Ayahuaska - brew made out of various plants, employed for divinatory and healing purposes by the native peoples of Amazonian Peru.
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| Ayahuaska plant |
Can you imagine that there exists a tree with more than 10 trunks, where 1 of them is red and as the slowest bullet with all the grace it enters the ground till the deepest level where it starts his new life.
When passing by, one can not drag its eyes away from this phenomenon. One falls as its legs get trapped in the labyrinths of roots, which partly come out from the underground world with such a force that some of them even start to look like a proper constructions - unbreakable walls with shade of green which poisons one's eyes with magic.
My God! Then the sounds! All possible frequencies and vibrations above the head and under the feet - just everywhere. It surrounds and squeezes ones private space till the point when each single hear on the skin gets ready to enter the war. Yes! Here I am - again in the jungles!
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| One gets to use to this shower so easily
This time the aim of my visit was to expand my mind and cure the body. In one word it is called - Ayahuaska. I came to the middle of the nowhere , or more precise - to the heart of the planet to stay for one week with Peruvian grandparents. The old man - Crusildo (78), who is known to be a curer, tend to invite people for Ayahuaska ceremony inside in the trunk of a massive tree. When I heard that, there was no need to repeat it twice. I was already on my way.
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| The Tree |
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| Crusildo |
1 week - 3 sessions. I was enlightened with this experience. To take a part in the preparation ceremony of the medical drink, to see the sunset from the inside of the mystical tree, which with its energy just shoots you out to the other level and then to listen beautiful chantings of the old grandpa, who sits shoulder to shoulder next to you and with all his humility offers to accept the plant so it can purify your body and mind.
Physically it worked, but it did not enter my mind. It stayed untouched.
Might be a bit disappointing, but locals taught me - that plant knows better, so I accepted the message, that it was not my time to get approached by the language of nature and returned.
After that I was again alert to continue my way, but just before I left the hostel, suddenly I was invited by other shaman (friend of a friend) to attend the Ayahuaska ceremony, but leaded by him.
Firstly I thought - ohh no!.. 1 week of preparation diet (vegan food without salt and sugar, no alcohol, no drugs, no sex) again! But he explained that it is not necessary to do it for a week - 1 day of a diet is sufficient. It took me my time, but I decided - I have nothing to loose!
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| Ayahuaska flower |
So there came my second try. This time - it was the plant's initiation to approach me, as I was invited with no personal intention. The place of the ceremony was not as beautiful - we did it in the hostel, but the ceremony itself was much more thought-out. Spiritual rituals, which were way stronger, chanting, purifying and so on. For real I felt beautiful after that, but still - in my mind nothing happened. No transendental discoveries, no visions, no guidelines appeared. So that was it! I was again ready to leave with acknowledgment - that I am not ready to receive the message.
The next day I was on the road again. Tarapoto - Yurimaguas, to catch the 3 day boat in Amazonian basin to go to the next jungle city - Iquitos, which can be reached only by the boat or plane.
My plan was quite clear this time (which is not usual). To visit for a few days Iquitos, than take a boat to the next jungle city - Pucallpa and then with bus to Lima where I needed to catch my flight to Bogota, Columbia (this plan came up as my second visa of Peru was again expired and I needed to cross the border).
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| I loved my 'cruise' boat |
The way to Iquitos was incredible. You just hang your hammock in the spot you have been shown and it transforms to be your only private spot, bedroom and living room throughout all the trip.
Was it rough? Not at all, I loved it! As a Latvian, for me hammock was always something luxurious, so this was a pleasure in its highest mode.
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| Amazonian basin - sunrise |
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| Amazonian basin - sunset |
Every night which comes, you welcome with its peace and blanket full of stars, which are crashing above your head. Every sunrise you wait with no patience, to see the first sunshine entering the deepest corners of the forest, enlightening the mystery of it and waking up the local inhabitants. With colors overwhelmed birds, who start to draw the silhouettes above your head, the pink dolphins, who by their jumping all around the river seem to be willing to stop the boat and of course local village people, who live in the floating houses on the river and use any opportunity to catch up our 'cruise' with their wooden motorboats to sell the fish, cooked banana and lemonade. But besides the nature - also the people I got to know on the boat have a great responsibility for my enjoyment. Mexican artists, Spanish accountants, local professor and two Peruvian brothers - Galax and Cosmos.
Yes! As interesting are their names - as interesting was my way.
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| One of the river towns |
When we finally arrived, Iquitos didn't charm me too much. I mean, it did with its great history and colonial architecture , but not with the vibe. It was too touristic, with too many dead animals in the market. I can't explain, but I did not feel like staying there much.
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| Belen market (this, as I was explained, is for house decoration) |
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| Belen - city on the river |
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| Belen - city on the river |
After few days I harnessed my backpack again and was on my way to catch the boat to Pucallpa. One of the brothers joined me and the third travel body was Tod - ex-navy of USA, who spent his duty in the war with Iraq. In the end me, Cosmos and Tod turned out to be a great travel team.
I was quite happy to be on the boat again, because besides the incredible views everyday and every night we also stopped in few villages on our way where we could pick enormous amount of coconuts, mandarins, oranges, grapefruits and papayas - and all right there - from the tree. Paradise! And this definitely compensated the fact that this boat trip was for 6 days and 3 times per day you are served the food - a bite of chicken with plain rice - all in all - 18 meals with food which obviously lacked love.
I will never forget this trip - but not because of the amount of rice, but because amount of stars in the night. The sound of motor which vibrates all your body as you lie down on the rooftop, the wind in your hair, a glass of cheap wine and incredible view all over the sky. It was a point when one can start to question reality or understand that this is the moment when one could never question the meaning of life.
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| Amazonian basin - night approaching |
The time passed fast and there we were - already in Pucallpa. Unfortunately I was able to spend only 2 days as i got my flight. And for the first time it felt really annoying because in the timeless journey I actually had no time.Whatever. Puvallpa in these 2 days left us speechless.
First of all the swim in the lake with dolphins.
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| Dolpfins in the Yarinacocha lake |
Explanation: the town has enormous lake so to move from one neighbor village to another - it is necessary to use a boat. And at one point in the lake where there were many dolphins jumping around, me and Tod just jumped out of the boat to have a swim them. Remarkable!
And then again - I was approached by the ceremony of Ayahuaska!!!
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| Street art - Iquitos |
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| Street art - Iquitos |
But I immediately said no!
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| Shipibo pottery |
As there is a saying - curiosity killed a cat + fact that Pucallpa is motherland of Ayahuaska, made me for a really long time think, over-think and re-think again, that I accepted my destiny to meet this plant again. And there we were - 1 h boat trip and we arrived. This was the first time when i had no fear, no stress, no worries. I was already 99% sure that it will not affect me at all. So I with all my tranquility was more than relaxed and ready to clean my body once again.But as I said before - things always turn out different.
The first surprise was that in the house of the old Ayahuascero we met a Japanese man. This man comes there every few weeks per year to cure his health problems about which medicine gave up already. He didn't talk too much, but the way how he spoke about the old shaman just gave me this weird feeling inside and a little voice whispered in my ear: "This time it will be different". So than it started - with all possible meanings to it.
As I was thought by my friend before - I just relaxed till my highest possible relax mode and after receiving my cup of medicine, closed my eyes and concentrated as my forehead was a big black spot. Without any explication, nothing, there we were - 3 of us and Japanese man, waiting for the spiritual journey to begin.
Unpatience, skepticism, doubts and thousand other things run through my head, till suddenly - BOOM!
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| Street art - Tarapoto |
My transcendental experience had begun - a flight up so high that you can see the division of the world so clear. It functions in 3 parts from which the middle one was the nonsence of human beings. System, machines - yes it looked the same "clicheish" as it sounds. So many things we follow, has so less meaning. So many necessary inventions which are made out of boredom and serve as a source to absorb the life. And just a bit above - if you would rise your eyes - you would feel that not everything should be understood or thought out. We have forgotten how to feel. sensations, intuitions instead of overthought brain, analyze and explications. Up there can enter people who still know how to use and listen to their heart, because at the same moment the world transforms, one can start to feel the life, the beauty of it and so obviously disappears not only the questions but also the meaning of words and language.
The underworld which was connected with upper world (without involving the middle part in this connection) was dark, but one can not describe the beauty it has. The colors and creatures - but I did not manage to explore it.
During my flight as soon as I reached the point of going down - when darkness and saddness would appear at that exact moment I heard that old men - the shaman - is singing just next to my feet. And it is not only that his singing has a secret unexplained sound, but it is also that one could not doubt his skills of being in the charge for all the trips there were going on. Each time he started to sing I returned up there and each time I started to drawn again - he was there - near my feet - singing.
That was the night when I understood the pointlessness of boarders (take it as abstract and as literal as you can), I heard the secret language of the spirits and was involved in the magic, which there is no necessity to explain. And besides that, of course, the colors, images, tale characters of my travel, which took me just till the point where I was, with a bit of more explanation.
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| Stories of Crusildo |
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| You just can't explain! |
Gracias Pachamama, I will continue to learn how to not loose this bond with you.
For now I leave Peru, to be able to come back.
My love to all of You!
Anna
Anna
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