What's up from paraguay

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well, I'm not there yet, so it's a bit of hopeful thinking, but I soon will be, if all goes well.

It's been a while since I wrote a blog, and there's a good reason why, so I'll try to write one now.

I'm just waiting for my bus,
to take me away
to new lands where I wasn't expecting to go
they weren't expecting me,
I'm always a stranger
surrounded by foriegners cause I'm the foriegner...

Last night, I went to the bus terminal in la paz at around nine, thinking to go to Sucre, and from there to paraguay. Turned out all the busses had left at about 6 for sucre, and I'd have to wait for tomorrow. OK where can you take me? I asked. Cochabamba. What is in cochabamba--well, the biggest jesus statue for one, bigger than rio de jainero. Can you believe that?

I left at around 11pm to Cochabamba. Got there at 6 AM. Should I go on to Santa Cruz? I was kinda in the mood to make a move. So I got on another bus that would be 12 hours to santa cruz...no, ten or 11 hours. As I drove off, I saw the jesus statue, and wasn't too impressed by it. Come one, it's just a big jesus...

So, I slept a lot on the ride to santa cruz. and here I am. I got in, feeling the warm air. It is nice being out of that high land--la paz is 13000 feet high! It's chilly too. So here I am in the southern hemisphere winter, and it's about 70 degrees.

I am in santa cruz now. I got here, and they said, where you wanna go?

I said, paraguay.

They said, OK; it leaves at 8 tonight...and takes 24 hours, and costs 50 bucks. I was thinking of spending a day resting somewhere, but as I looked out over the city, I didn't find any strong desire to spend time here. I just wanna move on. I got the ants in my pants, and truth is, I was gettin real anxious in la paz. I had to stay tough, because I was waiting on my visa for brasil, which I finally got wednesday, then I was out!

Now here I am, and i thought, OK; why not just get on a bus and go to paraguay. All the way to asuncion? Sounds like a brilliant idea.

Thing is, I haven't written for a while because I^m a bit disenchanted with this whole travel thing. Lately I've met a lot of weathered travellers, and they all know. Travel can tire you out, you get saturated, start comparing things, and just lose your sense of awe. So i'm thinking in the future, maybe I'll only allow myself to travel about 4 to 6 months a year. If you live in one place, it's different, but backpacking from place to place wears on a body. So I'm just ready to get to Rio, and I'm making my way there. It's a few days on buses to get to asuncion, paraguay, but I don't really care because it feels good to be moving. I was in La Paz, around that area, about 3 weeks. Me and Peter did some trecks, but I wasn't gettin any closer to brasil, and it started driving me crazy! Because once I get there I can relax and won't have to travel anymore. Well, let me try to update what I'm doing--

so, last I wrote, I was in peru. I wrote about that pretty well. Then the islands. After that, I got into la paz, and met up with my friend Peter who I travelled with some in Colombia. It was good to travel with him a while, makes things easier. We went to Sorata, did an 8 day treck high in the mountains, which was incredible. We saw no other foriegners, only people who lived high in those mountains, and in the valleys. Some of them I imagine, never would leave the valley they live in, never see a big town. Pretty wild. They live a simple life.
One day, these three girls sat down to watch us eat lunch--it was me, peter, and the guide. We were a little concerned about not having enough bread, because the guide was having trouble with his stove so high up...the guide said they wanted food and that is why they were there. We said, man, we don't know if we even have enough for us! Because we still had like 4 days left...the girls just watched us and giggled.

After a while, they left. We saw them later, fishing this amazing stream that ran thru the valley. The water was melted from glaciers, and it was a cool green. They already had a fish and a fire going. One girl was walking around with a net, looking for more. It was incredible. As we walked up higher, we saw the stream snaking along, and the waters of a marsh forming an incredible pattern. I thought to myself, now that is a better way to get lunch! It was beautiful.

Later in the hike, we had to pass over these mountains that looked really dangerous. One part, from far away, looked like you'd have to dance over scree, with a 50 foot drop below or so. But as we got closer, the trail was a lot easier than it looked. We got up, and I climbed this little peak. I looked down into the valley we had come from, and there was a rainbow around my head, for it was filled with fog. That happens to me sometimes. I said, Peter, look, quick, and he went up to look, but was too late. It wasn't meant for him.

The first day, we saw fog bows, which I had never seen. Also, an andean condor soared high over the peaks. That was a divine moment.

At night, moon bows.

At the end of the hike, we were just going over raw mountain, there was no path. It was so cool. We hiked high above the clouds. That's when I came up with the idea of time traveller, because when you travel, so much happens to you, but at home, time is relatively frozen. So in a few months, you change a ton, but it's like the rest of the world you know stays still.

Then, a few days rest in la paz. We were to go to El choro, and hike that. Peter got sick, so we had to stay an extra day in la paz. That's when I started getting anxious. We did El Choro, where you start at about 13000 feet, and hike down ten thousand feet! The first day I felt great. The second day, I got sick. It was awful! I was so weak, and it was only by an act of will that I kept going. I barely made it to the camp. I sat down two minutes before, not believing it was there. Pete went ahead and said it was, and I have to thank him cause he carried my backpack there, set up camp, then I was in the tent all afternoon and night. I couldn't sleep too well, my whole body ached. I think I had fevers.

Next day we only had a few hours hike. Finally, we got in to town. I wasn't feeling too stellar, and had the worst stomach upset yet of this trip, for the next few days. Shooting pains in my gut, and going to the bathroom a lot. Ugh! But I got over that. Then was in la paz 5 days, getting my visa and getting anxious.

But now I have my visa and all. And I'm off!

Whew, I've just been dreaming of brasil, and Rio, and how I'm going to chill out there and see my friends. I have to thank them, because they are the light at the end of the tunnel. I saved the best for last.

While I was hiking sick, all I could think was, I'm going to Rio, I'm going to Rio. No more messing around, because I just don't have the patience for it anymore. My friend peter has travelled for many years, about 5 of his life. So he knows a lot about travel. It's interesting to talk with him about it. Also, we met a hungarian couple who had travelled a lot. and they were saying how, they don't like places that are more touristy, places where everything is a tour. They enjoy it more being off the beaten path, I think...

I guess that's what happens as you travel more. For example, the things I said I would do--go to the salt flats in Bolivia, and then to the mines in Potosí, well I didn't even go. I ended up doing less common things. I suppose it feels more authentic that way. You start to see through the facade after a while. There is this bike ride from la paz, down the ¨most dangerous road in the world¨which really isn't anymore, because there is a new one...and everybody is doing it. Well, I couldn't do it myself, being a mountainbiker. It would just be too easy, a cruise. I don't know how to explain it...

it just seems artificial.

I think as you do a longer trip, you learn new things. You learn that, well, even travel can get old. You have to mix life up. It's all about variety. Everything can become ordinary after a while, you just get used to it. So I think maybe a shorter trip can be better, like 4 or 6 months. Also, it's different if you live somewhere a while. But if you keep moving, you get tired of meeting people, then leaving them, endlessly. Now I have in my head a time I may go back to the states, maybe for Thanksgiving, to enjoy the cooking of my mom and see the family. It's still 5 months away, which is longer than many people´s whole trips, but for me, it's funny to think of going home, because for the whole trip so far, it has been with no end in sìght. It's been the endless trip, with no plans to return. So, with plans to return, finally the end has come into view. Besides, I plan to be living for 3 months in brasil, then after that, just visit uruguay for a bit, and then live in beunos aires maybe a month, pop over to chile and just say what's up. No big backpacking things.
just easy going.

Because while I still think of travelling the world, I think it will be different after this. I've learned a lot about travel itself. My future trips will be changed. I'm thinking maybe I will live in one place for longer. I met this one guy who had taught english in japan, and he said that was pretty lucrative. I may do that for a year.

Oh yeah, also saw my friend Eric, from New Mexico. We did scuba together. He was in a similar situation as me, had been travelling 10 months, and now he's living in la paz. He said he got tired of moving all the time too. It was pretty much the same way I felt. It was funny to see how parallel our experiences were. He was a month ahead of me though. Soon I will be settled down in Rio, that's the hope.

Anyhow, the big destinations I want to go to are Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. Australia doesn't seem to exotic to me. I realized I like travelling most for the culture and the people that you meet. The different ways of life and thinking that you see open your mind, and you come to see there are so many things you can do with your life, more opportunities than you could imagine. From opening a restaurant in nicaragua, to teaching english in Japan, there are many ways you can earn your living. Also, you can live much more cheaply in other parts of the world, enjoying things you never could in the states, for example, jungle, or tropical beach. Or other cultures. Also, you could live a very simple life, with many fewer possessions. It's good to leave your own country just to see what is unique about it. There are different types of life you can live...

Thus, I perscribe travel to anyone and everyone. I think anyone should at least do a trip of a month to another country. It will change your life. After that, you can perscribe yourself how much travel you need, though it can get addictive.

So, I've decided to take my dad to Africa. Ha ha. No, he's afraid to go, but me and my sister have a plan to go, and then we're going to kidnap him and bring him along. Te he he. That would be funny.

But where was I? You can get too much of anything you know? Anyhow, whatever my next trip will be, I'm not going to go for a while. I look forward to taking a nice rest first in the states, about a year. And you know, this trip is far from over. In fact, I have a 24 hour bus ride to catch, to asuncion, and so I have to get going...

Soon I'll be in Rio! Then, no more travelling. See, there is a difference between travelling and living abroad--and I've never really tried living abroad in another country. Tho I did it in Colorado, and California, so to speak.

Well, now you see the blessing and curse of travel. It is both amazing, yet at the same time, it can overload and dull your senses, so that nothing can impress you. You look at anything with a ho hum. One of my favorite things is Awe, and that simple awe is bombarded by all you see travelling. Your mind becomes dull and everything can start to bore you. Funny how it all works out. Then you need to settle down, enjoy the sedentary life, which has it's own blessings, of making even the ordinary seem remarkable. And after a while, you go travel again...but I think at some point, you do kinda reach you travel aspirations, and then you don't hunger for it so much.

Maybe.

It's funny, everything is like that. It has diminishing returns. That's why hungering is one of the best things. When you get everything you want, you fall in to ennui. When you live a simple, frugal life, you appreciate the smallest delights. That's what I like about being simple. Some people try to live all lavish, with all these luxuries, but I think the quality of life may in fact be lower, measured in terms of personal enjoyment. That's why I've thought of being a monk since many years ago, and perhaps some day I shall be. This is my prophecy forscribed, and guessed at...once you enjoy too much the luxury of life, you dream of living simply, in a hut somewhere in the woods. Isn't that ironic? I suppose luxury, more than anything, offends my senses.

Well, I wouldn't exactly call this 24 hour bus ride luxury, but you know, I might, because they have meals included, and it's in a nice bus with chairs that recline way back and you can really sleep in...

you know, since I was a kid, I dreamed of being a bum. Just a regular street bum. Don't ask me why--I've always had strange aspirations. But travelling, you are kinda like a bum, although you do have some money. You sure don't have a home. So I am a bum of sorts, only thing is sometimes I do it with too much style...ha ha ha!

What am I talking about? If you already know, you know from experience. If you don't, how could I explain? Anyway, most newcomers would understand. I'm always a newcomer, wherever I go, cause I'm always moving.

well, peace to you wherever I am in the world!

Colin

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Photos

the kids liked my rap music
they shouldn't be feeding their kids that NILOC REX !

paraguay
it's all about the people and their wonderful hospitality. Man I loved paraguay.

family of musicians
man, these people were great. I'm gettin all nostalgic now.

who brought rap to ybycui, paraguay
that was me. I taught the kids to beatbox at this quince anos party, then we were freestylin. Man, it was fun!