Legendary City - part 1

Hello again, I know... it´s been a while. My days have been a little busy but I never stop long something I like . Promise .

Well after a while I was finally able to make the journey I've been waiting a long time. Although things did not go as I expected them to be , it was a different journey through the way they gave .

It was New Year's Eve when for the first time in a while I managed to find a friend who had the same idea as me. Because of the shortness of our finances in that time, we decided to go by bus 2 days before new year started off.

The road was long and beautifully defiant . After a few hours of the start of our trip we leaving the Pan-American Highway  and the last light of day , night came with the darkness and the beginning of our ascent towards Puquio in Ayacucho.

I had a CD player with a couple of records and my friend lent me a pair of those who had. I caught sleep while watching out the absolute darkness and cold manifested in the environment. It was not until late in the morning I woke up with a wild and beautiful picture of the mountains in their splendor. Now were going Abancay way to a more disturbing, greener, narrower route. A brown river runs along the cliff path and threatens meters below. The rains have eroded the road and left this suddenly difficult and narrow. We made a few stops along the way to take refreshment and to change driver. It is a 1 day trip so we were still several hours to glimpse the city that awaits us. 

After a break in Abancay, the road becomes more uniform so the rest of the way is done smoothly. At this point I realize that a melody repeatedly sounded in my head. Indeed it was a song from one of the albums of my friend. La Maldita Primavera of Javiera y Los Imposibles is the song chosen to rumble through my head most of the rest of the way until it happened: after many hours of journey and at times uncomfortable after a spinning wheel starts going on a hillside appear this wonderful city as I start to listen to the song Moby: Porcelain. Cusco is simply superb... and yeap...I do this ´cause the film The Beach... you remember this:

Some things to consider:

The bus ride was very uncomfortable in some ways. Since it was a cheap agency we ran many risks such as unexpected stops to pick up and leave people in places that were not authorized. The seats were very uncomfortable and I produced enough pain in the neck.
I therefore recommend that if the trip will be by earth will be by a known agency.
In the summer of the southern hemisphere begins the rainy season so the road is frequently suffer mishaps.

To be continued ...

Jauja - Huancayo

Hello again,

It is time to describe one of my first trips. But first  I must correct myself on the previous post , was not in Cuzco where I experienced this profound relationship between music and my travels , but it was on this trip. Of course I must say that it was not even fully aware of this link .

The year was 2000 if I remember correctly, when for a college course had to go to the instalations of UNALM in Jauja . It was a fun and interesting journey , as it was with the company of several of those who are now my best friends and at that time we were just getting to know each other.

The trip was made by bus from the same university in Lima for a period that should take us about 7 or 8 hours. We arriving at our destination for the night. This time we served many of us to talk, listen to music and read. We also make a visit to the city of Huancayo, which only lasted an hour but it served us for supplies. I well remember that at that time a musician friend had brought a homemade recording of 2 songs he had composed with his band. Speak of the first , because the second it was not even finished but his notes persecute me until today .

It was night on the lonely road route to an unknown and isolated destination. Meanwhile a group began to talk about horror movies that were more impressed. While my friend lent me his walkman to listen for the first time these songs, the first chords mixed with the essence of wild, mysterious journey, and with the comments of the films, especially an unknown to me : "The Blair Witch Project" . I turned up the volume and let myself trapped by the Space Bee looking out the window at the darkness outside. Something caught me since that time and did not abandon me during the whole trip .

Regarding the stay itself is not much to tell or tips I can give you, because as I already said , we stayed at the university facilities. The weather is wonderful, located more than 3000 meters above sea level , is very different than the coastal area. The air is clean, dry , the sky looks different , as if the clouds had been drawn by an artist in his prime. We even had the opportunity to do outdoor activities that were interrupted by lightning storm before which we take refuge in the corresponding bungalows. I should also add that what is told about the movie Blair Witch inspired some guys to make jokes at night to scare the unwary with the sound of the stones, this plus the fact that we were near a cemetery , and pretty isolated from other towns, some gave their results.

Definitely something in the highlands I discovered in that trip, like a spell of mutual consent between the serenity of the mountains and the spirit of who ventures into this land. So the book I recommend is "Beneath the Wheel " by Hermann Hesse. For some reason this reminds me so spiritual relationship with nature . It was the first book I read from him, and he came to me by accident while looking for a book to read in the small collection I had. Its cover was not very flashy and looked old so surely had to go unnoticed for long. But once in my hands was devoured with almost nonstop momentum past the last page. From there I became a regular reader of his works. This is a critique of submission of a noble and young soul ripped violently from their own childhood to the expectations of a parent looking done through the sacrifice of his own kid. The story is set in a small rural village as it could be any of the provinces we have here, a true story that leaves much to ponder.

The photos I show are referential , because I do not know if anyone of us took pictures but still I do not have access to it if they existed .

Now I leave the song that I mentioned , obviously when I heard it was in an acoustic version with just two guitars ... amazing!

Welcome!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog!

I intented to share with you my travel experiences differently to the traditional way. Of course you will find tips on accomodations, routes, places to visit, along with other information and anecdotes from my own steps on this wonderful planet. But also you can find recomendations and opinions about music and books that accompany your trip.

I believe there is a very deep bond between the experiences of a trip and the music we heard in various circumstances. I discovered this on one of my many trips to Cuzco, in which a tune played in the disco repetead in my head over an over again even several days after the return to Lima. Such was my obsession that I searched for almost a week concentrating on remembering the lyrics, and then when I finally found it and listen again revived my feelings transported me back there only a few minutes. But I´ll talk about this another time.

With books also something strange happens to me. Although I do not usually read in my travels because I don´t want to miss the landscape or the oportunity to talk to someone. However it happened that books often transport me to places I have not visited, linking the experience and it is also conected to the music. I think as we move this blog we´ll realize this. And if I say: "we move" is because I have the hope that you share some of your experiences in this wonderful world too.

I leave you now with a song by The Vaccines which magnnificently represents the purpose of this blog.

Enjoy this incredible journey that is life!