Pool with 'Take That'at 3am cheers Gazza.
Why was all those things & one's own level of success equated to each other. Why should it, more importantly why are we so intent on connecting the two. 'So where to from here? South.' That had always been his line of thinking, but he was slowly starting to alter his answer. Peru would alter his answer. The bonfires help make the nights slip by. The sandy pool table, bad facial hair & stoner volleyball, sent the days down the same path. He met some crazy Viking looking English & Aussie boys (good lads indeed), amber haired leggy Dutch women & an odd looking American who hibernated during sunlight like some confused 80's short-wearing vampire, & chased 'the dragon' at night. Mancora was endlessly summer. The days became night, the nights became day. Sleeping with the ocean serenading the stars at night would never get old. He even had time to throw some weights around at the local weight room. 'I could stay for a while. I could even get used to this.' Mancora was nothing special in terms of what to see & do, but it had something about it, something that made you want to stay longer than what you thought you would. He wasn't the only one who thought that way. So he allowed the days to blend into nights & nights into days. He allowed himself to get swept up in the sand & sea. With all travelling, the 'cycle' of people you bump into on your own 'cycle' makes the journey. And when that 'cycle' turns over, it's a good time to turn your 'cycle' over as well. And so it was that he turned over his 'cycle.' Mancora had given him the recharge he so craved. Lima would hold something he would never had expected. A temporary home. He arrived with the intention of staying for a few days, maybe pick up some part time employment & stay for 2 weeks. Little did he know it would be close on 2 months later that he would still be there. She had the feel of a big town / small city about her. You could do all you wanted & needed, but at the same time, she could be simple. Like the sexy librarian. Crazy at seducing you, but as down to earth as the woman you mom always wanted for you. He thus found resting in her chest, comforting & sexy at the same time.
For my next trick, I will sign passports
As with all comforts you find solitude, & the concept of time becomes irrelevant. He met some really amazing people during his stay. Too many to name, but too little to ever forget. The days where spent visiting the world famous catacombs & the night's, oh the night's, where spent having laughs in abandoned parks at 3 in the morning, taking part in dance comps at Hunters, the dodgiest place but yet most charming place in Lima, playing pool, smoking Hamilton ciggies & listening to way too many 'Take That' songs (cheers Gazza) till the birds started up & enjoying each other's stories over kebabs & shesha at Instanbul. There was also the odd crack head & ketamine overdose that's pretty standard with all adventures. Without which no story would be complete. Cooking up crack in the toilets became pass & parcel of the first few nights. Taking people on a merry work down to the casino's in there misguided hope of getting free bolognaise at 7.30 in the morning was gold. The stupid response, 'were you guys just taking the piss,' was met with uncontrollable laughter. Bless. Taking genuine friends down to the taxi as they departed left him feeling, in the words of one of his Aussie mates, Glenn, 'always the bridesmaid, never the bride.' So after a month, he set off for Cusco & Machu Picchu. The air suddenly squeezed his chest. The altitude can even bring the toughest of travellers to grabbing there knees. He bumped into some of his Lima clan once again. They were all on the same 'cycle.' He set off for Aguas Clientes, the town at the foot of the famous Inca city. He would set off at 4 in the morning. He felt though that Aguas Calientes had to have more to it than just the base for Machu Picchu. 'What do the locals do?' What they do was sing bad kareoke in kareoke coffee shops. So as it would have been rude not to, he howled out a few spanish classics accompanied by his best efforts at moving his hips. The crowd went while, if 6 people makes a crowd that is. More out of sympathy that adulation if one has to be honest. It was all the same. 'If only they had 'Take That.' He set off up the famous path that many had walked before. The mini head lamps lined the path like fire flies leading you to some mysterious land. He soaked it all in. After 10min he was soaked with more than emotion. He shredded some of his extra layers, that in hind-sight were never required. It took 90min to reach the entrance. 90min too many for his anticipation & fullfillment of a life long dream. He lined up anxiously with the rest of the travellers that were there to fullfill there own personal achievements. As the gates opened, the fog that had shadowed him all the way up the mountain, remained a constant presence. It added to the scene of this play that had been his journey. Walking through these ruins, was not just a walk through ruins. It was more than that. And in the moments of silence that he stole amongst all the other processions that went by, he realised how lucky he was to be right there, right now. In those moments he could actually envisage what it would have been like to be part of the great empire that once called Machu Picchu home.
Bliss
In those moments it was as if he could actually feel the city come alive. In those moments, even the droplet of moments which they were, he felt absolutely contempt & at peace. 'One for the deathbed,' he thought. All the pictures in the world wouldn't be able to capture 'that' moment. The train ride & subsequent bus ride back to Cusco, was one that needed know words. Anything said would only ruin the experience. Sometimes the sound of silence says more than any words could possible say. Cusco would be left the next day. Lima would be the next destination. Why? He had without knowing entered into an abyss. One that even he might not be able to get out.
Until that day ......
No comments:
Post a Comment