Mochillas y Cabayos
The internet is very slow, so this will be brief.
On Saturday night we hiked up a mountainside to go to a psytrance event in Cuzco! It was incredible. So much harder to dance though, because of the altitude. I kept losing my breath. And dancing barefoot was impossible because my feet froze on the grass within seconds. (It´s winter here...haha) But the psy was really good outside. Inside a shed-like room, there were banners and strange spine-like glowing tails hanging from the ceiling. We got there early and sat in the psy-room with some Swiss tourists. Later on, the rastas arrived with dreads down to their knees, who set up their instruments in the shed. Lots of drums and instruments I can´t name, including one that made a sweet - boiiing! - sound and another that was similar to a didgereedoo. I loved it in there. I made a new friend from Cuzco, Antonio the fire spinner/juggler/actor! I was the photographer of the evening. We sat on the wooden floor and chewed coca leaves, trying to communicate. I always want to talk to the ones who know the least English! Anyways, dancing under the stars was wonderful. Antonio told me to put my hands on this huge rock in the middle of the grass. "Feel the Inka energy..." It was magical. I feel the energy now.
We just rode on horses up the mountain to Santa Teresa. Choon got thrown off her horse. She got the scared one. Now her arm is purple with antiseptic. It looks pretty. The lodge here is so creative, full of recycled materials. The wall above the sink is made of cement and different glass bottles. Ismael, our main man-guide to the extreme, made a fountain from a broken fish tank and different bottles.
The hike up here was beautiful. I was expecting everything to be oversized, gigantic everything. But we´re not in the rainforest just yet. There are huge leaf carcasses on the ground everywhere though, and papaya, avocado, coco and banana trees! The banana flowers look phallic.
Soon we´ll be at our lodge where I´ll be staying for the next three months. I have a serious passion for speaking Spanish now. I want to understand! And be understood! The language barrier makes everything more funny, though. Muy frustrado.
I must go eat, my compadres are waiting. Cole found a staff along the hike. He looks like a gypsy shepard now.
Much love.