forms of transport to reach the small village on the Yaraba river where I'll be staying tonight. Buses, tuk-tuk's and a boat were required to reach this small tributary of the Amazon. We left Iquitos for the forest at 7am. In total it took around 4 hours to reach the submerged village where the rainy season has caused the river level to rise 25 metres above it's normal level. It rained for most of the journey, which wasn't surprising. Our home for the night is a wooden hut high on slits completely surrounded by the swollen river and thick rainforest. We bought a live chicken on the way to the village which was promptly killed by the family we're staying with to provide lunch. It was defiantly the freshest chicken I'd ever eaten. After lunch we went fishing on a beautiful lagoon just off the Yaraba river. We saw several river dolphins playing around 100 metres from the boat, unfortunately they didn't come any closer but still amazing to see. The sounds of the forest, the dolphins and the still black waters made for an idyllic location to fish for Piranha. We had plenty of bites but we only caught one tidler between us and I didn't catch it. After an hour we left the still waters of the lagoon and rejoined the Yarbaba river in search of Woolly monkeys. Our guide said the Woolly monkey is the Amazon's friendliest primate and if we had banana's which we did, they would certainly come. So we stopped on the banks of the river when we saw these funny looking monkeys high in the canopy. Several came down onto the lower branches and one large female jumped in the boat. We handed over the banana's and she sat next to one the French guys, peeled the banana, threw the skin into the river and enjoyed her free lunch. A few more joined the confidant female but they stayed in trees above the boat so we handed out the rest of the banana's and headed back to the village. The family had cooked chicken soup for dinner which unfortunately I couldn't eat because I need to keep my stomach empty before the Ayahuasca ceremony this evening, I'm so hungry too!!&nbsp;After the sun had completely set we boarded a small boat to be taken to Ayahuasca ceremony which is being held in a small hut somewhere in the forest. I surprisingly feel very calm, I think the French guys are more nervous than me and they won't be taking the Ayahuasca. We meandered along the river in the full moonlight, yes it's a full moon, is that an omen! Then to my surprise a large fish jumped straight into the boat, is this another omen! Weird! We reached a little group of huts lit by candle light after 15 minutes or so. We moored the boat and entered one of the huts where the shaman unpacked the ceremonial paraphernalia. The shaman's toolkit consisted of the Ayahuasca in a plastic bottle, a small wooden cup, a pipe with pure tobacco, a bottle of fermented sugarcane with garlic and onion, a tiny bottle of a perfume like liquid and some dried leafs bunched together with a piece of string. The shaman poured the thick orange Ayahuasca into the wooden cup and handed it to me, he said "don't smell it or taste it, just drink it", I downed it in one. Then he gave me the fermented sugarcane to drink followed by a tiny amount of the perfume liquid. The concoction quickly passed through my gullet and into my stomach and within seconds my belly started to pulsate like a beating heart. The shaman then handed me the pipe filled with pure tobacco, so I sat crossed legged on the bed and smoked in anticipation of the potion taking it's effect. The shaman's then blew the single candle out and we were in complete darkness. 15 minutes passed and the shaman told me to close my eyes, he started a hypnotic chant and wafted the bunch of leaves around my face and neck. At this point I started to feel something, my senses were ultra alert, I felt like I could see in the darkness and my hearing was finely tuned. I could signally pick out the sounds of the forest in the background. At this point it was a really euphoric feeling, very pleasant and not freighting in the slightest. Then the shaman's wafting of the leafs seemed to be a large butterfly flying around the room, the wind from it's wings cooling my face like a rotating room fan. An hour had now passed and I was describing to the French guys how I was feeling throughout. I said to them I felt really good and soon as these words left my mouth I started to feel drunk, like I'd been on a two day drinking binge. My body started to feel heavy and I was forced to lay down on the bed. This is when things started to get a little hazy and slightly crazy. The next thing I remember is being violently sick, this is a side effect of the Ayahuasca but I'd never been sick like this ever in my life. My body violently spasmed and it felt like my internal organs where going to be expelled from my mouth, violent is an understatement!! To add to this drama I started hallucinating. I saw my watch on the floor which I haven't worn for weeks, I knew it was in my big backpack in Iquitos, but I really believed it was my watch on the floor. Then the next thing a remember is the shaman throwing water over me and putting me back in to the bed. Then I saw a bottle of water and a packet of cigarettes which I tried to grab. When I tried to grasp them, I was just grabbing thin air. I tried over and over again to take these objects in my hand but too no avail, then I gave up. This same experience happen many many times during the evening, my sense of spatial awareness was completely screwed. The next big incident was when I tried to run for the door of the hut, I don't know why the hell I did this, I just had an urge. My legs where like jelly and just wouldn't work, I bumped my head and knees in a manic attempt to get out, one of the French guys grabbed my hand and had to put me back to bed, once again. The sickness then returned and I started violently heaving but there was nothing left in my stomach. OK, that was a complete download of all I can remember about one of the most random evening's of my life! This experience is something I shall never forget as long as I walk this earth, no regrets at all!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1239148800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1239148800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1239148800/tpod.html Mon, 11 May 2009 15:34:48 -0400 "The Mountain Nomad" - Round the world via some big peaks!

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Iquitos, Peru

Day 91 - 07/04/09Another crazy day of travel awaits! I was woken at 2.30am by the French guys who I met on the boat from Manaus. We're travelling together from Tabatinga to Iquitos so we shared a room last night at a guesthouse near the river border with Peru. We leave by fast boat for the 10 hour journey at 5am, but first we have a tiny little problem! The French guys decided to stay up all night rather than sleep. When they woke me, they said a group of locals have been stood outside the guesthouse all night smoking crack cocaine. The French guys had been watching from a balcony overlooking the street. As you can imagine this worried us slightly, especially as we need to walk down to the docks very soon to get a water taxi across the river into Peru. Three Gringo's with big backpack's walking to the dock in the middle of the night, I think the likely outcome is we get robbed by the crackheads, interesting predicament. Thankfully, the night-watchmen from the guesthouse offered to walk us to the docks, so we left the security of the guesthouse and confidently walked past the crackheads who were starring, menacingly. As we quickly walked down to the river the crackheads followed, rather unnerving! We reached the dock without being robbed, boarded the small water taxi and motored into the darkness of the river. Bye bye Brazil, hello Peru!! We made it with all our belongings and more importantly ourselves intact. &nbsp;After 15 minutes on the water, we reached the mostly submerged Peruvian island of Santa Rosa where the fast boat was moored. This boat will blast up the river to the jungle metropolis of Iquitos in no time. Peruvian immigration official's stamped our passports before boarding the boat and we were off!&nbsp;The boat was like a rocket compared with the other boats I've taken so far on the Amazon. I was sat on the back seats near the massive turbo-charged engine. The noise was deafening for the entire 10 hour trip. I love engines but this was too much! Sleep, which I was so longing for was near impossible, but it's better than spending another 3 days on a packed slow boat sleeping in a hammock. &nbsp;We arrived in Iquitos by mid-afternoon in a rather tired and sorry state. Dozens of harkers were vieing for our attention, "jungle trips, hotels, transport", the last thing you need when you're completely knackered. It was like being in Asia again with the tuks-tuks buzzing around and the constant hassle, but regardless I'm so glad to be in Peru after 2 months in dangerous and expensive Brazil. I really think I'm going to enjoy my time in Peru, I feel much more at ease already.&nbsp;Iquitos is the biggest city in the world with no roads in or out. The only way it's 500,000 inhabitants can escape this concrete island in the Amazon basin is by slow boat or plane. The city doesn't feel remote though, it's just like any other frantic south American city but on the outskirts lay pristine primary rainforest. I may head into the jungle again, could be my last opportunity before I hit the mountains.&nbsp;We found a cheap hostel in the centre of town called the "Hobo Hideout", very appropriate to match my vagrant slash nomadic lifestyle. Only 3 quid a night too, that's more like it! Had a walk around the city centre to get my bearings and returned to the hostel for a much needed shower. We went out for Pizza this evening which was the first non rice and bean based dish I've eaten for a long time.&nbsp;Day 92 - 08/04/09I feel very ashamed, I've booked a plane ticket today to fly to Lima from Iquitos. I pledged at the beginning of my south American travels that I wasn't going to take any flights within the continent, overland and boat would be the only options. Today I broke that pledge at the prospect of another 7 day boat journey on an unsanitary Peruvian boat. I'd done so well not to cave in to the temptation of flying for so long. This will be the first and only flight I take in South America, I promise!!&nbsp;I've decided to head into the forest again tomorrow with the French guys. I'll be meeting up with a local shaman in a small village 4 hours south of Iquitos on one of the tributaries of the Amazon. I'll be taking part in an Ayahuasca ("Vine of the Soul") ceremony tomorrow evening which involves drinking a concoction of hallucinogenic jungle vines. This concoction is one of the most potent natural substances on the planet and I've been assured that the shaman is extremely experienced and is the real deal. The ceremony usually lasts for 3 to 4 hours (depending on the person's tolerance or strength of the potion) and is performed deep in the forest at a remote location. Ayahuasca is used by the indigenous people for a wide variety of uses such as general healing, riding of parasites, talking to the dead, igniting creativity to name only a few. I'm really excited to have the opportunity to participate in this indigenous ceremony which has been practised in the Amazon for hundreds if not thousands of years. The ceremony will be performed tomorrow evening, the French guys won't be talking part, so only myself and the shaman will drink the sacred Ayahuasca. The French guys will watch the ceremony and give me some moral support if times get hard.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1238614260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1238614260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christosp/1/1238614260/tpod.html Sun, 10 May 2009 16:15:09 -0400 "The Mountain Nomad" - Round the world via some big peaks!

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Tabatinga, State of Amazonas, Brazil

Day 85 - 01/04/09Today I embark on the week long journey by slow boat to Tabatinga on the Peruvian border. It's defiantly going to be one of choose character building journey's which I love. I'm sure it will be boring and uncomfortable at times, there's only so much forest and river you can aimlessly stare at before it becomes a little monotonous.&nbsp;Headed down to the docks late morning to board the "Fenix", my home for the next week. The boat is far from luxurious, it's in worse condition than the last boat I took from Santarem to Manaus, it's jam packed with cargo too. I asked some French guys from the hostel to hang my hammock in a good spot, they boarded the boat yesterday because they have a cabin which they could sleep in for free last night. Unfortunately by the time I boarded the boat, my hammock had been completely inundated with other hammocks. If it's to tight in the hammock space I'll sleep on the floor or even on the top deck under the stars, I'll see how it goes.&nbsp;I'm the only Gringo sleeping in the hammock space with the locals, the other 5 Gringo's on board have posh ensuite cabins with air-conditioning. I'm slightly envious of their luxury but at least I'm keeping it real. There's defiantly an interesting group of people on the boat. Many Peruvian's are on board who are so culturally and visually different to the Brazilians. The Peruvian's seem more curious of a strange westerner in a hammock on a boat up the Amazon. There's also a Pastor on board, a bible seller, business people, policemen, kids the elderly, it's like a cross-section of Latin American society and of course me the Gringo. Feels like a little floating village or a series of "Big Brother".&nbsp;Day 86 - 02/04/09Think I may of elbowed my bible selling hammock neighbour last night. The hammocks are so tightly packed that you're constantly banging into the surrounding hammocks. Got a few hours sleep at the most, may sleep on the floor of the top deck tonight. I think 6 nights in hammock is going to kill me! &nbsp;Really surprised how cold it was on the boat tonight, a big storm broke out in the early evening and it was bloody freezing. It was actually quite nice to experience some cold weather but strange to be so cold in the middle of the Amazon jungle. When I say cold, it was probably 20 degrees but compared to the temperatures I've been experiencing recently it felt like an Arctic wind was blowing across the Amazon basin. &nbsp;Day 87 - 03/04/09Had a much better sleep last night, raised my hammock high to give me some more space from my bible selling neighbour, don't think I elbowed him last night. God wouldn't be very happy if I injured one of his promoters.&nbsp;Another day has passed lazily swinging in my hammock on the Amazon, still 4 days left until I reach the Peruvian border. The journey is not as bad as expected, the food is a little repetitive but edible and there's a real sense of community on the boat with such a diverse bunch of characters. A met a half Russian/Colombian today who plays with a Rubix cube most of the day (I kid you not). Another one of the boats characters is a gay guy who wears little denim shorts, make-up and a blonde wig, he dances samba most of the night on the top deck stealing cigarettes from everyone, he's absolutely hilarious.&nbsp;An Amazonas girl a couple of hammocks down wants to marry me apparently. She lives in a town on the triple frontier. Don't think I'd survive the mosquito's if I decided to accept her proposal. I can't speak Portuguese and she can't speak English either, could be a marriage made in heaven!&nbsp;Day 88 - 04/04/09I sort of now know how those 16th and 17th century mariners felt been stuck on a boat for days and months discovering the new world. My life on the boat is not as exciting as theirs, It's only my 4th day&nbsp;and the in-activity is proving quite difficult. Compared with those past explorers I'm living in relative comfort and I haven't got scurvy!&nbsp;The sunset's on the Amazon are very special, the dark waters reflect the fading red light so beautifully. It's become a nightly ritual to go on the top deck and watch the sun dip below the horizon.&nbsp;Day 89 - 05/04/09Last night was a bit of a nightmare, the boat stopped many times to load and unload cargo. People were constantly bumping in to my hammock, it was impossible to sleep. Watched the sun rise at an unknown port in a small village somewhere on the Amazon. Don't know where the hell I'm, all I know is that I'm heading west. Eat the usual poor breakfast of crap bread rolls, then enjoyed the morning sun on the top deck. We docked at another small village for nearly 4 hours this afternoon as a couple of tons of cheap cola was unloaded at the tiny port. I managed to sleep for 3 hours while we docked so I'm beginning to feel a little more human now. Many more people boarded during the day so the hammock deck is packed to bursting point, I feel like a battery hen. Really glad it's my last night on this bloody boat tonight! We'll hopefully arrive in Tabatinga sometime tomorrow afternoon where I need to find another boat to take me into Peru. First though will be a night in a bed before I begin my next boat mission!&nbsp;Day 90 - 06/04/09I've finally arrived in Tabatinga after a 123 hour boat journey from Manaus. What an epic! It's been one of those harsh but memorable experiences! I've now travelled over 2000km of the mighty Amazon river by slow boat. I still need to travel at least another 500km to Iquitos in Peru near the source. I think I'll get the "Expresso" or fast boat to Iquitos. The hammock lifestyle is starting to get to me a little with the monotonous food and the jam packed boats. Once again, I had very little sleep last night with even more passengers boarding the boat. My hammock was sandwiched between a fat guy snoring like a truck and an old guy who kept moving in his hammock and nudging me. In addition there was a massive storm which lasted for hours, torrential rain, high winds and thunder kept me a wake too. To add to these pleasures, something has been biting me and I'm not sure what. Don't think it's mosquito's, maybe some other kind of Amazonian nasty has been feeding on me. The joy's of Amazon travel!!&nbsp;After standing on terra-firma again in Tabatinga myself and a couple of French guys from the boat went to the immigration office to get our Brazilian exit stamps. This proved to be a bit of a nightmare for me. I wasn't given a white slip when I crossed into Brazil from Uruguay. This slip is needed for exit, so the border official said this was a big problem if I wanted to re-enter Brazil. Luckily the French guys speak better Portuguese than I do and could explain the situation. After a half an hour I got my exit stamp without paying the normal 700 reials fine. After the immigration hassle I found a hotel and brought a ticket for the express boat to Iquitos. The boat leaves at 4am from Santa Rosa which is a river island on the Peruvian side of the invisible border.
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