Bogota, Cartagena and Carnival

Lets begin this one with a little street fight.

What has been going through my mind lately since everything hit the fan, getting my things stolen. I tried to remain in a positive state not letting myself feel angry over the whole affair.

i know better... i should just process it as it comes... but i had so much energy built up towards going away up to the coast, writing, working out, meditating just living and being happy, that i didnt want to see any darkness at the time.

well it seems that if you hide the darkness inside yourself it has a funny ways of popping up and saying hi.

decided to take a break with everything and head up for Carnival... pictures will come later when i can find an internet cafe... they are not popular in this area.

a break with everything, have some drinks and chill out... fighting with myself over that since i made an oath to not drink... and lately i couldnt figure out a good enough reason to hold on to it.

drank a bit and went out with some friends... lots of tenssion was built up.

I had a friend a few days before tell me that i need to release this built up anger and rage. visualize and then let it out in a physical manner, like a punching bag or going for a run.

im thinking to myself have i really gone that far in the opposite direction since my meditation in nepal... mind you that was a long time ago and i havent really kept up with my mental work outs...

so... actually having a good time met up with some new people and a english teacher from the hostel, which was also teaching me spanish. and went out, the english teacher and his friend disapeared for a while, when they came back they seemed more energetic... haha right Nick the english teach, a couple inches taller then me, fairly fit, thin blonde hair... tells me that he just fought his friend in the street... which is when i enquired if they were alright and what happened... well it turns out that they just wanted to let loose and see what would happen...

oh... haha well i thought without really thinking it through that it was a brillant idea, so we got a friend to make sure we didnt really hurt each other too bad and a safe word... the best one we could think of at the time was FUCKING STOP!

Dancing around on our toes with our fists up... circling each other in a half drunk boxing pose... he misses as i jump back, i come in... crack... first hit... missed thought, hes going to have a sore neck tomorrow...(i should mention that i wasnt hitting with full strength)  dancing around some more... opening... crack... jaw...nicely done Tyler .... oh... Nick goes side  step side step topple.... cement!

i think... oh shit! run over to him and help him to his feet.... he asked what happened... as he regains his balance. next thing you know... our friend that is making sure that we dont kill each other wants a go...
this one didnt last long... i give him a quick jab to the head... mentions that im faster then i look when some security guards came around the corner and we acted like nothing was going on... could have been straight out of a movie... scratch the back of your head and look up at the stars...

Next night went out with a bunch of people from the hostel, J and Felix the Cat as well as a couple Isrealis that were down for vacation, dancing drinking... and for some of the others some white powder in the bathroom.. dont worry i have never touched the stuff.

after the party ended we decided that we still wanted to go out. driving around in a small taxi, J is talking to the guy in spanish trying to find a place to go... we drive around one corner... and what a sight to see its a marachi band full on costumes and insturments... at 3 am ... in a dark alley...
they go up to The cat and ask him in spanish if he wants some marachi which he replies... no thanks im gay.... i teared up i laughed so hard... on the other side of the cab the isreali girl was shouting PLAY THE HORN PLAY THE HORN... obviously they were asking if he wanted some coke... but that reply was priceless.

so we end up going to an underground club... they have radios to watch out for police and unlock the door when its safe... quite the set up actually... only problem was it was a flamming gay bar... but the music was good and we danced all night... we were all grabbed and proded like cattle but... telling them that we werent interested seemed to work.


a day later im heading to Cartagena with J an american traveling doctor. im not going to get into a lot of detail right now cause we were there for a week, but i will highlight some details for you.

in the old city, walled city, quite beautiful actually it seems like there are no normal bars... ah they look normal and they sound normal and they give you normal drinks, there are lots of pretty girls in Colombia as it is... but if you pay close attention yes, it is true they will talk to you and be friendly but they are going to need some exchange of money for their time.

Now this kinda reminds me of that song from cage the elephant,  

  what made you live this kinda life

 aint no rest for the wicked, money dont grow on trees, 

i got bills to pay i got mouths to feed

 and nothing in this worlds for free.

Actually sat down with one of them and had a normal conversation, what i found out is that working a normal job without education they make absolutely fuck all for money... barely enough to feed themself let alone anyone else... and the ratio of single monthers here is stupidly high... so a lot of them have kids and need a way to support themselves. A lot of them just dont have a lot of choice, they do what they have to to live and ... or should i say survive. 

after a couple days of non stop drinking... yay for doing the complete opposite of what i planned to. 

get a message from felix said he was staying in Barrenquilla and that he had a place to stay for cheap if we wanted to join... Barrenquilla is where the carnival was taking place and its also where there are no accomidations from months before.

So, me and J go to the bus station, and show the address of where we are going...

They freaked! Do NOT  go there!!  are you crazy you are going to die!

apparnetly The Cat was staying at a cheap hotel room pay by the hour in a part of the city where not even police are allowed to go into. The people at the bus station were so convincing we decided not to go... 

When i called The cat later and told him what area he was in he replied    i know....

Anyways J made friends with one of them girls from a club in  Cartagena... and it was her birthday so we rounded up a cake, some friends and party hats and decided to go and see her cause she had to work on her birthday. 

We got there and they looked well more then surprised but she was quite happy with it, they even through on happy birthday music and turned off the dance for a while. 

after a drink i danced on the stripper pole for a minute... which seemed to give me a lot of attention and we left back to the hostel cause they had a party going on there... but i think that J really made her day.

after that a man J had met the night before gave him some Stuff... to try and if he liked it to buy some... 

not a good idea though, it was set up ... the other dealer told him that he had to buy all of it and if he wouldnt... he would be found and delt with.

things were getting pretty heated in the street... J had lived here for over 3 years and wasnt about to take this garbage... but 10 feet back i could see 6 guys in view that were with the deal and aother with his hand on something on his belt on his back maybe a gun... it is colombia... i gave J some money and we called it even with the dealer just to defuse the situation

Then it was carnival day... headed in with a few people from the hostel... was suppose to meet a canadian girl there cause she was on a different bus... she called me from the street a couple times but the phone that i bought is having issues... only rings once and goes to missed call. 

the parade was so cool, its was super hot out and people were cheering and spraying people with foam and throwing handfuls of flour long with water ... quite messy but fun.

The costumes in the parade were outstanding, a lot of fun!  girls dressed in feathered head dresses, guys dressed as monsters...they even had a predator custom.... and for some reason some guy was dressed as hitler ... not sure how to take that one... the parade was lots of fun, couldnt find a place to stand close to it so i will have to crop photos and hope they turn out alright from my replacement camera. 

afterwards I had dinner with a couple Aussies i had met... which were all very indecisive they decided to catch a bus back at 6... but that was too early... and i hadnt heard from my canadian friend so i waited... missed my last bus but ... there was one at 5 in the morning ... and its carival... 

i met up with the Cat...

he told me in an email that he moved out of that dangerous place because there was ... too many little children with knives and guns... which is true that area has 12 year old gangsters that will stab you for drugs... 

so he told me there was a cheap place to drink at a strip club near where he was living... turned out it was an actual legit strip club, no touching the girls, cant take the girls home, there was cheap beer and the girls dont strip all the way!

this may not sound good to some of the guys that think... they dont strip all the way...?  this place is crazy, relaxing a little sounded good, no prositutes seaching for your money sounded good as well..

The girls were gorgeous in there and since it was a local place my friend the cat and i had a lot of attention from them... and then The cats friend came by... the only reason the cat wasnt skinned and made into a purse by 12 year olds with the knives and guys was because of this guy... it was easy to see that he was a gangster... that rarely blinked.

anyways... the guy made me feel uneasy but i got the feeling that if i stayed on his good side... 

the girls didnt speak much english... well none really and my spanish is not really at a conversational level... 

so felix got a couple of the girls to join us for a drink after their shift was done. 

well turned out that only one girl wanted to join us... 3 am the girls had been dancing all night and were ready for bed. understandably 

so we got a bottle of rum and headed back to the cats appartment ... right... the better place... uh huh...

heading up the starts the cat starts giggling... 

let me paint a picture of what he new better place looked like... 

front door... doesnt close... no other doors in the place, the only furniture is a room with two beds and another room with a matress on the floor, there is no glass in the windows, he had to find a light bulb from god knows where cause the rest were missing, there was no running water but a hose that came over the wall and the toilet seat was missing... a man and his son were staying in one room and a random guy was in the cats bed... 

hahaha wow wtf right...

anyways its about 4 am... next bus leaves at 5... we have this stripper back she looks surpised but wants to stay... the creepy gangster guy is feeding her shots even when she is saying no... it was quite obvious that she was interested in me and my friend and not this guy but i think he got a little jealous .... the idea was a 4 some that im not sure if she actually agreed to but this is what i was told ... and yeah so not my thing... we drank talked for a bit and by the time 5 hit i was out the door and in a cab to catch my bus back to Cartegena GOOD RIDDANCE.... i said a few choice words to the gangster before i left... even though he had an intense look and didnt blink i dont think he was really all there... 

there is a brief rendition on what has been happening lately... go Colombia!

unedited and raw... hold nothing back and there you have it... 

manifest.

So, needless to say I am off to a rocky start.
For now the beach will have to wait.

I will give a short rendition of the happenings of the night in question, then for real I'm letting it go. There is no need to hold onto angry or rage, however just it feels.

I had to wait for 3 hours in the bus station for my bus to go to Santa Marta... the Caribbean beach. So I took that time to write and write and write. By the time my bus was about ready and pulling up to the station I was about ready for a nap which was perfect since it would take roughly 17 hours to get there.

Lining up to put my big back pack with all my clothes into the bottom of the bus a well dressed young man came up to me. "Santa Marta?" He questioned me. I told him yes... he led me to the front of the line helped put my bag under and gave me back a ticket to receive my bag when I arrived. Then he proceeded to ask to see my ticket, had a quick glace and showed me where my seat was. Now, this is the part that I have to admit that I should have been paying more attention to myself but, that will have to wait until next time.
He grabbed my back and put it in the luggage storage above my head, this is when I grabbed my luggage to put next to my feet, always by my feet when traveling. "No, this is regulation, you cant keep luggage by your feet." came the voice of the young man I was sure worked for the bus. So I kept my bag up there and the man walked to the back of the bus. I wouldn't even say a minute later I thought... "No, I don't care if its regulation I'm keeping my valuables next to my feet. Looking up I realized my bag was gone. Running off the bus the man was long gone. Given the fact that there are over 70 police officers in a small bus station.... they didn't even try to do anything. I filled out a report and was asked if I wanted to continue my trip to Santa Marta. Well I had a credit card and phone to cancel so I declined. Came in the following day to follow up on the report and see about the security camera feed... Everyone had a different story placing the blame somewhere else and in the end all I got was a really nice cup of Colombian coffee and a promise that they would call me in 2 or 3 days...

Not going to lie, I was not happy, yet some how I stayed positive... The first day was a bit off and my dreams reflected it. But, I still have my bank card, my clothes, a book and a pen... well a friend gave me a pen haha. Although I have to start my writing all over again and most of my pictures and video are gone... Although I am hopeful of getting something back... I have to accept where I am right now... On my way back from the bus station and talking again with security and police after I left, I saw something that helped change my outlook.  A man was walking down the grassy divider as I drove by in a taxi... I realized that the man had lost both of his hands just above the wrists. I immediately sympathized with him, hoping that the man would have an easy life despite the fact that his hands were gone. At this point I had an epiphany that... all the talk in the hostel the last few days had been about muggings, how dangerous Bogota was to walk around, pick pockets and the risk of having anything expensive... and instead of letting those thoughts go I struggled to tighten my grip around my material 'things' and declared that I would fight someone if I had caught them... real smart Tyler real smart....

Not only did I just write over 25 pages on manifestation just before I got on the bus, I was manifesting my shit being stolen without recognizing what I was doing... so much for paying attention and allowing awareness to break through and leave fear behind eh?

So, seeing the man without hands... I could work my entire life making billions of dollars and could never buy that man his hands back. I do not know what happened to him, accident or whatever... But I will say that the things I lost I can get back with time. Anger and rage solve nothing. I had a message given to me by two different people in the last few days prior and after the stolen bag incident and that message was... "live-channel-project from the heart" fear cannot live in the heart.

Lesson learned.

Now that that is over with, I have a few things in Bogota that might keep me here for a while, a writers group, a conversation class that pays a little bit of cash and a friend to help me with Spanish... all the things that I wanted. Even though its cold here and Bogota doesn't have a beach which I have been craving, I will stay here until I feel it is right to leave. I have been putting off buying a hoodie, but I might do that today.

I bought a small point and shoot camera, it won't replace my pictures, but I also won't waste a moment on not having pictures either.

Much Love everyone, Keep living from the heart.

change of travel plans

Talking with a friend a couple days ago, trying to get a better perspective on what exactly I am going to write about, not in the blog but my book.

I have many things written and a general path that I wanted to go. But it all seemed vague, unformed and unorganized.

Mainly I wanted to deliver a message to anyone that needed or wanted to hear it.

This is a year for change, for new things for growth and a great time for manifestation. In other words creating our lives how we want.

I talk to friends and family and I get something over and over... jealous of what I have or wish they could join me on my travels... I will admit that I do love traveling, learning new things and discovering new things about myself  that mirror the world. And I am going to show you how to get what you need as well.

I have had a few days, I wouldn't say doing nothing... but pretty close. I have updated my blog, cleaned up my computer files and organized my bag, my music, and my thoughts about my book. This is huge. When we want some clarity in life or we are done with something and ready to move forward... It seems like we need to surround ourselves by something fresh and clean... clothes, house, papers, everything... this is what we truly need in our mind so first we clean our surroundings.

It's not a huge surprise to most of you that I am quite a spiritual person. This is the bases of my book, but those of you who do not believe that you are spiritual don't worry. I will still be traveling and living and creating a blog based on all those things that entertain you as well as show you that spirituality lives in each one of us without changing our identity.
My path has hit a fork in the road.

This fork in the road is a new creation, something fresh that not many have attempted.

I have learned so much in the last 6 years about myself and how to create the life that I want. But something was lacking, it was all information and tests... Yes I tested everything I learned and I proved to myself that it all exists. But then came a problem. How do I show others how to run their lives smoothly and become something they know exists inside themselves. How do I prove that methods I have learned can be put in balance in everyday life? How... writing a book? Yes that feels right... my experiences have proved a lot too me... but I am not exactly where I want to be.

A lot of people have told me that I have helped them, inspired them and gave them something, even something small or something huge. I will admit that I never saw myself as the joke goes "kind of a big deal". I am just me, I have gone through all the same things you have and every experience I have had has changed me in one way or another.

This is a book I am going to write. I am now challenging myself to the full extent of my being.

This challenge is for me but the experience is also for you. I hear a lot that you want to live vicariously through me?  Well, lets take it up a notch shall we? How about ten notches?

An interesting way to write a book I will say but this is how its going to go (and I will love to have input and advice as I go along) :

I am going to be doing two writings at a time. 1 is going to be my book which will be separate yet will contain a lot of things that I will be posting here.
2. This is going to be the interactive part of my blog. (yay for you)  :) This blog is going to contain all the same things as before, Because of course I am traveling and I will be experiencing all new things all the time and it will be entertaining.

The new thing is this... I am making myself into an experiment.

What I have realized is that a lot of us have similar thoughts, beliefs and dreams.

Our dreams seem unattainable sometimes... off in the distance,  or that some day approach.

This is where it gets interesting. If we really take a look at ourselves... We can find that core... that picture of ourselves of where we see ourselves.

I am going to write on why I believe the things I believe and who I am. That is the easy part there are lots of stories in these beliefs... trials and errors that got me to where I am now.

What I am also going to do is write about where I will be. A challenge and huge form of manifestation. That you will be a part of. Interesting, yes?

Step by Step I am going to build my life on how I see fit. If you don't understand at this point... I will be raising the bar... very high. Some things will be easy for me, some things will be hard. But what is a challenge without challenge involved?

keep in mind this is my life and what I see fit for me, does not mean that you need to do exactly what I do. What it means is that I am challenging myself to new heights... its not my goals that you're going to want but it's the techniques I use to get there. If I can change my life to an where I need to be and attract those things in myself that I need using all the tools that I have learned... Why could you not do the same?

Of course you can! Let me be the example that gives you understanding that you can do whatever you need to do to get to wherever you need to be!

My first step (and of course not for everyone but I will give the reasons why I am doing it)

No more alcohol.

quit drinking... the reason...why?
Because I lack clarity when I drink, I focus on things that are fun and entertaining and there is nothing wrong with that, but there are other things in life that are important to me. How I see my life is in balance of my being. And for me my balance is not drinking. Yet, I will be dancing, partying and have a blast! (I told you I would keep it entertaining!) Because my balance is definitely going to be used in every day life. It is one thing to change in a place like Nepal, alone closed off everything... But quite another to do it while traveling surrounded by people all the time in hostels, at clubs and other places.

I have been thinking about this a lot, It seems to me that drinking is holding me back from doing many things that I need to do. I want a healthy life. Drinking is holding me in a state that I do not need anymore. I have quite for almost 3 years before ... in those times I went out to clubs, danced, met people and still had a great time.
I do not need a social lubricant,
I do not need alcohol to give me confidence,
I do not need alcohol to allow me to have a good time... I do that myself.
(again I will tell you that this is my step, not yours, You need to choose for yourself what exactly you need to do in your life and where you want to me.)

When I drink, I get sloppy, I waste my next day, I spend money that I could use on something else, not to mention that I do things that I wouldn't do normally.

Those are my reasons, they are my first step because they will coordinate with my other steps. which you will find out in good time.

The benefits to me for not drinking are this: I will have more clarity, I will have more control over my emotions and my thoughts (which is going to be important for this journey), I will be up earlier and have more energy to do other things that I truly want to be apart of. Let me prove that someone can quit drinking and live a socially accepted life, party, have fun and continue living in balance. Let me prove that it can be done!

Let me also say this is going to be one of the smaller steps of this process..

so what do you think? I am going to write a book backwards.. Im going to write it first and then become my writing...
you said you wanted to live with me... lets live!

animals!

This blog isn't going to have a lot of writing, just a majority of pictures.

I met up with Ty in Lima, went out a couple times and then proceeded back to Iquitos. I took a lot more pictures of the animals in the Zoo, the Monkey Island and the Butterfly Farm :)

enjoy:

I got to hold an Anaconda at the zoo, which was pretty cool, its a small one but still :)

Picture of Ty with a bigger anaconda... I really didn't like the way it was treated at this place though... felt like its soul was dead. 

This guy has an interesting story... dropped off at the butterfly farm when it was very young in a box because they poacher couldn't feed it... weak with worms and infected the poor guy couldn't even stand up. The woman that runs the butterfly farm got a vet to come in and nursed him back to health... still a very wild animal he didn't like me getting too close to the cage and growled quite a bit. very big Jaguar!

This one was at the zoo in Iquitos, chilling out and sleeping, got a glimpse of her opening her eyes... cool picture!

This is the lake at the zoo that a lot of people go swimming in, I caught this picture as the sun was hiding behind the horizon.

Tbis little guy was a bit shy but seemed pretty comfortable around me and Ty. He didn't want to let go out Ty actually haha.

This is an Ocelot at the butterfly farm, another rescue animal, She treats the animals with great care... but this one is not afraid of humans anymore which is a huge prevention of releasing back into the wild again. 

Pretty friendly monkeys on Monkey Island. This one got ahold of my camera strap, curious guy. The people that owned the sanctuary say that they get the monkeys that are confiscated from the Belen Markets by the police because its illegal to sell them... not too sure about it... I'd like to see them treat the animals better. 

Sloths have a really cute face, they move incredibly slow and don't mind if you pick them up. They always look like they have a grin on their faces.

I absolutely love this picture, great reflection on the water. 

hope you enjoyed. :)

Iquitos is full of wildlife, The butterfly farm started out just as that, but grew into a sanctuary for other animals. This is the best sanctuary I have seen. She takes excellent care of the animals as well as her staff, they are paid well and have health insurance. 

There are a lot other places that do not treat the animals well or do not know how to treat animals exploiting for tourist reasons and a few coins in the pockets. All the same I still believe they are better off in a poor sanctuary than being sold for skins or skulls. 

I have made my way up the Amazon river to a small city called Leticia which is on the boarder of Brazil, Peru and Colombia... But on the Colombian side, had my passport stamped and ready for Colombian adventure. A lot of people go to this place to see three different countries in one day. I had a flight the next day and had just ridden all day in a boat... exhausted all I really wanted was a meal and a good sleep for my flight the next day to Bogota, capital of Colombia, which would be my next stop over to somewhere warm and beautiful. And would give me a couple days to update and upload pictures. 

Even just across the river I could see how much more money Colombia had floating around. The streets were cleaner, the people were dressed nicer and the restaurants and accommodations were well painted and presented a lot nicer. 

I am now in Bogota, the air is chilly, most people wear light jackets and jeans. The colder weather has to do with the elevation. 2500 or so Metres much the same as Cusco. 

I found a hostel called Musicology, very unique place with a lot of funny posters and and stickers around the hostel. Music playing almost 24/7. 

They have Salsa lessons tonight in the hostel and I have already met some really interesting people here. I could find myself staying here for a long time, learning spanish and salsa... but my gut tells me I need to go North. 

Machu Picchu and Cusco

Sorry for not sending a post sooner, been caught up in everything over the last week... which means that I am really really behind on posts.

Ok here it goes... Machu Picchu although very beautiful and has some amazing history is depicted a lot more than what it actually is. But, still and amazing place.

Was in Lima for a couple more days for New years which was fantastic, one of the best new years parties i have been to. The guys at the hostel decorated the hostels bar with balloons and streamers all in yellow. a massive balloon hanging from the chandelier filled with confetti. 60 soles bought you a ticket to the party its about 20 bucks... a little steep yes... but it includes all the alcohol you can handle and then some.

The flying dog hostel chain is in Cusco, Iquitos and Lima. They give you a bigger discount if you want to stay longer... sweet deal! The hostel in Lima is located in Miraflores, which is a nicer area of Lima. The hostel is on the second floor and overlooks the central plaza. A huge park that is very well kept. Many people, couples and parents come to the park daily to play, talk, sit in the shade of a tall tree. There  are many vendors selling ice cream, sweets, pop corn and other delicious treats.

I should mention the large amount of stray cats... There is a church kiddy corner to the plaza that for some reason takes care of hundreds of stray cats... At night they close the gates to the plaza and the cats take over, lounging around, sleeping and just in general being lazy cats. Every now and then a small child will tip toe slowly up to one of the cats trying to touch it, the cat usually bolts for a new lounging area and the kid runs gleefully after giggling.

New years however, the Plaza was jammed packed with locals and tourist alike, shouting, laughing and drinking. With a clear view from the bar in the hostel overlooking the plaza was the place to be. Drinking and meeting dozens of new people from all over the world. The count down wasn't a huge thing... when it hit midnight a loud applause, people shouting and congratulating each other with kiss on the cheek, a hug or a handshake. Fireworks sounded in the plaza like gun shots followed by laughter and  happy screams of excitement.

Inside the hostel many people were wearing colourful and sparkly masks that covered their eyes. Someone popped the huge ballon and confetti reigned down on us bringing in a great celebrating of 2012. Loud dance music pounded off our chests. Everyone seemed to be smiling and happy, even the shy ones danced a little. I had a long night, met more people than I could count and got to sleep at 11... yes 11am the next morning... They do know how to party in the South :)

Ahmed had come back from a house party that he went to over New Years and told me that he wanted to go see Machu Picchu in the next couple days... Well I was heading that way anyways... might as well go with some good company. The following day we booked our flight and headed out. The morning of travel I met a friend that Ahmed had made in the other hostel. Paulina is a young very pleasant and happy girl from Mexico. The same as Ahmed only had a few days to see Machu Picchu before she was going to head to the next destination.

On the flight to Cusco Ahmed and I met an American that hung out with us over the next couple days... Although Adam the American was a good guy... But a few days I was kind of done hanging out with him. He seemed to find something negative in everything that happened... even if it was only a couple soles difference or something about tearing someone else down to make himself look better... very subtle but really unwanted and unneeded.

We had decided to do Machu Picchu in one day... I am not really recommending doing this. Here is why: Machu Picchu is about a two hour drive and hour and half train right to get to... not to mention the bus ride to get to the top and see the ruins. There are alternative routes as well, such as the Inca Trail which is a 4 or 5 day trek. So, given all the traveling we had to do... we had to get up at 3 am just to see Machu Picchu in a day and come back as well... that gave us about 4 hours to explore the ruins itself.

If I was to recommend someone that enjoyed hiking and had some time... the Inca Trail... for someone that just wanted to take the train and see the ruins... I would recommend staying over night in Machu Picchu and then hiking up to the ruins the next morning bright and early and later that day taking the train back to Cusco.

The altitude different can be felt in Cusco quite easily. Makes your head very light and climbing up a set of stairs feels as if you are out of breath from sprinting down the street... alcohol intensifies this. However what seems to help is Coca leaves... chewing on them or making tea. Yes the coca leaves are used to make cocaine. The amount of leaves it takes to make such a small amount of cocaine is astronomical you could drinking coca tea three times a day for a year and you wouldn't have a even a trace of cocaine from the amount of leaves it took to make the tea... so don't worry about it. But yes it does seem to help with altitude sickness.

Early morning we all headed to the bus station, a car gave us a decent deal to get us to the next town where we were to catch our train. Winding roads way too early in the morning, so not much sleep could be caught up in the car. When we arrived in the next town to catch our train a few of us grabbed some breakfast and some water and off we were. The view out to Machu Picchu is breath taking. The tracks follow the river for the whole trip. The water was muddy but an extremely powerful current was rushing through it from the high rain season. The mountains an hills were covered in dense green forests and plants. It was hard not to gaze out the window on the way there and back.

Arriving in Machu Picchu we arranged a bus to take us to the top where we payed gave our prepaid entrance to get in. (you must buy a pre paid entrance into Machu Picchu in Cusco they do not sell them in Machu PIcchu itself which can be really bad without this knowledge before hand which a lot of tourists are sent away)

We decided to pay 20 soles each for a guide to give us information about Machu Picchu which was an excellent idea because a guide book only goes so far. The natives there used the sun and the equinox to grow their crops instead of counting days for seasons. They have stone temples built that shine exactly in windows when the equinox is present. A lot of their stone buildings were so precise its hard to say that they were not advanced even as far as hundreds of years ago. There were also flats cut out of the mountain like big stairs for growing various vegetables and corn. Much stone work was developed to make the water run from plateau to plateau, most of the water would be at the top then the middle and then the bottom... so different vegetables were grown in different seconds depending on the sun and amount of water. The soil was also in layers, fertile soil on top, as well as clay and big rocks... so the water could be absorbed and keep flowing to other needed spots.

There were other really amazing things in Machu Picchu like this one stone room that looked like someone bricked up windows on the outside... but it was meant to put your face in and hum. HMMMMM and the sound would amplify and shake in your chest... we all had a turn to do it. Sacrificial alters, another stone that was perfectly carved to show exactly the time of year the sun would hit casting a shadow... kinda like a big sundial for the seasons. We found out that a local beer company shot a commercial there and dropped a big camera on it chipping it... so it doesn't work correctly anymore... thought they paid a lot of money for it... it can never be repaired. The stone work around Machu picchu was very impressive. They took many huge rocks weighing literally tons of weight and split them using different methods, putting numerous holes in a row and hammering wooden wedges into them making the rocks slip at a nearly perfect line.

The energy at Machu Picchu was quite breath taking and the view was amazing, after our tour around with more information that I can to write in a blog we chilled out at a high point and looked out for an hour at the amazing splendour that is Machu Picchu. The tall mountains, covered in thick green vegetation and trees. The smell in the air, fresh and rich. The clouds like fog floating around the peaks hiding the sun ominously. Taken in by the sight, smell and experience, sitting grounded high up in nature.

We stayed as long as we could before we really had to leave or we could miss our train back. Grabbed a snack at the train station that was ridiculously expensive even for Canadian standards... but its a tourist trap haha and we were hungry... they food was quite good though :).

After getting back to Cusco we set out to find a decent restaurant... which I decided it was about time i tried something new.

Alpaca, which is lama, small slices grilled with a nice red rich sauce and some cheesy quinoa. mmm mmm delish! Alpaca is very lean and tender but the meat has a rich tastes that seems to want to sit in the middle of your tongue. Quinoa is a bland food but the cheese they added is from the Andes and was such a good flavour and went perfectly with the alpaca. Although my drink didn't quite sit with me well... they had coca beer... which tastes like bitter ass... BITTER ASS hahaha ok ok it tasted like if a beer went bad and had 100 times too much hops in it. not a good flavour and I could only down about a gulp before I gave up and sucked up the 2.50 CAD it costed me and got a Pisco Sour.

Over the next couple days Ahmed, Adam and Paulina took off to their separate destinations and I was left to my own devices... Which turned out to be quite good, I went off looking for a Spanish School... which I did find... but was closed when I went. Haha on a friday which would mean I would have to go back after the weekend and sign up. Not a big deal considering that I wanted to spend a few weeks ther to improve me Spanish to a comfortable conversation level. I met up with a German named Inga that I had met on New Years in Lima and hung out for a few days. We hit up some of the local tourist spots and a couple local live music pubs. Inga is a shy tall blond haired German with once side of her head covered in dreads and the other shaved. Although she doesn't talk much and gets embarrassed easily at the simplest questions we had really good conversation and a great time at the local music functions. The music was great, classic rock but what really made it was the band, they were playing so well and making jokes and laughing as well as interacting with the crowd was an awesome night!

The weather in Cusco is cold... 10 degrees during the day... hahaha ( A shout out to all the friends and family at home... -38 with wind chill was it? :P) So I obviously needed a light jacket.

Cusco is a town built on rolling hills, all the streets are cobble stones that go up and down. There is so much character and the architecture is quite amazing. The atmosphere is relaxed as much as the weather is. There is many many tourists going to and from Machu Picchu though... so being bothered by the locals trying to sell, paintings, art work, pictures with Alpaca (which I totally did!) massages... which for some reason seem to be a lot of them... I'm just not sure if half of them are legit and didn't inquire.

I got some great shots of the buildings in the main plaza as well as Machu Picchu but will have to post them when I get to a place with better internet.

Next is a tribute to local animals and hanging out with Ty. Much Love more coming soon.

Belen Markets and Coconut Grubs Galore

lets start by something that Mieke had said to me before a group of us decided to venture into the Belen Markets.        

"How are you feeling? ... Not queasy from drinking last night are you?" 

Rules that the locals will tell you before entering the markets. 

1. Do not carry anything valuable on you

thats ... pretty much it hahaha. 

The Belen Markets are in Iquitos the city right off the amazon. The city itself has no roads that go to any major city. If you want to go to Iquitos you have to go by either Plane or Boat. Boat sounds like a good idea and a lot of fun, but on the third day you might change your mind about it... its a long boring boat ride. 

Iquitos is a cool city, the last few years though, crime has gone up quite a bit. Since there are not many roads that go to Iquitos the city has a lot of "Motocars" which are exactly the same as what you see in Thailand which are called "Tuk Tuks". A motocar is basically a motorbike that has been transformed with two wheels on the back with an open carriage. The city is over run with them they are everywhere and the traffic is crazy. But, its a cheap way to get around the city, I have taken many a motocar. 

hmm that was a nice piece of trivia... which has nothing to do with the post on the Belen Markets... because it was down the street from the hostel. :D

So... I have been to the bazaars in Nepal, Seen the Markets in Thailand and visited many places that have crazy markets. They got nothing on this one! 

We walked in, already people were busy going back and forth, lots of locals, shouting and bartering over fish and other random things... "Wow, this is pretty crazy!" I had said openly which was replied with "yeah we haven't even got into the crazy part yet". 

lets make a list of all the crazy crap you can buy in the markets. Fish, pig, chicken, beef (I should mention most are dead but you can buy alive if you wish) any kind of clothing, bracelets, jewelry, ayahuasca, medicines, turtles, turtle meat, cigarettes, machetes, radios, watches, purses, wallets, belts, fireworks, fruits and vegetables, grains, beans... then you can go deeper into the markets where they sell things that you have no idea how they got and are very much illegal. Monkeys, alligator meat or clothing, jaguar teeth/ skulls/ paws/ clothing, various different animal skulls. random random random shit!

I think we were approached by the local security police a 3 or 4 times asking to put away our cameras or not even bring them into the markets at all and to be very very careful. Pick pockets in Iquitos is very bad, however the Belen Markets amplifies this, there is so many people are jammed packed together, there are many parts where you can barely move.

Can you spot the turtle penis?

Its not uncommon to see a slab of meat or fish laying in the sun in the +30 heat of the day and people owning restaurants wanting to buy them... yeah I'm starting to eat more vegetarian hahaha. and right next to that someone selling herbs or spices or maybe fireworks or some other random thing, there is common sense to this chaos that is the Belen Markets.

sigh* ... now we must talk about the smell... if you have a queasy stomach? hahaha yeah the heat in the middle of the day is strong, hummid as hell and not a good place for any food you don't want to spoil. hmmm try to think of a huge room with many pounds of meat I couldn't guess what it is, fish and sausage as well as pork heads at 35 degrees Celsius... the smell of it, you cannot escape, you cannot leave, it does not smell fresh, it smells musky and dirty, it catches you in your throat and leaves you through your eyes. rotting meat and dirty socks... not socks that are just dirty, but have been worn for 3 weeks without being taken off, rubbed on bloody meat and fish and left in the sun for a few days and SOMEONE SLAMS THAT SOCK IN YOUR FACE!!!

ok now you get a good idea of what it smells like all over the place in the markets, I'm very happy I can share this experience with all of you!

Mieke said that she wished she could add smell to pictures for people back home... I told her I was decent at describing things. You are Welcome!

We wondered through the markets and got lost, saw so many random things. I will tell you that I went to the markets a few times, once for the thrill of something new, once to get to the floating markets and once to take some pictures, just for you. all of this is just for you. So I am blending all my experiences together for this one blog.

I didn't take pictures of everything, but I got some good shots.

We asked directions from one of the security dudes who brought us to an asian kitchen store... yeah... anyways we asked again because our spanish obviously wasn't that good. Then we got an "ohhhhhh si si!" Hahaha, I guess he was wondering what three 'whiteys' wanted in an asian local kitchen store. 

The security always go in pairs so they escorted us, one in the front in the rear... wow now that is service. They brought us to a man that had decent english and gave us a price for a tour in a boat around the floating village. The price was reasonable and the security came right down to the river with us. 

Three of us jumped on the boat and headed out, its not high season for rain yet, but you could see the marks on the stilts of some of the houses and shops where the water had rose to the year before, sometimes upwards of 4 metres. 

I shook the boat because Mieke thought we might tip and was a bit nervous and I grabbed Devin by the waist when he stood up and scared the crap out of him.... hahaha, yeah I know I'm bad. 

We got to see all the peoples houses, people swimming, bathing, fishing, even stopped at the boat drivers house and said Hello to his dad. 

A lot of the poorer people live on on the floating houses, they use a specific type of tree for the bottom on the houses so they float. The Logs need to be changed every couple years.

After the floating village we were escorted back up to the markets by the two people that gave us the tour in the boat, they were very friendly, showed us pictures of other tourists they had given tours for from all over the world and wanted to expand their small business and do more tours in the jungle as well. 

When we got back up to the markets... yes we saw it... The Coconut Grubs! (I feel there should be a cue for some sort of music that comes on when something great is presented right now!)

The coconut grub is a harmless worm type bug... a black hard head and a very squished big white body... the creature loves moist and warm environments as well as long walks on the beach and showing you pictures of their children and the often times goes to the cinemas... thats great right.... so we are totally going to eat them!!!

A lot of the locals eat them in the jungle near Iquitos, yet a lot don't hahaha! regardless Devin and I were excited to give it a shot... the only question is... do we eat them raw and moving around or fry em up?

I have heard of both... 

Anyways I wont ruin the surprise for you, I have decided to do more videos as well as pictures, videos give everyone a more realistic vicarious living through moment :)

enjoy this video (copy and paste into your browser):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-hY_oYGmPk&feature=youtu.be

And the winning picture of the day goes to this guy!

Ayahuasca and the Jungle: round two

So my experience with Ayahuasca wasn't what I had expected, I met many people in the hostel I went to in Iquitos. And most of them encouraged me to give it another shot and introduced me to a man that has a travel and tour company. Carlos, short man, half peruvian but has awareness that a lot of people don't have. He takes care of his body, and his mental health as well. Not only for himself but for others around him including the environment and endangered animals.

I will get more into the 'Belen Markets' later in the next blog, but in the Belen markets for one, you can buy anything... and when I say anything... its not a far stretch. You can even buy endangered monkeys and other animals if you look hard enough for them. Its actually quite sad when you hear how they do it and what they do to get them. besides the point Carlos helps out with a sanctuary to stop this from happening and takes these wild animals and rehabilitates them back into the wild.

Carlos views the earth and all the living things on it as a giant organism,  this giant organism has an electo-magnetic pulse almost like a heart beat, much like our own electro-magnetic pulse. He says that when we are not connected to the energy around us and are out of sync, our lives become out of sync.

He went on about these things. I was ify and trying the Ayahuasca again because of my bad experience, but decided to leave it up to fate, ask for a sign to do this again. On one night two of my friends at the Iquitos hostel the 'flying dog hostel" decided to head back to Lima, we decided to go out and have a drink with them. Devin and Ahmed, Devin I have mentioned before, Ahmed is a very insightful intelligent person with a very attractive energy and always positive and open. Although he doesn't drink and didn't partake in Ayahuasca he was one that was encouraging me to do it again. His main reason is that I came into the jungle for a main reason of doing it and other people have had good experiences with the shaman that Carlos knew, including Devon and I shouldn't leave unsatisfied.

At the club I was having a drink making jokes about Devin (we have a mutual unspoken agreement to have a laugh at each others 'expense'). Early that day an English man came up to Devin and told him that he had just arrived there, someone had beaten him up, broken his finger and taken everything he had. Devin felt bad for him and gave him a few Soles for his trouble and tried to get him a room in our hostel. Little did he know that this man has been living in Iquitos for a long time, many months at least. A con artist that scams tourists. It was even published in a local paper. When Devin had told others at the hostel, to his disbelief everyone including me had already heard of this man. Devin was to say the least a bit perturbed by the whole thing, not from losing the money, but for feeling bad for the guy.
Anyways, when I ordered a drink at the bar Devin noticed that I had paid less than him... infact everyone was paying less than him. The man at the bar was ripping devin off on his beer, not by much and it may have been an accident but it happened none the less. When someone local here sees you as a tourist, they figure that you have money and some will try to get a little more from you.
so the joke was "Hey Devin (the tall lanky white guy with blondish hair, blue eyes and glasses) You're sooo white... even the British rip you off!" ohhhhhh! yeah too much? I thought it was priceless!

When I looked up from my laughing fit, I noticed what kind of a bar we were in. The name of the bar was Osiris and there was a huge picture of Anubis on the wall with a full moon behind him... "hmmm..." I thought, that its literally a big 'sign'. That was good enough for me, I told Ahmed that I wanted to book a tour with Carlos to go out into the jungle to meet this shaman and partake... one last time... rain or shine... good or bad... I would take it.

I met Carlos and paid for the tour and would have to pay the shaman a fee for the Ayahuasca itself.

Bob came into the hostel with two people that he had met on the street. Came up to me and introduced me. This American couple sat down very apprehensively, Bob didn't explain much of why I was talking to them just that I might have some information about this trip I was doing. Well the story goes that they heard about Ayahuasca and were going to do it from a local down the street... I'm guessing they were going to have a similar experience of my first time. So I explained to them that I was going out to the jungle... 2 hours by car, 3 hours by boat down the amazon. Meeting up with the shaman part way and going into a lodge to preform the ceremony.

They were both interested in the Ayahuasca, I must apologize because for some reason I cannot remember her name, she is late twenties, very big brown eyes and a smile about her that makes you want to smile too. His name was Andreas in the army back home, chiselled body and covered in tattoos. They both had a great sense of humour and adventure about them. At one point I remember saying... "wow you guys are so cute" half sarcastically which was replied "why does everyone keep saying that" It looked like they were on their honeymoon and couldn't keep their hands off each other, all giggly and what not hahaha.... anyways.

She had had some experiences hiking up to Machu Picchu that were quite interesting as well as very intense dreams. I won't get into the details she shared because they are her own. But in my opinion she was drawn into the jungle to do this ayahuasca even if they both were apprehensive about it. They both decided to book at 6 day jungle tour in the amazon with Carlos.

5 am in the morning.... up before my watch hit 5 yet again. I got into the car and met my tour guide. Lucho, a small peruvian with a strong accent. Very fun and very informative about the wild life, the trees and vegetation as well as the the river. What I noticed is that Carlos and his crew would go out of their way to make you feel like you are having the best experience they can deliver.

The Amazon river is, huuuuuuge, it is as wide as a lake and the depth is 10 meters deep at some points and in the high rain season can be up to 50 meters deep. Chilling out in the boat we made pretty good time going with the current.

We stopped the boat where the shaman was staying. Him, his father and his apprentice got into our boat. The Shaman is a short man, but not much use of his legs, they still work but they are twisted and small. What I respected about him was that there was no pity with him at all, none. he has his crutches carved out of local wood and he used his strength in his upper body to pull himself in the boat. This was after the 30 minute walk in the rough path from the village he lived in. His eyes were always looking and watching and reading. His father would always make comments about something and laugh showing the few teeth he had left, But his smile still make me want to smile as well, something about him was overly happy. and the young apprentice would stare at you until you looked at him and smile and laugh shyly.

we turned off the amazon down a smaller river that would lead us to the lodge. I should mention that our boat is about 5 to 6 feet wide and 20 feet long. Not that big ;) with a small 10hp motor with a long stem that reached the 8 inch diameter propeller. we got a long ways before.... up ahead the thick rich vegetation that grows on top of the water stopped us in our tracks.... or wake if you will. Machete time, this is where our Warrior friend Andreas shines, he was really having a lot of fun, cutting threw the vegetation and creating a pathway for the boat. The shaman with his broken legs was doing more than other people in the boat, jumping out and moving the vegetation with his arms and legs, pulling himself back in and using branches and pushing. I really have the utmost respect for someone that doesn't let anything get in the way of living their life. I will take a note from this man and do my best with what I have.

After an hour and only moving a small amount we got to the lodge and unloaded our bags and food. Jungle Trek time! I foolishly didn't bring any long sleeves or pants with me, so its was shorts and a t-shirt for me. I did however have cream that had bug repellent in it. The American friends of mine... did not have any... and wouldn't borrow any even when offered. Well Andreas did once, but I think it was too late at that point.

MOSQUITOS!! hahaha wow, if you have not been in the jungle... you will never know how bad it is for mosquitos, uuaaahahhhhggh! other than that, I really did enjoy the trip out there. We hiked and saw monkeys jumping from tree to tree, jaguar tracks, all different kinds of cool and unique trees, Ants up close that would give you a fever if they bit you, termites on one tree that if you put your hand on it they swarm covering your hands, so what you do is you rub your hands together making a paste with them... using that as bug repellent, it has musky smell that keeps the mosquitos away, although it doesn't last that long. We saw lots of vines, some with water in them that is safe to drink. A tree that has this spikes coming off that the local natives used to use in their blow dart guns. Cutting through the jungle with machetes and plunging through the wet wilderness, musky wet smell of damp wood, the foreign smell of trees and vegetation that I have never smelled before, the excitement of finding a snake so poisonous and so far away from a hospital its not even funny, or running into an alligator or jaguar make my heart beat stronger.

When we finally made it back, lunch was prepared from the cook that lives at the lodge. We ate some pasta with some local tomato sauce and mashed lentils and fresh fruit. very good. I saw my mosquito bites... too many little red dots to count. I felt alright though, Andreas... I don't know why, but the mosquitos liked him most of all... he should be flattered haha. His body on the other hand.... most huge dollar sized welts from a reaction from the bites than imaginable and more than I could count and it was obviously a larger number than mine... Neeless to say that him and his girlfriend did not join on the next outing. We were to take a Canoe into a river near by with thick vegetation overhanging trees and vines deeper into the jungle until it was dark... I didn't understand why Lucho wanted to go into the dark but I was game!

The jungle is not a peaceful place, it is in the sense that its close to nature and that is awesome... but it is soooo loud, crickets, frogs, so many different kinds of birds, not chirping, making sounds that I didn't think birds could make, monkeys and other noises that I couldn't even describe. when the sun disappeared past the tops of the giant thick trees, everything began to turn into a silhouette and the jungle started to come alive! At this point, the canoe has me in the middle, the young apprentice from the shaman that wanted to come along in the back and Lucho in the front. What I found was the most beautiful thing that I have seen out there was these little bugs... they were not fireflies, they didn't move, they sat in the thick vegetation and glowed like thousands of little bluish stars ominously. Now, I realize that I have no idea which was is back to the lodge, I have my headlamp on that doesn't really see that far past the branches hanging in our way and the vines blocking us...

Lucho is looking out like a hunter in the night, I realized later through conversation that he was in fact a hunter... ah the world makes sense yet again.

He sees something, eyes... I saw lots of eyes... in the trees always watching... strange sensation of not being alone but not being able to see what sees you. Lucho shone his light onto a spot in the water... Yes, I saw the eyes he was looking at... A freakin' Alligator! he got closer and closer and drove his hands into the water to grab him! Splash! Hahaha, ok he tried a couple of times, but didn't get a chance to grab one, they are quick! So, I learned why he wanted to be out there, to catch an alligator in the dark! haha, we paddled back after a few hours in the dark, Me hoping that the boat wouldn't tip. When Lucho tried to catch the alligator the canoe nearly tipped over, I knew that this river is many many meters deep and I have no idea how to get back and what living things are in the water and jungle... exhilarating!

When we got back, dinner was being served. I was not to eat before the Ayahuasca and the American couple were on the fence about doing it, and were contemplating even staying because they had so many bites and swallowed so many mosquitos that it was interrupting the fun of their experience. They decided to do the ayahuasca at the last minute and passed on dinner as well. We were to go into my lodge and meditate on what we wanted to see in the Ayahuasca.

I meditated on the answers that I desired. and waited in the darkness.

We put a couple small cot mattresses on the floor and the shaman sat near us, his mixture was a creamy brown color in a bottle. He was not wearing anything different than his clothing he had on earlier. His father joined him and Lucho stayed in the room to make sure we were safe.

Each one of us took a cup of this liquid and downed it. We were passed a local 'jungle cigarette' to keep our stomach settled, we were not to talk anymore and not to touch anyone else.

I waited in the darkness after drinking, the taste of the Ayahuasca in my mouth still after rinsing. A bitter and creamy taste. Not great, but not that unpleasant either.

after about 15 minutes my head started to swim... I closed my eyes and almost instantly after that I began to see...

It is hard to explain everything that I saw, and impossible to convey all the details of even a short bit of the experience but I will try none the less.

So many colours, some that don't exist in day to day life. beams of light crossing each making patterns, my ears started to ring. the patterns became more intense and more bright and colourful, so many different colours interacting with each other. But the details... so many small intricate tiny complex patterns spiralling around creating animals and people and experiences. Voices talking to me making me laugh and entertaining me. My mind was clear through the whole thing, my physical body and head were swimming however, dizzy. I laid down and asked my questions. Many answers were given in very amazingly bright and cool metaphors, like a dream would be, but more intense and vivid. At one point I was standing in a desert, pink sand in egypt, egyptian and Pharaohs were around me, the Sun was a golden red colours, but I felt no heat from it. everything was lit up with no shadows. (I talked to the girl later and she told me she experienced much of the same egyptian things.)
I will say that a lot of the experiences were my own personal venture and I will share with personally if you want to know some things... but some of them are my messages.


The colours faded at one more and brought me to a very dark and disturbing place, black and dark, I remember no linear thoughts, just emotions, processing and hurting, but when I opened my eyes I was clean and clear and let go of so much. My face wet with tears. When I closed my eyes again the colours came back and it showed me many many things... all very beautiful, intertwining with my own soul...
One of the most amazing experiences that I have had. I didn't vomit and after 3 hours I was clean from the experience. so good. I got what I needed from it and I doubt I will take it ever again... I do not know how to write his name but Thank you Shaman Sagundo.

The next day we ate breakfast and went back into the boat, about 8 hours to get back to where we get the car to drive the rest of the way. A lot of strange dreams that night that might have been the left overs of the ayahuasca experience that I will also take to heart and learn from.

I met 3 spanish girls on the boat on the way back that were interested in the experiences that we all had on the Ayahuasca... the vine of life... the vine of death... connecting in a different way.

everyone has a different experience on Ayahuasca, some good and some bad, some dark and some colourful and light, some have experiences without seeing. It is not for everyone... but when the jungle pulls you, you might think about going?