Some updates of missed stories
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Various,
Ecuador
Tuesday, June 8, 2004
another jungle adventurë:
my time spent in the jungle, also involved a different type of adventure...one night, me and my two friends decided to see what the the process of psychonavigation involved...boy were we in for a treat...the experience went a little like this:
fasting for 24 hours with only fruit juice to drink, followed by a hike into the jungle at nightfall of the full moon...we arrived at a shelter a few feet away from a shear drop off cliff(a great location for taking gringoes to trip out!!)...there we met the quechua shaman who was to be our guide for the evening...he was the same guy i mentioned whose semen was responsible for the entire population of puerto santa ana...after a few words, we were introduced to the brutally foul tasting ayahuasca...an extremely potent halucinogenic drug, that will allow u to visualize your future and get in harmony with the jungle...apparently this is the natural plant form of the drug known as dmt...
so after consuming a shot of this horrible tasting liquid and i mean horrible), we laid down to await the buzzing sound that is the ¨heart of the jungle¨...at which point we were to return to the circle and enjoy the ride...after about a half an hour, i was definitely hearing the heart of the jungle over the sounds of insects and birds, it was a distinct low humm...however, this was when a crucial miscalculation was made...being no amateur to the world of psychedelics, i was sure that i didnt have enuff juice, as the effects seemed to be minimal...my companions agreed with me as well, so we inquired about the possibility of taking another shot...im sure the shaman said sumthing along the lines of, maybe u should wait a bit longer, but of course the silly gringoes knew best, and we had another round...2 minutes later, we were well aware of our overindulgence...within 10 minutes my two mates were throwing up in the jungle, while i vibrated on my seat and realized that maybe the 2nd shot wasnt the best idea i have ever had (and i have had lots of good ideas!!??)...trying my hardest to abstain from vomiting was not enuff, and shortly thereafter i joined them in the jungle and proceeded to vomit violently for 30 minutes, interspersed with a bout of explosive diarhea (sounds like fun doesnt it??)...ahhh the feeling of relief is unexplainable, however, it also meant that most of the medicine was now out of my system, and the effects were fairly mild for the rest of the night...the sound of the jungle at night and the view of the full moon was an amazing experience, but due to the violent retching, not much in the way of visuals were had...i guess my conversation with god will hafta wait for another evening...
so just a note to any of u who might encounter ayahuasca on your travels...take what they give you and wait, cuz chances are that they know best!!!
the shaman and guide that accompanied us were very thorough, and any time one of us stood up and tried to walk around, they were on us like stink on shit, to make sure we didnt wander off on our own into the jungle, or over the cliff (literally a couple feet away)...
the rest of the night involved, trying to get to sleep under a holey bug net...getting eaten alive by mosquitoes (hopefully the non malarial variety) in the jungle...morning finally came, and my friend andrew woke me up to show me the tarantula that was sharing his pillow a mere inch away...what a great way to wake up...
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it was in montanita that i was to be robbed without even knowing it...thinking i was extremely clever i had $70 cash sewn into a hidden seam in my pants, for emergencys sake...however, the laundry service i used in montanita turned out to be hand wash, and the lady was really thorough because she obviously felt it or sumthing (u couldnt see it), and actually took the seam apart to remove said cash...i realized it when i got back to the hostel, but what can u do???i had to suk it up, and i rationalized that she was likely a very poor woman, and 70 is probably more than a months wages to her, so hopefully the kids got properly fed and clothed that month...at least some young punk didnt get it and spend it on booze or drugs or sunthin...so ive decided that it was my charitable donation for the trip...
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one of the highlights of ecuador had to be the 5 hour horse trek i did in the mountains surrounding vilcabamba...leaving after breakfast, we mounted our trusty steeds and followed our guide into the mountains...after briefly testing us out on our horses, we were deemed worthy of high speeds, and we were on our way...we covered endless kilometers of some of the most incredible scenery one could ever hope to see...eventually we arrived at the waterfall, where we lunched, and allowed the horses time to cool off...we had to walk thru giant fields of corn to get there, and if you have ever seen the movie children of the corn, this may have not been your favourite part of the trip...
i was really glad the horses knew what they were doing and where they were going because there was some crazy shear drop off cliffs that we were galloping along at quite some speed, only a few inches away from certain death by freefall...putting your life into a horses hands(or on his back, as the case may be, was both unsettling and reassuring all at the same time...i mean he didnt want to die any more than i did, did he???or at least i hope not anyway)...
on the way back as we were racing past all the villagers our horses broke out into a dead sprint and as my amigo peter and his horse passed by, our feet got hooked up, and came out of the stirrups...if u have never been on a horse at top speed with your feet out of the stirrups, it is probaby something you dont need...i was sure i was gonna bail off this horse and wind up in a hospital for sure...
anyways thats a few stories i forgot to fit in to the rest of the travelogue...later
