blisters not yet healed, here I go again

Another impromptu trek, this time with my dear English lads, Nick and Conrad. I don´t know how they talked me into it, with feet still aching at 8 o-clock at night, to head out again...
Leymebamba is not like the big towns such as Cuzco with tourist agencies, so we found ourselves chatting up people on the street corners and ducking into copy/fax places to find a guide. We found someone who brought us to someone else´s home, and there we planned our trek for the following morning. Then together we all set out to buy supplies in the various little stores...coca leaves to chew on while ascending in altitude and also just for hanging out, instant coffee (it´s all they drink here), cheese at the dairy place, fruits and veggies at another, batteries, tobacco for the boys´ pipe, socks, and machetes, and water.

We set out bright and early the next morning, walking up the hill out of town until we picked up our guide Jabier at his ranch. Then began the most beautiful and painful trek I have ever done. Farther into ¨the center of the earth¨(as discussed before), we plunged, trekking for 9 hours until we found ourselves deep into the jungle ¨cloud forest¨ that surrounds Leymebamba. Impossibly green mountains, hundreds of types of orchids and medicinal plants, and mud up to your knees unexpectantly. The path--a good deal of it ancient Incan stone trail--was rough: steep inclines and declines over and over again, rocky, muddy, with big holes, and lots of things to leap over. Even with my feet wrapped up in medical tape and 2 pairs of socks, my feet were hurtin´ from the treacherous journey in rubber boots. But again the sceneray was absolutely incredible. The most memorable part was passing through a yellow valley made up of thick patches of long grass that had huge unexplainable holes (also filled with the yellow grass) and large rocks plucked down everwhere...and the creepiest part about it was that it was totally silent except for the wind and an occassional bird. Very strange...very Star Wars.
And I´m sorry to make yet another movie reference, but as we entered the jungle, I was reminded of Princess Bride, complete with ROUSes (rodents of unusual size). We literally were walking through a swamp and had to be careful where we stepped, lest we sink in and loose a boot!
The second day, we hiked through the jungle some more to Lake Quindacocha, which is actually a preserve, but we got permission (because Nick bought some land in Leymebamba and is technically a towns-person). Both this lake and the Lake of the Condors are perfectly pristine--black they are so deep, yet totally clear, and surrounded by virgin forest, cliff faces filled with mummies (I´m serious), and ancient Chachapoyan town ruins, now overgrown with plants and trees. We hiked around, checked out the ruins, gazed at the lakes, viewed the cliff tombs from afar...and then actually visited them...and I shit you not...I saw some real mummies...in a cave, preserved for hundreds of years in their original location (They are from the Chachapoyas, with some apparent Incan influence, from 800-1400 AD). Most of them were wrapped bundles with faces or designs painted on them, but I also spied a hand and a skull with remarkably intact teeth, as well as all sorts of little scraps of archeological evidence--pottery, fabric, etc. The site is absolutely not open to tourists. It´s being preserved until archeologists can have a look, but we visited the site with the guard who has to come every 8 days and make sure all is well there. Oh my god.
The rest of this particular afternoon, which could not be topped after seeing real mummies (and after our meal containing 3 different types of potatoes), was spent chewing on coca leaves and limestone and chatting it up with the guide and the guard.




The following day we returned down the same grueling path. The next day my feet hurt so badly, I could barely walk. I hung out until 3, when I caught the combi (mini collective van, which I might add had 20 people in it!) to Chachapoyas City. Per usual in Peru, the 2.5 hour ride somehow took 3.5 hours...all in a days work for drivers avoiding police because they don´t have their papers and getting stopped for construction.

The following day I wandered around Chachapoyas City, which is apparently comparable to Cuzco 40 years ago, and then at night I visited Kuelap. Kuelaps is an enormous stone fortress of the Chachapoyan people, and there is evidence that both the Incans and the Spanards visited to do business there. Again thwarted by road work (this time turning the 2 hour ride into nearly 6), we ended up at Kuelap just before closing, but they let us wander around regardless, which ended up being great because we were literally the only tourists and we able to see the ancient citadel by starlight. Kuelap is supposed to the sort of Machu Picchu of the north (in archeological significance), and indeed it´s quite impressive. The reason people don´t visit it as much is because it hasn´t received the media attention and it´s pretty hard to get to (no flights, just a series of long and bumpy bus rides).

The next day (Sunday), I boarded a 23 hour bus ride to Lima. I´ll let that sentence stand on it´s on.
And so here I am in Lima, staying with my friend Oscar. I plan to start my voyage south today or tomorrow....

I have uploaded a bunch more pictures, though I don´t have pictures of the Lake of the Condors trek yet. Check them out (and again email me if you have trouble viewing them):
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=238727511/a=43035390_43035390/t_=43035390
(if you saw the pictures before, you´ll probably have to go 1/2 way - 3/4s of the way through).

Much love,
Rachel

on with it

As those of you who have lived and traveled in Latin America know, it´s not exactly known for its efficiency...as such, I have had an interesting time trying to get this blog out...after returning from the jungle several days ago, I was updating, and the power for the entire block went out. This appreared to not fluster anyone else in the internet cafe, who presumably lost all their work too...this is just the way of things here. It´s nice in a way to not have too much of an attachment to an outcome, and to free yourself from the perpetual need to be making progress...in your work, in your day, whatever, but it´s not easy for a purpose-driven, fairly anal-retentive Gringa. But that´s precisely why traveling is great...it removes you from your comfort zone and makes you see value in other sorts of lifestyles and ¨purposes¨ and concepts of time and space...I´ll be damned if it doesn´t take an entire day to buy a bus ticket or complete one seemingly simple task like go to the bank or prepare a meal though....oh the steps that are simplified in our stream-lined culture. And if you just want the quick update of where I am now (you Gringo, you), I am in Lima...I thought I´d be in Cajamarca by now, but you know how it is...I had to spend 2 plus days literally just hanging out...leaving the house only to take a 3 hour lunch. And unfortunatley, I´m not yet accustomed to the long post-lunch siesta, so I spend even more time just hanging around, waiting for my host to awaken (I am couch-surfing...see couchsurfing.com if you´re in the dark about this fabulous form of cultural exchange-free place to stay).

It´s all about finding a sort of order in what may seem like reckless disarray. As such, I present you with several journal entries with some degree of meanderig...

18.08.08: I´m back from the jungle....and I feel like I didn´t make it clear exactly...at least not to myself, I sometimes forget exactly what´s really going on....I was in the AMAZON RAINFOREST. As in the place that crappy theme restaurants are based on, and fabulous movies like Fern Gully and The Jungle book reminise of.... Ok, I just have to ground myself in reality sometimes.
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14.08.08:
Ahh the jungle. Neat 12 hour days. No electricity. You have no choice really but to retire at 8:30pm, and wake up with the sun. It´s a nice feeling to allow your body to syncronize with nature. And hot water? Who needs it when it´s approximately a million degrees outside with 100% humidity. I´d rather swim in the river anyway. Just when you think your body can´t take the heat anymore, that you´re going to dissovle into a puddle and evaporate (if only that were possible with the humidity...nothing dries here), a dip in the Tahuayo river, a tributary to the Amazon, refreshes your entire being. And around the dock, oh my gosh, there are about 45 butterflies, sometimes it looks like a thousand, and they are flourescently colored--pink, green, and yellow--flying madly and creating a visual something like a tornado...then stopping in the river bank to suck up the salt. I didn´t believe my eyes the first time I saw it. It only became real perhaps when one landed right on my chest and searched around with its snout, appearing to look for my heart beat. I stood there and watched it for several moments before it flew off.

Coming here, we saw several pink river dolphins. The males are bright pink on the top, and the females are more grey. Like birds and many other animals, the males are more colorful to attract their mates, and the women blend in more to protect the species (since women are more important of course). It´s said that the males take human shape and take human lovers...so if a woman unexpectantly becomes pregant, it´s said that she must be impregnated by a pink dolphin. I might have to use that one... however pink dolphins also tend to be the cause of birth defects.
We also saw a sloth, being pretty sloth, up in a tree. And oh my the birds...Apparently in Peru there are more birds per square (insert small amount of) area than in all of Europe together, or something like that... All I know is there´s a lot, and they are beautiful.

15.08.08: 740am-ish:
Lounging in a hammock, receiving a full body embrace that actually suspends you mid-air. Swaying back and forth ever so slightly, you get the feeling that maybe the earth is cradling you in her vast arms and allowing you to feel her axial revolution... slow down and notice the buzz of life all around...

16.08.08
It´s challenging for an American to live in the jungle, aside from the obvious lack of luxuries, you know, like potable water. The days are so hot that a siesta is basically required, and once the sun goes down at 6, that´s it! You´re ¨work¨ is done. And it´s quite clear, that you are not in charge. Not only does mother nature hold the ultimate trump card with all the animals, and plants, hungry insects, and rain, and whatever else the jungle wants to throw at you, but you also realize that the knowledge you´ve acquired over the last 20-60 years is completely worthless here. You don´t know anything about surviving. You are totally dependent. Whew, that´s uncomfortable for us, isn´t it?? It´s a good exercise in letting go of control and letting yourself just be a part of it. It´s a facade anyway that you can really be in control...much less exhausting to just give in to nature.

17.08.08
Everything is wet here. I hung clothes out to dry two days ago, and they might actually be more damp then before...I suspect mold is growing in everything here.
I haven´t changed my clothes or showered...There´s really no point. And in fact, it´s nice not to worry about what to wear, I go to sleep and wake up and go. Maintaining such a high level of sterility sure is exhausting... (that being said, I can´t wait to give myself a good scrub, pluck my eyebrows and clip my toenails--both of which are growing like crazy here! If I stayed any longer I´d be like that lady with the 9 foot long curly fingernails...but even scarier, with a unibrow).

Today we went to Tierra firma, which is the land that doesnt flood during the wet season. One word is all you need: THICK. It´s just fat with life. Layers upon layers upon layers. It´s impossible to be a bystander--walking through, you become part of the jungle--you find yourself mid-shin in mud, and your body becomes tangled into the intricate world of spiders´webs, leaves, flies, mosquitoes, giant ants, and an other host of unidentifiable critters that stick to your sunscreened (and bug sprayed) skin and become nestled into your clothes and hair.
We saw a red poisonous frog about the size of a quarter, as well as a fantastic flourescent pink and orange fuzzy catterpillar. I can only image what sort of magnificient creature he will become. I just love how obvious life is here...present in all forms, along all stages of the cycle.

Here I am continually reminded of 2 Buddhist films (whose names I´m not certain of):
1. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring
2. Woman of the Dunes
As well as the story of the American lawyer and the Mexican fisherman
Sorry, for failing to elaborate...if someone knows the story, share it in the comments section, would you... :)

Ok, I have much more, and I´d like to write about Lima and Iquitos...but for now, I think we´ll call it good. I missed the siesta today, and it´s way past bedtime.

mmmm, fond thoughts of all of you, and piles of kisses,
love, Rachel


Also, here is the link for that video about Belen and our work, en Espanol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOMuVBFsAOk