open road explore

OK, I’ll admit it. I’m hooked on travel. I think it’s awesome. There is just something about heading to new places that excites my soul and gets me giddy every time I start packing my bags or planning a trip. So much is my passion for travel that I want to give those that dream of exploring the world further nudging to make it happen. So I sat down and wrote this, to nudge you dreamers again. If you hear the call to travel and need more reason than to experience some of the incredible variety of the world and to explore the playground that is the earth (really?), here are some of the wonders to be found in travel.
open road explore

A Broader Perspective

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
Mark Twain

Experiencing different ways of life will only widen your perspective and meeting new people from different backgrounds and with totally different experiences of life hones your empathy and ability to understand others. Real world travel offers insights that go beyond historical facts you could learn in a book and you’ll probably even see your home country in a new light. ‘Travel broadens the mind’ – yes it’s a cliché, but like most there’s a truth there, and if you travel with an open mind and make an effort to put yourself out there, you can’t fail to see things in ways you’d never seen before.

Healthy Discomfort

Leaving your country and getting out of your bubble of familiarity will stretch you. Depending on where you go, you’ll be pushed in one way or another – maybe you won’t know how to speak or read, how to greet someone, or you won’t have a clue how to catch local transport. The point is that wherever you go there’ll be something unfamiliar to you in an honestly inconvenient way. And while this might not be the funnest aspect of travel, it will force you to be open to your new environment and use your mind to figure things out. Being adaptable to new situations and practising patience becomes second nature; two precious skills that serve beyond life on the road.

Inspiration

stargazer stars inspiration

The world is an inspiring place but it can be incredibly hard to recognize that truth when you’re stuck in a rut or a predictable routine in what has become a banal and mundane environment. When you travel you’re getting out there, discovering new and previously unseen worlds. Travel will open you up to all kinds of new things – languages, lifestyles, social conventions – and these new experiences lead to new ideas and connections, capable of inspiring in many ways. Here are a couple…

On How To Live

Travel can inspire us to change things in our own lives that we weren’t previously aware were even an option. Through meeting people living alternatives, travel enabled me to see beyond norms and accepted truths of the culture I grew up in – like working 45 weeks a year until retirement, or needing to earn and spend lots of money to lead a fulfilling life – and inspired me to find and create a more appealing lifestyle that suited me.

If you feel like your life is becoming flat and dull, travel can open you up to countless possibilities for change – different jobs and career paths, places to live, how to structure your life, lifestyle philosophies, other ways that you can offer your gifts to the world. There really are innumerable paths, and in this way travel can show you how many options you really have.

Creativity

art on street

There’s something in the mental stimulation of new experiences that inspires and feeds creativity and the urge to do something creative. Exploring other cultures offers whole new schools of styles to spark your imagination. If you’re a musician, you’ll hear new rhythms and instruments; an artist, new styles and schools; a cook; new foods and flavours; photographers; new landscapes and architectures. Whatever your creative outlet, you won’t be pressed to find inspiration.

Know Yourself

Self discovery – yes another cliché but there’s truth in them! Coming out of the grooves of your normal life is a surefire way to learn more about yourself. The mix of continually being in new situations and spending a lot of time alone allows a traveler to see new sides of themselves. On the road you’ll see what aspects of your character naturally stick and which ones fall away, which ones are integral to your being and which were simply circumstantial to the life you were living. Maybe there are some things you discover about yourself that you’d like to change. Great, because now you are in the perfect situation to…

Reinvent Yourself
traveler mountains

The change travel brings represents an opportunity to start over and reinvent yourself. This is why we say we’re ‘making a fresh start’ when we move to a new city or country or make any big life change in which we’re leaving familiarity behind. By breaking old connections and making new ones, a traveler finds opportunity for growth, and for moving forward consciously.

If you recognize traits in yourself that you’d like to drop or have new habits you’d like to adopt, travel is a great opportunity to do this. People you meet won’t have the same pre-existing expectations of you and how you’ll behave and this liberates you from past versions of yourself, from detrimental habits or ways of thinking that you’d like to leave behind. Change brings change, and with travel you are literally moving forward, not remaining stagnant, and this can be reflected in your character too.

Find The Others (& Connection)

Modern western society has enabled us as individuals to be more independent than ever, liberating us from reliance on neighbours and the local community. Whilst this independence is beneficial in many ways, the greater sense of individualism that comes with it can leave us with a sense of disconnection and lack of belonging, often making the world seem like a lonely place.
group sunset

Naturally, it’s easier to connect with people you share a passion with. The problem is finding them. When you travel you can’t help but meet other travellers, and in this way those of us with an adventurous spirit or curiosity of the world are naturally drawn to each other. With like-minded people conversations more readily go beyond the superficial and onto deeper and more thought-provoking topics. This gives us a deeper appreciation of the world we live in by making those connections that we as humans crave. If you feel alone in your sense of adventure, surrounded by people who are uninspiring, unadventurous, being steamrolled by and into a life of drudgery and monotony, get out, hit the road, find the others!

If You Have The Travel Itch, Scratch It! (It Feels Good)

I think most people know deep down if they really want to travel or not. It’s like a longing deep within, an expression of the human urge to discover, relate, and understand. If you feel the call to travel and are currently finding reasons to suppress it, just know that there will never be a perfect time and there will always be reasons not to. So this is my message to you, don’t let circumstance dictate your life – make it happen and go explore!
travel road inspire

What have you found in travel? How has it shaped or altered your life? Have you gleaned any insight from your time on the road? Share your experiences in the comments below 🙂

 

changa art lily peyote desert

This was originally written for The Mainland Trading Post.

With the sun overhead Pedro exhales a lungful of smoke, passes the pipe on, and goes back to checking the group’s food supplies in his bag. “I’m so high” Molly says amused as she gazes around at the empty village street we’re sat on the side of. I take the pipe on its way through, the sweet taste of Mexican ganja fills my lungs and I get excited about our imminent adventure; we’re heading into the desert in search of peyote – the small, spineless mescaline containing cactus that grows in this part of Mexico.

peyote hikuri heads cactus

There’s six of us in total, I met the others the day before, and they are exactly the sort you might expect to be making this journey; Pollo and Lalo, a pair of Mexican gypsy punks – complete with mandala face tattoos, mohawks and bongo; Molly and Lily, two young blonde English girls who’ve been hitchhiking around North America for the last 18 months, and whose main interests include astrology and beat literature; and Pedro, a long-haired pothead from Mexico City, half-hippy-half-city boy, and our crew’s desert guide.

We’ve actually already eaten some peyote for breakfast that morning – I’d acquired six heads from a Jewish priest in town the day before (another story) – and we now finish off the last of the disgustingly bitter green flesh. We haven’t eaten a whole lot, but already I begin to feel a giddy and energetic wakefulness as we set off.

We walk past the last small houses and out the edge of town, following a dust track that leads us out into the desert, literally walking out of civilization and straight into nature.

The panorama is undeniable; the landscape is flat for what must be hundreds of miles ahead of us before our view is eventually cut off by mountains that are probably months away on foot. The earth is pale and dry but there is life in small single shrubs that are scattered around everywhere. We see hanging clouds showering an area way off to our right, and looking back I see the huge shadows and outlines of another set of clouds hanging over the mountains we left behind this morning. It’s hard to fathom what the distances might be, but the vast wilderness has a calming effect. It’s peaceful in a humbling way.

The area of desert close to town has practically no peyote – already ravaged dry from decades of visits by seekers and peyoteros – so Pedro is leading us to what he calls the ‘hikuri zone’, an area he knows of that’s deep into the desert and rich with the cactus.

desert peyote cactus

Desert Hysteria

Stepping through a gap between shrubs Pedro turns to us; “Remember that we are in nature, so just watch where you step” he says, apparently referring to snakes. The area we’re headed to is a good few hours away so Pedro sets a steady pace and the group splits by native language; Pedro leading the way with the punks up ahead whilst I fall behind with the girls.

My 5 liter water bottle swings by my side and sweat trickles down my brow. The further we go into the desert, the more different I feel; disentangled from the world and society’s trappings, somehow elevated from it, and still giddy. The girls are getting silly and Lily is giggling at the fact that “everything looks so green on peyote”.

With Pedro’s warning in mind we begin discussing about what to do if we encounter a snake and the girls agree that Lily will pretend to be a snake so that Molly can demonstrate to us the appropriate response. Lily crouches and makes a hissing winding path towards Molly, who standing her ground just looks at Lily and says, totally deadpan, “fuck off”. Somehow the scene is absolutely hilarious and I slam the water bottle to the ground as I double over cracking up; I’ve hit a hysterical level somewhere between the peyote, the heat and the pipe.

Something’s Out There

After a short but welcome water break a couple hours in – in which it’s clear that everyone is a bit spaced out and weary from walking in the heat – Pedro leads us on. The town is now a distant memory and the silence and isolation of the desert amplified. Molly and I fall to the back of the group and she asks me if I believe in aliens – the area is a hot spot for appearances and other strange occurrences. I think for a moment – I don’t really know my own answer – and she warns me “Be careful what you say… because they are listening to you” Her response makes me uneasy and I tell her “I don’t really know”. “Ooh, he’s on the fence, get him!” she says as though she is actually speaking to the aliens herself, and the possibility that they are out there and will now be on their way to visit me out in the desert tonight suddenly seems very real. Something about the boundless open landscape makes palpable the feeling that anything – including an encounter – is possible, because it shows me how unfathomably massive the world really is; that exist huge swathes of the earth’s surface that I’ve never seen and never will, whole fields of experience that are so far removed from my own and will forever elude me. It all reminds me of how little I really, truly know. Awe and mystery of the unknown are in fact the reason I’m there trampling through the desert – what drives that innate and irrepressible urge to discover, explore, and experience – and Molly’s hint at a potential encounter leaves me unnerved in a weirdly thrilling way.

Little Green Jewels

Spotting a pair of yuca trees which mark our turn, Pedro leads us on a new course and we’re told to keep our eyes peeled as we enter peyote territory. One of the girls spots one, poking its small head above the earth with its leathery green skin. I can tell Pedro wants to pull it out to start building our stash, but being our first find its not to be picked – its our guide – and he observes the ritual of making an offering to maintain some authenticity as our Mexican desert guide. Bending down he sprinkles a few lentils by the plant and we split off as the search begins.

Lalo pumps his bongo as he goes and his beat provides the soundtrack for what is like a bizarre psychedelic easter egg hunt. I wander gazing around the desert floor. I walk past Pollo sitting on the ground in front of a find, ‘gracias pachamama’ he says, offering thanks to the spirit of the earth, kissing his hand and placing it on the earth, kissing it again and placing it on his forehead. Lalo’s beat suddenly stops and he lets off a squeal of excitement; he’s found his first one too.

peyote desert

I spot one, and bending down I’m taken back by its appearance. The skin glows, its shade of green shifts; its somehow radiating life. The soft small head seems unnatural here amongst the dry earth, something about it is alien and mysterious. It has a rare beauty, so I leave this one be. I stand back up and walking away see another, then another. They all seem incredibly precious, like elegant jewels hidden scattered around the desert, and gazing at their beauty I don’t really want to take them out from the earth. It seems wrong, as though its killing something special and sacred and pure. I walk over to some of the others and before I’ve said anything Molly gushes the exact same sentiment “but they’re so beauuutiful”. “Yes, but remember, they are here to help us” Pedro insists, probably annoyed that we’re wasting time when we should be picking for the evening ahead. He does however, have a point, and I didn’t walk for hours through the desert just to admire their appearance, so I start collecting heads.

Night Falls

With about 20 heads collected between us, we meet by a tree to set up the tents. We get a fire going just as the sun’s setting and sit round. Snacking on more heads as the surrounding desert fades into darkness, we hear coyotes howling off in the distance. The altered space peyote has taken me to is different to what I expected; it has left me feeling wired but somehow zoned out. Despite eating more, my trip plateaus and I lie restless yet exhausted. The view overhead is pristine, and looking up at millions of stars, I reflect on what has been a long, hot, bizarre day.

When I’d first read about peyote about 7 years before, it seemed almost mythological; an exotic psychoactive plant that grows in the North American desert, consumed by natives and indigenous peoples over thousands of years for ceremonial and spiritual purposes. To my younger self it was a fairy tale, something of another world, some exciting legend that you come across in obscure books and cult films. It sparked my imagination and curiosity of the world, gave me a hunger for experience – but I never seriously considered it would be part of a journey that I’d actually undertake. To be lying there, many years later, under the stars out in the desert, is something surreal and life affirming. Even without an alien encounter, the desert trip has shown me something; anything is possible.

But the night isn’t quite over, there’s one more surprise.

One Last Journey

Pedro pulls out the pipe and loads it up again. “You should know, there is changa in there” he says with a mischievous smirk on his face. Changa is a smoking blend that contains DMT – “the spirit molecule” – possibly the most powerful psychedelic known to man. In other words, a complete mind-blower.

What happens next seems to happen very quickly; the pipe makes its way round the circle; Pedro, Pollo – who offers thanks to pachamama again- Lalo, Lily… everyone taking a deep hit from the pipe and passing it on, closing their eyes and sitting silently, off in whatever universe they’ve gone to. Before I know it the pipe is passed and in my hand. Really I’m nowhere like as mentally prepared as I’d like to be – five minutes before I wasn’t even considering that I’d be smoking changa – but at the same time there’s no way I’m going to pass up on this. Holding the pipe in front of me I pause to take a deep breath. I see Molly – who’s opted out of the multi-verse roulette due to a traumatic changa experience days prior – crouched behind Pollo, peering at me over his shoulder, and I can see the fear in her eyes at what I’m about to do. I light the end and the mix glows orange as I pull. It tastes horrible as I feel the smoke make its way down my throat and into my lungs where I hold it in.

I exhale, and my vision begins to morph, the small stones in the circle around the fire become warped, growing to the size of boulders and shrinking back again, my vision zooms in strange ways as I’m being pulled in. I look around and see the others around the fire. They all have their eyes closed. Of course, that’s what I need to do. I close my eyes and enter a spectrum of flowing colours. Luminous oranges and pinks meld into bizzare multi-layered forms as they fly through me, or I’m flying through them – I have no idea. The colours I see are from outside the spectrum of usually visible light, they are dazzling and the forms they carry approach from in front and pass through my eyes, flowing through and out the back of my head. I anchor to my breath for a reference point, some ground amidst the chaos, and I’m able to sit back passive to the kaleidoscopic whirlwind. The flight is intense, but as quick as it came on, the experience fades away. The brilliant colours gradually fade and I’m left in darkness, with a weird empty feeling – like something inside me has been wiped clean.

Last to smoke, I’m last to come round, and as I reopen my eyes everyone is just sitting quietly round the fire in their own space – apart from Pedro who has already got up and has his hand on Lily’s shoulder in what looks like an inappropriate attempt to forge a bond.

‘Man, that changa is something else’ I say finally, looking over at him. He rips into laughter. He’s laughing at the truth of what I say, the ridiculousness and outrageousness of it all.  Sometimes things are just so inconceivable or so weird that you can’t help but laugh. And this was one of those times.

changa art peyote desert

Sketch by ‘Lily’ (Lucy Porter) depicting the changa trip round the fire.

This is the latest guest post by friend and adventure cyclist Kieron Ramsay. Last year he quit his job and got on a bicycle, setting off on a life-changing journey that would see him camping his way across Europe and eventually ending up in the south of Portugal. In this post he talks about adapting to his new life on the road….

scoff bike trip

Living With Eyes Open

We often set goals in our lives, that once we achieve them, it feels like a simple case of ticking the box to say that we have done it and then we move on. However, when I came to reach the end of my planning and saving goals for travelling, I was surprised to find myself in an ambivalent world of contradictory thoughts. It was leaving day excitement versus leaving day doubts. On one hand I had the enthusiasm of a dog whose master has just allowed him to eat his dinner after making it wait obediently. On the other, I was a cautious mother that wanted to make sure I had enough of everything, double and triple checking I had all my bits. Was I ready? Only one way to be sure I guess.

Once I got going, with my home falling further and further behind me, it took some time for my new lifestyle to sink in. I was officially on the road and simply willing the experiences to happen to me. I had given up the almost unavoidable world of working and the social politics (A.K.A bullshit) that can come with it, and was chasing a new kind of experience that I could cherish for the rest of my days.

selfie bike trip

It didn’t take long for me to taste what I desired so bad. I was beginning to feel the freedoms of travelling, and with it came euphoria. The only way I can describe it is, it feels like there is a seed in your belly, that has began germinating and turning into something beautiful, something bigger, something special. You don’t want it to stop, so you push on as your soul begins to broaden its smile and sings and asks for more. It feels infectious, and I’d happily admit that it brought me to tears.

Once I had acclimated to living this way and begun cycling in excess of 100 miles a day, I was quickly traversing the lands of Europe. I felt like each and everyday was a gift just for me to make the most of. I was gaining first hand experience of one of the biggest lessons a person can learn; living in the moment. However, Carpe diem’ing the fuck out of your life is a lot easier when everything around you smells like roses. Just as much as life can, travelling has a darker side to it too. Not all your plans will pan out the way you could have predicted and occasionally, life throws a spanner at your sensitive parts. On these occasions you will come up against something that you would rather do without. It could even seem that you may have to abandon travelling. But if you are strong-minded and have the character to see yourself through, you will be rewarded in another way – you will have a true glance at what you are really made of, and I bet you will like what you see. There are benefits to be gained from bad experiences, you just need to see where the value is.

As human beings, we are naturally adaptive creatures. We can survive in a massive variety of ways, and the spectrum of what constitutes a ‘normal’ day in someone’s life is just as vast. Even whilst in full travelling mode, the human psyche is wired so that we feel all important about ourselves, and our ego will eventually start asking for more and even get bored of seeing wonder. With this in mind, during my 1st travelling experience, the benefits of meditation really struck a chord with me. It helped my mind to achieve a state of peace that I hadn’t come across before, and it also gave me that all important dose of perspective. This was great timing as it aided my mind in finding peace, thus helping me make the most of my time on the road.

The key is keeping yourself motivated and maintaining high spirits. There are a number of ways that could potentially help you in this regard; music, podcasts, and the occasional phone call to a friend all worked wonders for me. Another big aspect of exercising my mind on the move was that I was keeping a daily journal. It was a combination of a diary, that I could read back through after some of the tougher days, and a place to write down and clarify any thoughts or ideas that I could develop or come back to. I recommend finding whatever works best for you.

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This is from a series of guest posts  Kieron will be sharing with us based around his trip. Check back next week for the next part. Until then, you can read more from Kieron on his blog as he plans his next cycle trip, an epic coast-to-coast across the USA.

san pedro wachuma cactus powder

My experience of drinking San Pedro in the Sacred Valley was an incredibly powerful, humbling and beautiful experience. I would seriously recommend it to anyone inclined to such experiences. It was a highlight of months of travel in South America and so in the spirit of sharing information, I’ve written this guide to taking San Pedro in Peru.

What is San Pedro?

San Pedro is a species of psychedelic cactus native to the Andes – scientific name Echinopsis pachanoi. Also known as Wachuma, the cactus contains the psychedelic compound mescaline, also found in the peyote cactus and the source of inspiration for Aldous Huxley’s classic ‘The Doors Of Perception’. The Spanish name San Pedro (Saint Peter) came after the Spanish conquest and refers to the disciple from the bible who holds the key to heaven – the cactus named after him as it’s believed to allow users to reach heaven whilst still on earth.

Echinopsis pachanoi san pedro wachuma cactus

Echinopsis Pachanoi AKA San Pedro

Why in Peru?

If you’re interested in taking San Pedro, Peru is a great country to do it. The cactus has a history of use in Andean traditional medicine going back thousands of years and is a part of the native culture. Like ayahuasca, it is not viewed as a ‘drug’ in the same way that it is in the west, but rather as a plant medicine, an ally, or a teacher. The same stigma doesn’t exist around it as in western countries and this makes it a great place to do it; where it is an honoured and proud part of the culture. For this reason San Pedro is completely legal, and therefore openly and readily available.

Where Can I Buy San Pedro?

calle san pedro cusco

Head to Calle San Pedro

You can find San Pedro in the medicines aisle of Mercado San Pedro, Calle San Pedro in Cusco (San Pedro Market, San Pedro Street – should be fairly easy to remember). It is sold in powder form, after the cactus has been dried and ground. I’m sure there are many others places to get it seeing as it’s legal, but this is where I got it and buying it at the market was as easy as anything. It was very cheap and excellent quality. Just go to the medicines aisle and ask around for San Pedro. You can buy in batches of 33g – one standard dose.
Cost
When I went one standard 33g dose cost 10 soles ($3 / £2)

mercado san pedro cusco

mercado san pedro cusco hierbas medicina

Head to Seccion Hierbas Medicinales

Dosage

1 standard dose is 33 grams. The general advice is to start by taking one dose and if you don’t feel anything after 2 hours, then drink more. If you are going to have a strong trip, typically you will start to feel effects before the two hour mark. Be sensible with your dosage!

san pedro wachuma cactus

Three bagged doses – 33g in each

Serving

One you have the dust, all you need to do is mix it in water and then drink it. No special preparation or boiling needed. It’s bitter as hell and not the easiest thing to get down, but then you weren’t drinking it for the taste were you?

N.B. My advice would be to drink on an empty stomach. This will help with the absorption of the San Pedro into your body, and will also lessen nausea, a common side effect of the cactus.

Pisac

Pisac, a town about one hour from Cusco, has grown into something of a magnet for the hippie/alternative crowd, unsurprising considering the many ayahuasca and San Pedro retreats and ceremonies available there or in surrounding areas. I arrived into town the day before my trip and had passed all sorts of interesting characters and places as I walked through the narrow streets – there’s even an ayahuasca art cafe.

Where and How To Take It?

This is really up to you, but here are a few options as to where and in what manner you take San Pedro. Scroll down for more info on each one.

Option 1: Go to nature
Option 2: Find a guide or facilitator
Option 3: Organise your own gathering / hike / ceremony

Option 1: Go To Nature

This was the option I went for and in many ways the most straightforward. I wanted to be alone and in nature so it was perfect. Peru is abound with incredible nature so finding a place should be easy. Staying in Pisac, I just left town and went out into nature, through woods and by a riverIf you are going alone, pay careful attention to where you are going and be prepared. When deciding where I would go I asked a friend who I was staying with for suggestions. He’d been living in the area a little while and had done some organised Wachuma hikes there. He advised me an area of woods and told me to stay by the river. That was important advice as when heading back the woods were like a maze and appeared identical in all directions. Luckily, I was able to locate myself in relation to the river and follow it back towards town.

What to take?

Basically the normal stuff you’d take for a typical day out – water, shades, suncream etc. Here are some other specifics I’d recommend:

Clothes suitable for heat and cold
On my trip the temperature varied massively depending on the shadow of clouds – it was scorching under direct sunlight, then pretty damn chilly under the shadow of a large passing cloud. I changed clothes, switching between jeans and shorts, putting on and removing layers, a few times throughout the trip. Ideally find a spot in shade.

Something to lie on [e.g. sleeping/yoga mat, sleeping bag, picnic blanket]
During your trip you may well want to lie down. I took a sleeping mat for my trip and certainly made use of it, lying on it for a good 6 hours. You can of course just lie on the ground but I think its nice to have something to lie on. Depending on where you are it may or may not be easy to find a comfortable spot. I highly value physical comfort during a psychedelic experience and think it can make a big difference to the experience itself.

Water & Food 
It may well be the case that you’re not hungry at all, but I think it’s best to be prepared, especially as you’ve just fasted, and also just in case you get lost and it takes you longer than anticipated to make it back. On my trip I took some snacks and ended up not eating anything. I had plenty of energy and was OK to walk into town before I finally ate a meal at a restaurant in the evening – around 24 hours since I’d last eaten, and 12 since drinking the San Pedro. Even then I wasn’t hungry but felt it would be a good idea to eat some nourishing food. Indeed it’s common that people have plenty of energy purely from the cactus.

Anything else is optional and additional. If you are in nature I don’t think there is much you will be left wanting; you will have the trees, the mountains and the sky!

What else you take depends entirely on you and what you would like with you. Here are some suggestions;

Pad & Pen – Personally I like to take a pen and pad with me and wrote a lot throughout my wachuma trip. At times I found writing in it was like talking to a friend, giving me a sense of company.

Music & Headphones/Speaker – I didn’t actually listen to anything but imagine it could be pretty awesome.

Marijuana – The nausea can be quite bad and weed can certainly help this. I smoked one joint as the nausea started to come on, about an hour after drinking, and felt immediately relieved. The nausea came back again a couple hours later – I smoked another small joint, and that was the end of the nausea for the entire trip!

Final note: Drink early
I think it’s a decent idea to make your way back out of nature before sundown – the cold will set in and the dark will make finding your way harder. Drinking early will mean you peak earlier in the day and then be ‘down’ to consensual reality earlier, making the return trip easier. Also I think it’s nice to have the whole day and trip in the sun. Another option would be to camp out in nature.

If you’re not with a friend and don’t fancy being alone, consider options 2 and 3.

Option 2: Find a Guide or Facilitator

There are plenty of guides and facilitators around the town of Pisac offering Wachuma hikes and different types of ceremony. Just google search ‘San Pedro Pisac’, check the facebook group Spirit Events Sacred Valley, or ask around when you arrive to Pisac. There are all kinds of events – from hikes in nature to ceremonies with mantras and sacred songs. If you do this you will be paying a fee and the price will include the san pedro so you don’t need to worry about buying any beforehand – you can just show up and your facilitator will give you the dose. If you go this route you should speak with your facilitator and clear up any queries you may have beforehand – procedure/schedule/dose etc. If you find shamanic or new age ceremonial type things to be a bit cringe or just not to your tastes, a hike would surely be preferable, or…

Option 3: Organise Your Own Gathering / Hike / Ceremony

Another option is finding some others and organising your own ceremony. This is more easy than it sounds. Many travellers’ and spiritual seekers can be found in Pisac and when I was there I met others who were just getting together and doing their own ceremonies (often ‘ceremony’ might be as simple as drinking a cactus mix sat around a campfire). The day after my own experience I was invited by an Argentinian to join a ceremony she was organising with her friends a few days later. Some others were also organising trips to Machu Picchu with a San Pedro stop en route. Needless to say you should feel comfortable with everyone who you plan on doing this with.

Safe Travels!

San Pedro can have powerful effects on the taker so I wouldn’t recommend taking the decision to drink lightly. However, if you do decide to you may well be in for an ineffably beautiful and potentially life-changing experience. I am still awed at what I experienced, and would absolutely drink again when the right opportunity arises. I’d love to hear how your journey with San Pedro is, so if you journey, please share in the comments. Safe travels!

Stoner? Planning a vacation? Have no fear, guest writer ‘The Hemperor’ has you covered with the info on these two pothead-friendly destinations…

As a consummate consumer of cannabis for over 10 years, I’ve had my fair share of experience with purchasing and blazing the sweet sweet herbaaj. You can buy weed all over the world, relatively easily: from Peru to Portugal, I have never struck out. However, obviously, and ridiculously, it is still not legal for the majority of the civilised (pah) world. Fortunately, amidst the mire of parochial control and legislation shine 2 pinnacles of hope: Amsterdam and Colorado: real-world locations where one can legally purchase weed and without hassle. Thus, following a recent trip to Colorado, our esteemed editor asked me to compare the buying and schameewking experiences of these 2 beautiful locations in an effort to tackle the question; ‘Which is the ultimate stoner’s destination?’
Let’s take a look….

$$$ Buying $$$

Amsterdam

amsterdam canal

Coffee shops

The term ‘coffee shop’ is applied loosely in Amsterdam and basically means ‘somewhere you can go to buy and smoke weed’. Coffee shops represent a much more pleasant buying experience than that found in the majority of the world. Most places have a menu with the different strains available and the price per gram – or per pre-rolled joint.

coffeeshop amsterdam

Across the city a wide range of herb and concentrates are available, quality and range are dependent on the shop, but, I can assure you, there is some great product out there. You can find some very well-written guides online to coffee shops in Amsterdam, from both a chilling and purchasing perspective, and I thoroughly recommend checking these out before you head out and get too bleary-eyed. I personally find that in some of the busier shops it is difficult to spend as much time as you would like with the menu, as there is always a very stoned and annoying (normally British) tourist waiting to order coffee behind you.

Colorado

No coffee shops in Colorado, weed is sold in dispensaries here – basically dedicated weed shops that are licensed sellers of cannabis. Unlike the Dutch coffee shops, one cannot smoke in dispensaries, they are solely for picking up.
weed scales

Dispensaries

After passing through an antechamber where your ID is checked, you then enter the inner sanctum; a fairly small, windowless, yet exceptionally clean and well presented room with a slightly clinical or at least therapeutic vibe. It’s how I imagine a waiting room at the Church of Scientology, were the walls not festooned with posters advertising the available products. On entering the room you are greeted by a vast array of herb in large glass jars, and many types of concentrates and devices – most of which I’d never seen before. Normally, there are only a few people in the room at any one time so your experience does not feel rushed. It didn’t hurt that the first person to serve me was a 10/10 smoke-show, so I walked out of my first buying experience with a smile and a huge bag of goodies, including a Girl Scout Cookies-Lemon Haze cross , which may well be the best weed I have ever smoked.

weed jars cannabis marijuana

As predicted, following legalisation, the USA has taken it upon itself to push marijuana to its extremes and to develop innovative and delicious products – trust the Yanks to go big or go home; I couldn’t be more pleased.

SCHMEEEWKING

Amsterdam

Perhaps the better of the two experiences for a tourist as smoking is permitted in coffee shops – just remember you can’t mix it with tobacco. Coffee shops can vary quite a bit in terms of decor and seating, from places reminiscent of an old English pub – a basic place with few wooden benches and tables, perhaps a TV hanging up – to more modern places with cushioned sofas and dimly lit areas for chilling more comfortably.

coffee shopThis means that you can buy your weed and accompanying Chocomel, and be sat toking within a matter of seconds, sitting and giggling (or just chilling) with your mates or socialising easily with those around you. On the flip side, many of the cafes are not hugely comfortable, and you will tend to be reminded to buy drinks on a regular basis. Smoking discretely outside in parks and on the streets is also permitted, or at least accepted. The best solution may be to find one of the bars or other venues which will permit you to smoke there – I don’t think this is technically legal but it seems to be commonplace in The Dam.

Colorado

Unlike Amsterdam, there are no specific locations for consumption of cannabis. Staying in AirBnBs or similar locations where the owners have a good 420 policy means that you can buy your green from one of the many dispensaries but have to take it home to enjoy. With the vast array of edibles and ‘non-obvious’ cannabis products (such as sprays or e-cigarettes) however, you have no excuse to be sober at any time in Colorado. The lack of designated smoking areas does somewhat limit your options and also the ease with which you can meet other like-minded individuals.

colorado nature mountains

Though you’re probably not supposed to, smoking in the state’s awesome nature isn’t a problem

Conclusion

Amsterdam stood alone for years, Colorado has joined more recently, and we are seeing changes all over the world in terms of societies progressively more sensible approaches to ganja. Even in the UK, which tends to be so keen on tradition and reluctant to change, law enforcement in some areas have made statements that they will not actively pursue those growing or personally consuming small amounts. Perhaps global change is on the horizon – as and when it happens, there are lessons to be learned from Amsterdam and Colorado for how to get the faacking job done.

Hailing from the UK, Amsterdam is a mere hour by air, and as such, I am a relatively regular visitor. It is a truly beautiful city, with many fascinating things to do, and is the original home of legal blazing. Within a morning, I can go from a grey UK to a metropolitan city that accepts my choices and gives me access to a plethora of cannabis products that I would struggle to find anywhere in Europe. Each time I leave I promise myself that I will never go back, as life is short and the earth is very large, yet every couple of years, I find myself in Leidesplein.

Colorado on the other hand is a good 8 hour flight, with commensurate increases in expense, but I would visit again in a heartbeat. This was my first visit to the USA, and so perhaps some of my enthusiasm is rooted in novelty, but there is something attractive about the nonchalant attitude to smoking held by the populace, even so soon after legalisation. In Amsterdam, it still feels like you are doing something wrong somehow – in Colorado, the enthusiasm and knowledge of the products shown in dispensaries was more akin to what you might find in a specialist wine shop, which I enjoyed very much. As a caveat – I am not a Dutch speaker, whereas as the Americans pretty much speak English.

If money were no object, Colorado would be my preference for a repeat visit. I feel that there is still so much to see, having only spent time in Denver and Boulder, both of which I would high-ly recommend, and from a purely ganja-perspective, I do think that they have the edge over Amsterdam.

However…

If you haven’t had your head in the sand (and unless Donny T has changed things radically since publication), you may well be aware that an increasing number of states are at least partially-legalising the dro’. These states have a great model to follow in Colorado and high standards to meet, and hopefully, surpass. Road trip anyone?