Out to my right was open ocean while in front of me the road appeared to slide along the hills as a black river. How long had I been walking for? At times it felt like forever, other times it felt like just a few days. I could no longer hold on to time. Days […]
It was Sunday and early still. When I spotted a beach town from afar I realized I might be able to catch the Eagles game. I hadn’t planned on watching the game, I hadn’t noticed the beach town on the map, but if the opportunity arose, I’d seize it. The week before was a bye and […]
Above me vines wove like serpents through the grid of a wooden terrance, while the vine’s leaves shivered in the wind. In the sky was thin spread of Peruvian clouds hardly deflecting the sun’s radiation. On a cushioned bench I reached forward and adjusted a perspiring bag of ice on my left ankle. Once the […]
The moon shone on the grass, but inside the meloka was pitch black. Everyone had received their ayahuasca. Now we were waiting in silence until the shaman began to feel its effects and would start singing. I was filled with adrenaline; drumming my fingers on my knees and trying not to think the way the […]
From the tarmac I could see palm trees. Sweat was already forming on my back. Iquitos, surrounded by the Amazon, was the largest outpost in the world unaccessible by road. It was there, a friend, Keyo, was waiting. Keyo had four foot dreads and eyes so blue he’d of been considered otherworldly by the ancient […]
Cusco was the most prominent city near Machu Picchu, its pristine historic district meant before and after the trip to Machu Picchu tourists could idle their time away in one of the safest and most developed places in Perú. A vicious circle evoked by a world wonder maintained the city. Tourists brought money, their money […]
That morning I sat against the wall, sleeping bag over my legs and staring at nothing in particular. My mind was turning gray. I could feel it losing creativity like pigments being burnt white from the sun. Hope was draining too. Hope as a general sunniness near the horizon has followed me through life, but […]
A bird not much bigger than a golf ball and the same color as the sand beneath it darted a few feet ahead, landed, then took off again. It stayed closed to the ground and after the bird took flight I could see minuscule imprints of its claws. For twenty minutes the bird stayed along […]
I flicked a bead of perspiration off the Red Bull on the table. Ahead of me was a hundred and seventy kilometers of desert. I figured with the help of some stimulants I’d be able to cover that in three days if I walked into the night. “I’ll need another,” I said to the young […]
Somewhere down the long stretch of road between the Ecuadorian border and the first Peruvian city I looked over my shoulder to see a cyclist rolling across the lane to me. The man moved his glasses to his hat and revealed a pale face with sunscreen smeared over a few day old beard. It had […]