Bodhisvar's Blog

Unfinished Business in Bolivia

bodhisvar — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:42:20 +0000

I enjoyed the train ride yesterday and last night… nice and steady… chugachuggachugachugga…Slept like a small human being.

Today was an interesting day though… stressful… but just reached the pinnacle of the day a few minutes ago… all of which I will explain of course…

So this morning after reaching the border, everything went well crossing over into Brazil… The immigration office is at the bus station in corumba just on the other side of the border… and all of the government officials and other informed people who I asked said that I wouldnt have any problem obtaining a visa at the border (we americans need a visa for brazil and bolivia…since we are so sheisty with who we allow in our country). So I went to the bus station and reserved my ticket to sao paulo for that day since there was only one seat left… then stood in line… to find out, that they do not give visas there… and I needed to go back to the other side of the Border to Puerto Suarez to get a visa at the Brazilian consulate… but they are closed on Sundays… womp… So I was very frustrated and stressed since I need to be in Rio by the 21st because the retreat is about an hour outside of rio and starts on the 22nd.

The thought flashed through my mind for a second to just get on the bus and go, since there really isnt any control, and it was leaving soon… but then the image of having my passport checked somewhere and being arrested and deported did not sound pleasant… So Im in Puerto Suarez… tommorrow morning I will get my visa…and I already changed my bus to tommorrow for free… and the same bus it turns out goes strait to Rio… so thats good… its about 30 hours total… so I should get to Rio on the evening of the 21st… which will be fine Im sure. Hopefully it all goes smoothely from here…

Puerto Suarez is a tiny town with a nice little plaza that doesnt see too many tourists too often it seems. I was talking to a joyful group of older men after I was passing and they realed me in for conversation… and mentioned Im going to rio and one of them suspiciously asked me if I could take a small package with me to Rio. He seemed like an honest fellow… so of course I accepted (a JOKE!) …According to the lonely planet Bolivia guide about probably about 25 % of the people in Puerto Suarez are involved in “illicit dealings” of some sort (ie. stolen cars from Brazil and Cocain) Of course I kindly declined, explaining that I have far too much weight on me and no room for anthing else… and went on my merry way…

But the pinnacle of the day… I was just walking around searching for a bathroom (somewhat desperately) and found a restaurant finallythat said that I could use theirs… A young boy led me to the back, and as we were walking back, a womans voice kept calling to him… and he would always reply “UN RATITO!” (one moment) and as we passed a room with the door wide open where inside, sprawled out on the bed was a woman who weighed (I kid you not) probably around 450 or 500 pounds, completely naked. (the same woman calling for the boy)… I was quite thrown off walking past this and seeing this totally unexpected image… I almost forgot I was on a mission. And then it dawned on me “Ah ha! eureka!… So this is why all the forces of the universe seemed to be against me crossing the border today… apparently my experience was not yet complete…” I now feel as If I have seen the true spirit of Bolivia… all sides of it.

I believe this is a good omen in their culture… seems like I heard that somewhere.. so now i can go go along my merry way to Brazil with the wings of an eagle and the wind at my back….

Over and out lovely dear friends and family…

Next update to come I{m sure not until after the retreat.

much love

The Death Train

bodhisvar — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:02:17 +0000

Hola queriditos…

I arrived in Santa Cruz today. The past two nights I spent on buses all night and most of the day yesterday as well. The other night I went from Rurrenabaque to Trinidad… which was supposed to be 10 hours, I was going to arrive at 10 in the morning and I had bought a plane ticket from Trinidad to Santa Cruz for noon that day… but the bus driver stopped somewhere along the way “to sleep and wait until the road was safer” but it was to wait for more passengers… I was a little upset by this, but there was nothing I could do, so I just enjoyed the sleep and the rest of the trip. Missed my flight and took a bus to Santa Cruz which arrived this morning.. Luckily on the bus last night, I bought a ticket for a little bed that is in the front of the bus… It was a tiny little box like hole near the drivers seat with a bed cushion… But it was great. Felt very nice to be able to sleep laying down… I enjoy sleeping in enclosed spaces so it was nice… with the hum of the motor and The Books to lull me to sleep.

Tonight I am taking a train to the border of Brazil which is called “The Death Train” … not because it is dangerous, but because of the great number of people that died from some disease while building the train. I am looking forward to a train ride… It will be very nostalgic of traveling by train in Europe with my dad four years ago I´m sure. (which by the way dad, I had a dream the other night that you met me here in Bolivia and we traveled together… good dream… )

Its been a fairly uncomfortalbe past several days, but I´ve been very happy. I´m more than excited about going to the Ananda Marga retreat outside of Rio. I know it will bring so much growth… I feel like I´ve received so much insight and blessings on this trip so far, and this will be the pinacle of it all. We are all evolving beings. The source of everything is one infinite love, and we are all returning back home to that one consciousness…one way or another. I´m just so thankful for the fact that I am on this path in life… it is a wonderful journey… full of love, excitement, hurt, loss, growth and more love. But it all makes the journey wonderful. I´ve realized more than anything that with all the external loss I´ve experienced in this life, I´ve gained so much more growth internally and spiritually. So in this respect I feel so blessed by every loss I´ve ever experienced.

I had a wonderful time with my friends from Chile in Rurrenabaque.

Some things to remember from my trip:

1. The feel of wind in my hair riding on the motorcycle taxis in Rurrenabaque.

2. The smiles of all the wonderful children I´ve met along the way.

3. The stars

4. The hilarious little manerisms I´ve noticed that many people in Peru and Bolivia have.

5. All the friends I´ve made along the way (travelers and locals)

6. The food and love at Govinda (hare krishna run restaraunt in Cuzco

7. Everyone who has directed me along the right path along the way.

8. All the divine love I´ve received in meditation and through various other mediums…

9. The way it felt jumping into the water in the Rio Beni, after the motor on the boat broke down and waiting for so long for another boat to pass in the hot sun… heaven.

10. All of YOUR comments and messages sending love my way… keep them coming, I really enjoy hearing from everyone.

So I´ve got a train all night… then a border to cross…and 2 or 3 more days by bus to get to rio… I´ve got a lot ahead… but I´m very excited…

wish I had more time to upload pictures to share… when I get back I´ll definitely have a lot to share..

mucho amor y besos!

Rio Beni y La Selva

bodhisvar — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:28:20 +0000

Bendiciones hermanos y hermanas!

I am in Rurrenabaque on the rio Beni in the Amazon Basin of Bolivia. I arrived here after a 16 hour bus from Coroico, and have had a very wonderful experience here. After arriving in the morning, I walked around searching for some way to get further into the Jungle, to the Parque National Madidi reserve. All of the ¨tours¨ that go to the jungle are just outrageously expensive… So I walked down to the river and found a local guide who could take me up river… He took me to an indigenous community up river where I stayed 2 days, 1 night… It was a wonderful experience… They have had a lot of influence from the outside world (They wear regular western clothes…etc) but it was an incredible experience… I especially loved getting to know the children and playing with them… They were very fascinated by me and the things that I have… I taught them how to use both of my cameras and got some really great pictures. Wonderful kids. And I was able to see a good amount of the jungle… It was so beautiful… there are so many plants, and I learned about some local jungle plants used for food and medicinal purposes. One has a nut which has a nut that will make hair grow on your skin in two weeks wherever you aply it!… pretty cool… I want to get like a gnarly patch of hair in the middle of my forehead or somehting… ha.

when I came back to Rurrenabaque yesterday, I was going to take a night bus to Trinidad, but I ran into my dear friends from Chile, Damian, Carlos, y Feña. They are such beautiful people and I am very glad to have them as friends. I stayed another night here to spend more time with them.

Working my way over to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil soon for the Ananda Marga Yoga retreat there which is the 22-26… very excited about that…

I miss everyone very much and cant wait to see you and share pictures and stories when I get back. One of the best parts of traveling is you gain a renewed since of appreciation for the ones you love and your home.

Amor, Luz, y Bendiciones!

The Peace

bodhisvar — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:39:35 +0000

I took a night bus last night to Bolivia, and went through the ruins of Tiahuanaco (Tiwanaku) this morning. It was a little less impressive than I expected… but still very cool. The Tiwanaku culture was way before the incans, and there is all kinds of cool stuff that makes it seem like they had contact with extraterrestrials…they also have found links between their culture and the culture of Atlantis… interesting.

Now I am in La Paz, and I´m ready to head on to Coroico tomorrow… I just cant really deal too much with big busy cities… its too hectic… La Paz doesnt seem too bad, but I dont have much time left so I´m heading on. The next week is going to be hectic… I am going to try to make it to Rio De Janeiro by the 18th for that Yoga and meditation retreat. which means I have a week… then after that… i have from about the 25th of July to the 6th of August to get back to Lima…

wow… so I´m going to be traveling A LOT in the next several weeks…

but sometimes the bus trips can be some of the best parts… it really gives you time to reflect on what youve experienced and take meaning from it. I always write a lot more on buses and end up realizing a lot of things.

I had thai food tonight… that was awesome. I was quite full from that but had a huge craving for french fries with ketchup … so I had the greasiest and tastiest french fries. good ol american food. Now I just need a good ball game… yee hah.

miss you.

love

less than a month left.

bodhisvar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:11:55 +0000

I´m leaving Cuzco tonight to go back to Bolivia. I have 8 days to make it through Bolivia and to Rio De Janeiro Brazil for that Yoga and meditation retreat I want to go to. Its going to be a LONG journey… but I can make it.

I´ve had a great time here in Cuzco…. I cant believe how fast the majority of my trip has gone… its going to be even faster from here on I think. Wish I had more time, but I´m also very excited about going back home to drive to Virginia with my Mom and niece, Elissa. And I´m excited to get back to Austin to see all my dear beloved friends… especially you.

I had an incredible massage yesterday. 10 bucks for an hour and a half… with hot stones and everything! very cool. I needed it.

I love how easy it is to get amazing fresh cheap fruit juice. Every morning in Cuzco I´ve been going to the market to have fresh orange, carrot, beet, alfalfa juice … two full glasses for 60 cents!!!

amazing.

much love!

Llamas and Mist

bodhisvar — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:07:16 +0000

I went to Machu Picchu today. It was absolutely incredible… Got up at 4 in the morning to make the hike up there… which was steep. got there to get in line at about 530 because only the first 400 people who wish to are allowed to clime up Waynu Picchu, the big mountain peak that you see in all of the pictures of Machu Picchu. So I got to do that… which was… very very intense, but worth the view. The ruins and are so beautiful, but you know… incan ruins themselves really arent that incredible… its the setting that really makes it unbelievable… This city they completely built from nothing at the top of a rocky mountain in the clouds… There was absolutely nothing there but rock, but they chose to build the city there. They had to bring in ALL of the soil there on their backs from the Sacred valley to build the terraces to cultivate their crops… there was no water so they re routed a stream from a spring on another mountain. It is said that the silhouette of the mountain range behind Machu Picchu represents the face of the Inca looking upward towards the sky, with the largest peak, Waynapicchu, representing his nose. But something I learned today is that whent the incans planned and built their cities, they minimally disturbed the land on which they built… This means they never moved any rocks that were already there.. they just built around them or used them where they were as a part of their structures… It was a very magical place… I learned all this and other interesting things from grazing next to the guided tour groups to pirate information off of the guides… YESSS! score. And the bright sparkles of tourists everywhere really adds some spice to the atmosphere of the place… Acutally surprisingly, I found the amount of tourists to be tolerable… it wasnt nearly as bad as I had imagined. I did get some good laughs out of some of the tourists though… When I had walked in and gotten my ticket stamped to go to Waynu Picchu and was walking back to graze around the ruins, this blonde girl was passing me and said “Oh my god I´m going to kill people if I dont get up there…” and seeing me walking the other way she asked (imagine the sassiest blonde voice you can) “Are they already turning people around?” and I answered ” No I already got my ticket” and she said “Jerk…” hahahaha… I love it. I actually saw her at the top of the peak though and she was being really bossy to her group of friends…. and made the nice man taking their picture for them wait 5 minutes while she picked the oreo out of her teeth… (speaking of which…. I just ate 8 oreos… damn. God bless America). And then hiking up the peak, I stopped to take a rest and heard what sounded like an angry rhino storming up the steps… and it was this australian beef cake dude that was snarling and snorting as plowed up the hill with a fire in his eyes, ears planted in in ipod… as he passed my I smiled and he spit… haha… classic. Then later on further up, some girl offered him some water in a flirtatious manner and in the most brutish typical australian man accent said… “No I dont drink water..”

…

Hahahahahahahahahahaha.

I wish you wouldve been there so we coulve laughed together (especially you Ayham…) ha. Best thing I´ve heard yet… Watching tourists has become my equivelent of television.

But anyways… also met some really great people… and finally met some folks from Austin including the daughter who just transfered to the UT RTF program. Yay austin. I miss thee… Turns out she went to high school in San Antonio and went to the same school as muriell for a little while and knew exactly who she was… small world!

just got back from soaking in the hot springs. Tomorrow into the jungle a bit more or back to Cuzco… we´ll see where the wind blows me.

much love faithful subscribers…

ciao!!

The Sacred Valley

bodhisvar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:24:00 +0000

So I have much much much to update you all on.

From Puno I went and stayed on the Isla Amantani which was beautiful. I stayed with a family there, they taught me some Quechua and were very kind, loving people. From Puno I went to to Copacabana Bolivia which is also on Lake Titicaca and met some very great people there. I miss my friends there already… most of them were other travelers from different south american countries. Beautiful experience. Then I went and stayed on the Isla del Sol, which was incredibly beautiful. Stayed on an ecological refuge that was voluntary to pay to sleep. Met some really beautiful people there as well. The Ruins on the Island were so incredible… La energia esta muy fuerte. Bueno meditation.

Then I went back to Copacabana with the intention of going on further into bolivia, but when I got back, found out that the roadblocks were going to cease only for that day and the next…so I took the opportunity and went to Cuzco… ran into a friend there from Austin. I really really like Cuzco. Definitely my favorite large city in South America Ive been to. The other day I left to Pisaq in the sacred valley.

Got into Pisaq and went strait up to the ruins, and stuck around until after they closed and everyone left and camped there in the ruins. It was incredible sleeping under the stars in an ancient Incan fortress at the top of a mountain in the sacred valley. The moon was so bright, that I didnt need any light to eat, etc. Woke up early in the morning and explored the ruins some more… found out that where I was staying was very close to some tombs, and if I wouldve walked to the other side I couldve slept in the religious center of the ruins, the temple of the moon or the temple of the sun. Nonetheless… It was a great experience.

From Pisaq last night I went to Urubamba to stay the night… was feeling sort of odd last night…not sick, just really negative and frustrated and uncomfortable… got to my hostel about 7 or 8 o clock, laid down and went strait to sleep. Woke up sometime after I went to sleep and puked on the floor. I havent thrown up in quite a while… but its always an experience that is so bitterly familiar. Felt better after puking and went back to sleep. But after that I had what felt like the LONGEST night ever with a lot of strange strange dreams… In a lot of my dreams I was cleaning up the puke on the floor, or thinking about how I need to clean it up… One dream I could not explain at all except that my entire world consisted of brick red, burnt yellow, and forrest green blocks that continually moved and morphed… even I consisted of these blocks and there were plenty of other people that were also a part of the blocks… and the dream had a strange plot but I dont remember it… In a later dream I was telling my mom about this dream and how strange it was, and she told me about a strange dream as well…we were in wal mart of all places.

I woke up after what felt like 12 hours of restless sleep and looked at my watch to find out it was only midnight… So a bit of a rough night… but I took a shower in the morning after cleaning up what looked like queso dip on the floor, took a shower and felt so refreshed and ten times better than I had the day before… I think throwing up was a good thing for me… Very spiritually and emotionally cleansing.

Went to the amazing circular incan terracing of Moray today. It consisted of several stepped bowl shaped terraces. Each level of the Terrace has its own microclimate, so the incans used these bowls as a sort of experimental laboratory for determining the optimal conditions for growing differnt crops. very interesting.

Now I´m in Ollantaytambo, a nice small little village which is overwhelmingly dominated by the incan ruins above. I´m probably going to camp in the ruins tonight.

Tomorrow Im going to Aguas Calientes (or Machu Pichu Pueblo) and the next morning I´ll be going to Machu Pichu. Very excited.

Much love…and hopefully I´ll be updating my blog more than I have been. Cant wait to get back to give all of my beloved friends and family a big kiss and 20 minute hug.

Island in the sky

bodhisvar — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:26:14 +0000

Today I returned from staying two nights with a family on Amantani Island on Lake Titicaca which is about 4000 meters above sea level. My host family was sooo great. I learned some more Quechua. Quechua is the main language spoken on the Island. It is such a beautiful language. It is a small rural community and the people were all very nice. All the women still dress traditionally in highly colorful clothing… like in most rural places here. Yesterday for fathers day (happy belated fathers day kevin) there was a huge soccer game in the middle of town and it seemed that everyone was there to watch. Even the community officials all wearing slick black suits and hats with a brightly colored bag of coca leaves and a small horse whip around their wrists. I walked up to the ruins a couple of times (which takes a LOT of energy at this altitude). Had some great meditation on the island. My stomach is much more up to steam and my body has healed (after a great massage and sauna the other day here in Puno) so I´m feeling much more like my regular old spectacular self.

It still hits me sometimes that I am traveling… I am very happy to be here, though I know I will be excited about my return and seeing everyone again. Today I made a decision to stick to my philosophy of not trying to plan, worry or stress too much about the future and just let things fall into place the way they do. It seems that life is always that way. You may plan for the future to go in one direction but it never really does. You may even end up reaching a certain goal in mind but it is almost always reached by a different path than you expected. So far everything I planned for this trip scheduling wise has been quite different.

So I´m going to Bolivia mañana (that means tomorrow mom). I´m excited.

Love love love to all.

Baby Alpaca wtf…

bodhisvar — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:36:07 +0000

Hola Queridos! So I was going to take a bus today from Arequipa to Cuzco this morning, but it got canceled because there are more protests and roadblocks along the way. They are blocking the main tourist attractions because this is the best way they can get attention from the government. The people are protesting the privatization of these historical and sacred ancestoral lands and tourist attractions and the privatization of the amazon for oil drilling. This goes back to the US free trade agreement which allowed for privatization of these lands. So most of the indigenous popluation and many many other peruvians are standing up for their land. I just heard today that the government has agreed to make changes to the laws with the contribution of the local governments and local people. So problem seems to be clearing up quick… My bus tonight got cancelled as well, but hopefully in the morning the buses will continue. We´ll see. I would like to move on, but I have no problem waiting for this sort of cause. Its great to see so many people standing up for what they believe in and have it make a difference. And obviously they have absolutely no problem with the tourists and travelers themselves, so it is not dangerous for us.

So hopefully Ill get to go to cuzco tomorrow and meet up with Jeff Hooten.

this city isnt bad at all though.

entonces, todo bien!

One thought… I do miss having solid BM´s… but what are ya gonna do.

much love love love

…And the Surrounding Mountains

bodhisvar — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:16:24 +0000

I got into Arequipa yesterday. The bus ride wasnt too bad. A really nice peruvian woman sat next to me and we had a good conversation. I feel like my ability to think in Spanish rather than translating is improving which is a good feeling. She was a really sweet lady, and sang me a song in Quechua. She told me since I dont have my mother with me, she could be my mother for the night. ha. very sweet. When i was going to sleep, she covered me up with a blanket and kept making sure that I was covered. I wasnt really cold, but it was very nice of her. Our bus got held up for about four hours outside of Arequipa because a group of local protestors had blocked the road, in protest of the peruvian government and all the exploitation of the jungle. I didnt mind too much. Its good to see these people standing up for their land. I was able to find a taxi that took a few of us around all of the action the rest of the way.

Today I am heading into the Cañon del Colca (twice as deep as the grand canyon). I´ll be hiking and camping through the canyon and small pueblos in the canyon for the next four nights.

More to come soon! missing all my dear loved ones back at home.

Ps. I learned an expression here that means like ¨whats your problem!?¨ It is ¨¿Que es tu Palta!?¨which means ¨whats your Avacado?¨

ha.