We got off
the boat and looked for the next cheap hostel to park our asses, get a shower
and do some laundry. The first dude told us there are no hostals in Yuri and
the second told us the same. Only the third TukTuk driver mentioned there was a
hospedaje close by, which would cost 2 soles to drive to. In the end, the place
was shit and we could have walked the 300m to the place. Didn’t matter, next
up: walking through town, looking for a decent bus company to get out of there
and a laundry place. We found the laundry place with ease and had already
planned the day ahead in a bar, when we came across a little hostel right at
the waterfront of the river who offered Ayahuasca-Experiences with a local
Shaman
As we had
heard so much from other people about this stuff, we thought we could postpone
our journey towards the coast and dip into this experience right in the spot.
Said, done, we jumped one of the TukTuks and grabbed a sleeping bag and our
hoodies and drove out to “Don Pepe’s” place about 30minutes outside of Yuri.
There, we
discovered that Don Pepe’s domicile was more of a Russian retreat for the
physically ill. Not only his wife was Russian, but at least another 10 people
that hung about on the ranch. As the ritual is only performed at night, we had
to kill a few hours by ourselves and upon sunset Don Pepe summoned us to
prepare us for the ritual. This preparation showed strong similarities to a
physiotherapist and he not only corrected my crooked spine (possibly from 4
days in a hammock O.o ) but also cleansed my 7 main chakra points. During one
of those cleanings I was about to punch him in the face because it hurt so
much, but I kept my shit together and suffered in silence.
After this
the Russian bunch, Chris and me gathered around a table and were ready to drink
our Ayahuasca. To your information: This stuff is a brew from a vine and
contains the highest hallucinogenic concentration of the strongest
hallucinogenic substance and it was used by the shamans to clean body, mind and
soul. Along with it, people told us, they were tripping hard and after
experienced something one would call an epiphany. As I wanted to know in which
direction I might head after my SA trip, I could have used such an epiphany and
was ready to get down on my Ayahuasca.
Unfortunately,
the stuff smells like ass and has this disgusting stinch that you smell when
fruits are vegetables have gone bad and started to ferment. So we fought the
stuff down our throats and waited. I should mention at this point, that
throwing up is not only a common side effect of Ayahuasca, but in our case, as
Don Pepe only uses this brew to clean peoples’ bodies, it was even required. So
after a few minutes one Russian lady started to vomit into her carefully placed
bucket between her legs, and one after the other joined her in releasing their stomach
contents.
The worst
part was that after every “Huuuaaaarg” Don Pepe gave us another bowl with
Ayahuasca and hot water, which we were supposed to drink straight away. And so
we kept vomiting for consecutive 3 hrs and after were releaved to be finally
able to leave the table and head towards bed. The shitty part about this now was,
that we might not have had the correct preparation before the ritual, which
meant that the hallucinogenic effect didn’t even set it. We just felt like you
would feel at 5 in the morning, after a strong night out, and you just returned
the last two drinks from the bar orally to mother nature as you were heading
back home. In the end, Chris and I agreed that our 40$ were not well spend,
concerning the expected epiphany, which Chris also did not experience. From the
healthy point of view, we might have taken some useful information, as I got to
know that my stomach is a bit messed up and I am most likely to get arthritis
soon, and should urgently do something about it. (No worries, when I get back
home, I’ll to a full check at the doctors of my trust).
The next
morning we still felt really weak and urgently awaited our breakfast, which was
the best thing about the whole trip. After we impatiently awaited our TukTuk
driver who was supposed to pick us up, but never came. The worst part about it
was that we waited in the rain for like an hour until we decided to grab one of
the collectivos for 3 Soles and get back to town this way. After a little stop
at the place who organized the Ayahuasca experience for us, we got our money
for the TukTuk back and returned to the city, in urgent search for a bus that
would get us out of there. We also collected our laundry and were off to what
the Lonely Planet calls “a second Machu
Picchu
.
After this
rather unpleasant experience with the jungle’s plants, we wanted to get back to
the coast, where the sun was shining and the climate was mild and easy. We read
that along the way to the coast there was a second Machu Picchu
The trip
was long, the collectivos were packed and uncomfortable, and to all my misery
in one of those rides a little girl behind me threw up due to the drivers
racing skillz in the serpentines and thus made it even worse. But after a long
18hrs of travel, we finally reached the little town of Chachapoya ,
a beautiful little place in the Andes from
where we started our daytrip to the ruins.
It took us
3hrs in a cab to drive up there, and in the end we were rewarded with nasty
rain and uncomfortable wind and dark clouds. But nevertheless, the place looked
amazing. It was high up in the mountains and on a clear sky’s day the view must
have been even more breath-taking. Funny little anecdote: Right on the
mountain, during our tour, we met Chris’ friend from Quito
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