The Tourist is dead

by the Colca Specialist



I found an article from Doyle Buehler in Technorati which I considered very interesting. Enjoy it!



The Tourist is Dead



Author: Doyle Buehler

Experience is what people are needing in the new world of travel. Not the knowledge of experience to travel, but rather the experience of travel. An escape of course is what we are looking for. The intellectual and emotional experience that our travels and actions can explore. Experience of an escape is the new mode of travel. What does it mean to really escape? What does it mean to get lost along the way, to find out who you are, by experiencing yourself and your surroundings as you journey next door or around the world?



For a lot of people, travel is simply about being at Point A or Point B - and not about the experience along the way. Book a flight to Mexico or Bali and go to the beach or go to the ancient runes, take a picture and then return to show-off the photo. For the rest of us, and for those who truly understand the significance of travel as an experience, it is not about the destination, but the journey along the way.



Travel should be about how you experience life; or for the aspirational, how you want to experience life. While we have a good idea of where we are going, the real excitement of life comes from everything that we do along the way. The memories that we collect, the people that we learn from and meet, the understanding of the world, the cultural disparities that we comprehend, and the connected-ness of the emotional memories that we create from it all. This is the experience of travel. The senses are awakened. The mind is alerted. The emotions connected. The journey is intertwined.



Experience is about understanding the world, and allowing it to shape our journey and our emotions. As the summer winds down in the northern hemisphere, the summer then begins to take shape in the other half of the world. What greater pleasure could be had than being able to live through this, like changes of the season, all with a simple flight or a simple expedition. A change of the seasons is a change of the reasons. The world is round for a reason: it allows us to experience everything that we possibly can, and always, somehow, find our way back home, wherever that may be.





The new manifesto of the adventurer is the journey of the traveler that we all want to become. The traveller evolves to create and build an experience; an emotional experience along the path that they chose; their needs and wants evolve, and can make us all think differently as we embrace the culture of it all. As Bruce Kirkby outlines in his romantic piece on travel, "Such soul-opening moments are ephemeral and unpredictable, often alighting on us like a butterfly when we are otherwise engrossed".



Travel can now be taken to the next level of emotional contentment and satisfaction. No longer is travel a simple destination, but rather an entire experience focused around the needs and desires of the individual and their intrinsic need for self actualization in their travel choices. It is about the specific niche needs of the customer, and how they realize their travel desires through the experience of it all. Experiential travels are truly about tapping into the psyche of each individual, yet en masse based on our conjoining and intersecting desires.



We no longer need to be confined to being just a tourist, but rather a traveler. No, not in the sense of being a gypsy of old, but one who is creating an emotional experience along the way. The new traveler, the one who desires more, is one who comprehends and articulates what is important in the journey, what they want to experience, what they want to achieve on the road, and what emotional desires they will build on. We need to be open to understanding the cultural impacts and the cultural amplifications that we can experience like nothing before on our new journey. Immersing oneself into the experience, the emotions, the culture is what makes travel unique and special. This is the new journey for all of us to take, as we experience life.

Ubinas volcano: the home of the creatures of fire

By the Colca Specialist

Ubinas volcano is one of the active volcanoes located in the southpart of Peru.

Ubinas volcano presented a strong volcanic activity in 2010 and the inhabitants of the local communas moved to Arequipa and after the volcanic activity decreased locals started to come back home.

Some weeks ago I was invited by the owner of Naturaleza Activa Eduardo Sánchez to join his team of mountainclimbers whose main goal was to reach the top of Ubinas volcano. (I load up a video in youtube so you can check it.The link is the following :http://youtu.be/vihQbTAXtPk.)

According to the inca traditions mountains and volcanoes were considered sacred. The mountains and the volcanoes were the home of the Apus, spirits of the mountain with the shape of a totem bird,condor,hawk,eagle. They are the equivalent of the catholic angels.

The destruction provoked by a volcano was considered as something terrible in those times and the inca used to perform animal or human sacrifices in order to keep the gods calm.The incas had several types of ceremonial dedicated to the spirits of the mountains and the most special ceremonial they had was the ritual of Karpay in which the spirits of the mountain spoke directly with the participants.

These rituals are considered obscure in these days, but they are still practiced by the altomesayoqs or keepers of heaven rituals in the south part of Peruvian andes.
As a specialist in aboriginal and indigenous cults,the trip to Ubinas was going to be for me a special experience.

The first time I visited Ubinas was in the eighties when I had the opportunity to visit the volcano with an English family who were on a photo safari.
All the time I visited Salinas lake I could see Ubinas impressive image so I was eager to climb it.Then the phone call arrived. It was Eduardo who needed a guide specialized in Andean cults. I was ready for Ubinas.

The next day I met the tour leader of the group . Her name was Gundula and she is a professional mountainclimber. The group she was guiding came from Austria and Ubinas was one of the volcanoes they wanted to climb in Arequipa.

We departed early in the morning and on the way we visited Chiguata, a settlement next to Misti volcano, then we visited Salinas lake and from there we had a wonderful view of Pichu-Pichu volcano and a little far away we could see Ubinas .The flamingoes are one of the different types of birds available in the area. Don José de San Martín, a general who fought for freedom he inspired himself in the flamingoes he saw in a dream in order to create the national flag of Peru: Red and white.

This trip was definitively something different. It was not just another mountainclimbing tour with the classical non English speaking guide with a poor knowledge about the indigenous cultures. As a specialized guide in Andean cults it was very special for me to share the knowledge I inherited from my ancestors with the group of visitors. When you learn about the Andean ancient ways the trip it doesn’t become just another description but it turns into an unforgettable experience with the Inca culture.

The beautiful landscapes and all its components: alpacas,lamas,etc gave a special touch to this special Andean landscapes where the wind and the silence are the keepers of this land considered sacred by our ancestors.

We camped in Piscococha area. There is a small lake in the surroundings with the same name. The altitude of the area was 4,300 meters and it was very windy outside.
At night we had a special ceremonial in order to ask the apus or spirits of the mountain for permission to trespass. Apu Ubinas accepted the offering. We were ready to climb Ubinas volcano the next day.

The next day we woke up very early in the morning. It was freezing cold but with the help of some hot coca tea we could resist the low temperatures.

After some hours all the group was on the top of Ubinas. On the way important lessons were learned on the way. After the exchange of hugs all the differences were left aside.

We were all just walkers walking through the ancient paths of the Incas. When I was at the top alone I could saw the beauty of the land where I was born and I thanked the Creator for allowing me to walk once more again through the path of my ancestors in order to learn more about the kawsay or the way of living well.

At the end I couldn´t avoid laughing about the empty way of living of certain peoples in the cities who are struggling against their Tv sets all time.I wish I had my beloved ones with me in that moment but it was not necessary. Wherever they were they felt my happiness inside their hearts in that important moment.I was on the top of a mountain not just a common mountain: it was Ubinas.

Kodak Time my friends! Enjoy the pictures!

This is a view of Salinas and Aguada Blanca Lake which is located behind Pichu-Pichu volcano.In the picture we can see a couple of wild vicuñas roaming freely on the Salinas.The view of Misti volcano in the background is impressive too!

The vicuña is one of the southamerican cameloids that is adapted to the extreme weather conditions of this area.

This is the prize for being the first on the top.In this picture we can see the smoke coming out from the carter of Ubinas.The sulphur smell is very strong in the crater area.

A frontal view of the crater of Ubinas.

Eduardo Sánchez Bendezú and Jose Arias from Naturaleza Activa.A travel agency which is specialized in adventure and specially exclusive tours and explorations.

The crater is deep so I don´t plan to get closer!

Once more again the smoke starts to come out.

The trip was awesome and I would like to thank my friends from Naturaleza Activa once more again for this wonderfull trip to Ubinas: the home of the creatures of fire and to you my readers for your time!See you soon!

Chief Seattle Letter to ALL THE PEOPLE

by the Chief Seattle

Chief Seattle, Chief of the Suquamish Indians allegedly wrote to the American Government in the 1800's - In this letter he gave the most profound understanding of God in all Things. Here is his letter, which should be instilled in the hearts and minds of every parent and child in all the Nations of the World:

CHIEF SEATTLE'S LETTER

"The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the dew in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man all belong to the same family.

The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred. Each glossy reflection in the clear waters of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give the rivers the kindness that you would give any brother.

If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life that it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. So if we sell our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.

Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.

This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

One thing we know: our God is also your God. The earth is precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator.

Your destiny is a mystery to us. What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered? The wild horses tamed? What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills is blotted with talking wires? Where will the thicket be? Gone! Where will the eagle be? Gone! And what is to say goodbye to the swift pony and then hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival.

When the last red man has vanished with this wilderness, and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will these shores and forests still be here? Will there be any of the spirit of my people left?

We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother's heartbeat. So, if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it, as we have cared for it. Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you receive it. Preserve the land for all children, and love it, as God loves us.
As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land. This earth is precious to us. It is also precious to you.

One thing we know - there is only one God. No man, be he Red man or White man, can be apart. We ARE all brothers after all."