Visions of San Pedro

We decided to take our journey to a whole other level by participating in a 3000 yr old Andian ceremony involving the San Pedro cactus - a native plant to this part of the world.
It is said to heal on spiritual, psychological and physical levels, and has even been proven to attack cancer.
Our guide was a modern shaman by the name of Lesley - a thoroughly positive and loving lady with lots of experience and a whole 'army' of plants in her magical garden where the ceremony took place high above Cuzco in the shadow of an ancient Inca temple of the moon where a black lamb was sacrificed each solstice.
San Pedro has the consistency of snot with a mild bitter taste so it's best to take it in one go and follow it up with a sweet.
Whilst we were at Lesley's house 3 native peruvian indians came to perform a ceremony to celebrate mother earth's birthday - which, lucky her lasts all August - even longer than Wendy's birthdays! These guys live above 6000m and are very in tune with the spirit of nature. Their tribe fled high into the mountains when the bastid Spanish invaded 500 yrs ago. They only started coming back down 15 yrs ago to sell their tribe's handicrafts for profit for their community. A very special occasion we were lucky to be part of.

Cuzco and around...

Met with Lotty and Paul in Cuzco which felt quite surreal and strange so see people we know from home... short but lovely... James found Wendy some Starburst and they got eaten pretty quickly as they were the first of the trip. We have spent 2 days in Cuzco just planning and chilling and having to reaclimatise to the altitude again... James is pretty much unaffected, Wendy feels pretty woozey and out of breath. Strange sensation to not have enough breath.

We sit quite often in the main plaza here, just drinking beer, eating sweets, Wendy has found some starburst substitutes..., pondering on our Shamen experience to come and being hassled abit by local children selling all kinds of stuff and so desperate to polish our shoes... no point even trying to polish our boots! Giving them sweets and James' choco snacks helps keep them happy...

We spending extra time in Cuzco and in the hostel we have found... plans keep changing, which is fine and the way we like it. We have met with two Shamen today... both were helpful, open and have given us plenty to think about... ... ...

Food has been generally great here with lots of choice for vegetarians. Wendy has some trouble with her chicken yesterday however when she was given very undercooked meat... we thought we had it sussed as had checked in our phrase book how to ask for well done... muy hecho por favore... but instead the waiter brought only some tomato ketchup!! Eventually they cooked it some more though... language barriers eh.

James had to run to flag down a local bus today... they stop wherever you want and we were heading to Urubamba to meet the Shamen. The bus was full up to burst with locals but no chickens! The locals are very curious of us but incredibly friendly. On the journey we saw breathtaking snow capped mountains all around us... we started to feel the magic of this sacred valley and the spirit of the mountains. It is very strong...

We spent the afternoon leisurely lunching and taking in the sights of Urubamba which is a gorgeous village surrounded by the inspiring mountains in the Sacred Valley. James had an ice cream in the plaza for his sweet fix and then we explored and found an amazing street... so busy... noise, smells, colours, music, dancing and a massive indoor fruit and veg market. As we were leaving here we were accosted by three local school girls who insisted we have some of their fresh fruit juice and practised their english on us... also teaching us some spanish in a very patient way. James was even forced to let them take photos with his precious camera, although there was a nervous look in his eye.!!!! We hope to see Marima, Elizabeth and Daila again in a couple of days where we have said we will try to print of the photos for them to keep... and if we do go to see them we will take little pressies too... they were truly gorgeous in everyway.

We got back to Cuzco via a collectivo, a shared taxi, which was a lot faster than the bus and a real squash on the backseat... James had to have another sweet moment when we got back and he had spotted a cake shop earlier in the day...mmm, his mind does seem preoccupied with cake and tartes... he was so obviously enjoying his cake that some fellow travellers wanted the some of the same, they even came to the same restaurant for dinner as the cake had a bonding effect!

Look out for the 'little people' in the photos... Wendy keeps collecting them and they are travelling everywhere with us... sharing their wisdom! They seem to know things. The Ecuadorian ones even went up the mountain with James when he did his extreme climb. Truly hardcore!

We are still constantly surprised and inspired by the people here, locals and fellow travellers alike. Seeing people so poor... who have absolutely nothing is very humbling... We are also loving observing the local children, young ones being carried around in customised blankets on their mothers' backs or older ones being cheeky and curious, and us giving strawberries or sweeties out... or soles...

A small word on hygiene... Wendy must wash and brush her hair soon... or maybe not... although James succummed for the 3rd shampoo of the trip. Wendy did treat herself to a gorgeous manicure and pedicure and does feel more like a girlie again and not such a complete minger! Thank you Eflu.

So here's to parsley tea and spiritual cleansing... we will let you know how our Shamen experience goes tomorrow...