In the south of Ecuador, a country repeatedly bouncing between serenity and turmoil, lies the ever-peaceful town of Vilcabamba.

Renowned for the unusual longevity of its residents, it is most fittingly known as the Valley of Longevity. or no apparent reason, backpackers flock to this seemingly indistinctive little town by the droves, running its mills full, and its hosterias1 fuller. ! symphony of chirping voices spills over terraces of plentiful restaurants and cafes in gay swells, deluging the streets of this otherwise tran"uil town with the crooning of countless tongues. #he reason for this peculiar migration lies neither in cultural treasures left from playground days of the Inca nation, nor in any sort of natural treasure for the eye to delight on. #he reason is the fauna typical to this valley, namely a variety of cacti known as Echinopsis pachanoi, or as we like to call it $ %an &edro. 'olly old &edro, a wasted saint if there ever was one. rom the stem of this cactus, local shamans have been con(uring a hallucinatory substance for generations over generations, ever since their notorious ancestors have been playing around at building pyramids and sacrificing virgins, and way before )drugs* even begun receiving any sort of a negative connotation. #railing the flow of thrill seekers, lured by the promise of a (ourney beyond all (ourneys, you ride into town on a 'eep from hell, armed with conviction, an Israeli companion, a rench princess and three Vikings of the +orwegian variety. or nearly a year now, you*ve been following in the footsteps of your kinsmen, traveling from one Israeli dominated hostel to the ne,t, comfortably surrounded at all times by -ebrew speaking, hummus seeking, e,pired soldiers like yourself. +evertheless, recently you*ve finally come to reali.e that travelling is actually all about e,periencing the new and different, rather than falling back on the old and familiar.

Inns 0%panish1

2nce you*ve started mi,ing it up3 turning a deaf ear to intel whirling the backpacking Israelite migratory wave and preferring the company of fellow travelers from anywhere else across the globe, traveling has begun to transcend its destination3 evolve into a virtually universal (ourney no matter where you went. Right now, together with your current multinational posse, you seek and find the promised substance. !fter dividing it into individual portions, you drive away from civili.ation early the ne,t morning3 traveling beyond ridges and creeks and into the nurturing domain of 4other +ature. inally, upon arriving at a charming little stream, each pulls out his or her plastic bag, filled with gooey green slime, and bottoms it up. 5ou fight to get this revolting li"uid of soapy substance, resembling something you might have half-digested already, down the chimney and into the oven. #here it must be allowed to bake for an hour at least, before anyone shall attempt to be rid of its nauseating residue. +one of you have tried this sort of thing before, yet nor would any of you say no to a new e,perience. Everybody makes small-talk, keeping the atmosphere light and the spirits high for the (ourney ahead. 5ou (oin in the friendly chat, throwing in a few (okes of your own, and so manage to keep your old psychic nemesis at bay. +evertheless, each member of the fellowship slowly drifts away3 away from the collective and into an individual realm. 5our gigolo of a companion ends up making out with the &rincess in the back of the 'eep, while each one of your +orwegian friends takes a different, solitary stand along the rocky bank. Left to your own devices, you again find your mind invaded by skepticism3 by a constant stream of thoughts, biting at each other*s heels3 by an endless analytic obsession with the reality of you vs. the world around you, pumping your brain full of "uestion marks, twirling inside it like leaves in a dust devil. !nd all thoughts and all doubts run into the soul3 yet the soul is never full3 6nto the place from whence they come, there they all return again. 777

2ut there, the sun is slowly rising over an indistinguishable day on earth, illuminating an ordinary bridge, stretched across a ravine at least a hundred meters deep. In here, a mayhem of voices rattle the cavity of your mind. %ome scream in fury, others cry in panic3 there*s pleads and threats, laughter and weeping fed into this bonfire of chaos from all corners of the court. Youre nothin but a scared little mamas boy, aint you, cries out the Ego. You let him be! pleads 4om. I never want him to get in any trouble. ut isnt it a good thing to die !or your country" asks a dead war hero. #ilence in the courtroom! demands the bailiff, hammering the desk with his fist. !ll the voices gradually subside, until the havoc dies out and a chilling silence fills the hall. 'udge Reason then enters, larger than the hall itself and draped in black velvet. -e fi,es his garments, takes his seat and, with the wave of his hand, invites the prosecution to make its opening statement. $ood morning, your honor, says attorney ear. %he prosecution will plainly show the idiot who now stands be!ore you is suicidal, plain and simple, and should be restrained !or his own good be!ore its too late. %his nonsense will not do! #his statement is immediately followed by an uproar, as the mob (umps to its feet, waving torches and pitchforks, but the (udge would have none of it. &all the de!ense! he demands, slamming his hammer down. !ppointed defense counselor 8ourage is a midget in a clown suit, who gets a good laugh out of the crowd as he (umps up and bangs his head against his own desk. -e then climbs onto his chair and addresses the court. I! I may, your honor, he s"ueaks, Id li'e to !irst present the !acts o! this case. (t si) ocloc' this morning, the de!endant le!t *uito !or the sole purpose o! being the !irst person to arrive at this here bridge, and so score himsel! a !ree thrill. +or the record, ear cuts in, what my bu!!oonish colleague re!ers to as a ,thrill is, in !act, a leap !rom this here bridge and toward certain death. Its called bungee -umping! protests 8ourage. Its called suicide!! retorts the prosecution, and carries on, .umping into a ravine one hundred meters deep with a shoelace tied to your an'le is not an act o! a sane mind.

/either is going his own way and leaving me behind! cries out the girlfriend you left back home. /or is !ighting !oo0 giggles the village idiot. 1as he bro'en any homes up lately" demands the e,, before storming out of the courtroom in a feat of tears. 1ow do you !ight !oo" in"uires the bailiff. &ertain death!!! blasts the terrifying voice of ear. ut the humiliation0 shouts your traveling companion. 2hy3d he ever have to leave me" cries 4om. Your honor, let me ta'e him home. Enough!!! bellows Reason. %he evidence be!ore the court is incontrovertible, there3s no need !or the -ury to retire. In all my years o! -udging I have never heard be!ore o! something more idiotic than this. .umping o!! a bridge!" 2hat nonsense! -e clears his throat and continues, 9#ince, my !riends, you have revealed your deepest !ears, I sentence him to be e)posed be!ore his peers. %ear down the rope! %ear down the rope! screams the crowd. %tanding on the ledge, facing the bottomless drop with ropes already tied to your ankles and a crowd of spectators gathered behind you, your eyes finally pop open, reflecting this newly gained resolution for all to see. %lackened, you want to turn around and face the crowd, when its voice erupts. 9 ive,: roars the enthusiastic crowd, while your resolution begins to fade. 9 our,: it screams, forcing you back into facing your faithless leap. 9#hree,: bawls the blood thirsty rabble, that*s here for a show. 9#wo,: sets the hair on the back of your neck to attention. 92ne,: is the point of no return, so you shut your eyes. 9;ungee<<<: blasts in your ears like a firing s"uad. 4ive now! Even i! it 'ills you, is the last thought that goes through your mind, before you spread your wings and leap into the void. 777

!bout an hour has gone by when, all of a sudden, as if synchroni.ed by a metaboli.ed stopwatch, all members of the fellowship emerge as one from their individual caves, line up against the stream and puke their guts out. %i, greenish blotches in a crystal stream drift away, and so do their makers. 5ou abandon your flip-flops, step into the stream and follow the shapeless blemishes, turning your back on whence you came and heading down the path of absentmindedness. %oon enough, you forget yourself in this strange new world3 forget who you are, where you came from and where it is that you were going. !ll recollection of this place vanishes, alongside recollections of any other place, or even what )place* means. =ith every further step you take down the stream, a thousand years of accumulated human knowledge is lost. rom the corner of your eye you spot a nice, solid stick half buried in the rocky bank. =ithout even thinking, an instinctive arm reaches out, pulls the stink out of the rock and immediately puts it to good use. #he stones you tread are slippery and the current makes your advance a laborious one, but with the aid of your new tool you now manage to achieve well needed balance. %tep by step, consciousness slips away from your grasp3 first memories, then knowledge and finally even reason abandons you to sheer desire, which knows no satisfaction. ully released from the chains of its ego, desire begins to run amok through cavities once inhibited by thoughts, boiling your blood on its (ourney through your veins and sends hair to attention, as it shoots underneath your skin. inding no previous e,perience to pin to, desire turns you on your heels in a violent surge and sends you on the one and only challenge it could find. 5ou start making your way upstream, struggling against the current, when a sudden blast of warmth and vitality hits you in the face. 2nce you reopen your eyes, you learn that its origin is a bright, radiating ball up above. E,hilarated and re(uvenated, your senses begin to indulge in the bree.e3 in its soft touch against your attentive skin and the pleasant sound it makes, as it brushes against the leaves of trees and bushes surrounding you. !drenaline starts pumping, as you hasten your pace, eager to encounter new adventures. !nd indeed, as you emerge from around a bend you suddenly find your way

blocked by no less than three foes. ear suddenly strikes3 you stop, open your mouth and let out a growl. =hen they growl back at you, fury takes over3 you charge, strike one of them with your staff and immediately establish dominance. +ow that you*ve got yourself a pack, you fearlessly advance upstream in search of territory. 5ou commence climbing a hill, striding barefooted on rocks and thorns, until you reach a cacti forest. 5our kinsmen immediately transform into valiant Vikings and set out on a rampage of destruction and pilgrimage against the prickly giants, while you continue uphill on your individual (ourney of e,ploration. !t the top of the hill, your ears pick up on an unsettling sound. ! small, fury beast is barking at you from a safe distance. 5ou advance, but the coward simply retreats a few steps, turns around and carries on barking. Eager to shut it up, you pick up pace, working yourself into a gallop, which soon builds into a sprint as light as the wind. #he startled beast is in full retreat, whining horribly, yet can*t seem to be able to get away from the lightness of your feet and the swings of your wooden sword. inally it dives into a thorny bush, as you shoot past it. ueled by love, you carry on running3 love for the warmth of the sun, the coolness of the water, the mobility of the wind, the stability of the trees, the strength in togetherness, the power in the one and the sheer (oy of being alive. 5ou run and run for what feels like an eternity, until the sun begins to set and it*s time to return to reality. -ours later, lying on the roof of your hostel and still downing bong loads, so as to force a descent from the peak of mount %an &edro, you were ama.ed to reali.e that, thanks to this natural stimulant, you*ve (ust spent the better part of a day without a single thought invading the tran"uility of your mind. #his miraculous e,perience has come to you (ust as your over-analytic nature was becoming a real burden. #raveling, as you know it, is all about spontaneity and the ability to encounter unpredictable e,periences with a fresh mind. +evertheless, wherever you went and whoever you met bore a baggage of stunning doubts and a residue of confusion that drew you away from the (oy of the e,perience and into life*s little soapy operettas. #hough you*ve not only learned to accept yourself for who you are by the unchangeable core of your nature, but wouldn*t e,change a contemplative mind for all

the peace that mind could otherwise gain, this inner (ourney did, however, teach you that a middle way is attainable, if only you were to learn how to substitute the chemical tools with mental ones. !rmed with that conclusion, you*ve set out henceforth on a personal "uest for balance3 a tale of two poles and the pursuit of a happily-ever-after somewhere in between. #hese sorts of "uests never seem to have a clear finish line, though. +onetheless, if you*re all too keen to reach one, that by itself is already a good enough indication that you haven*t found it yet.