Jason, a travel friend, did a bizarre thing -he made a move on the pug-like Nittie, an action that stood in contrast to his low self-esteem that propelled him to do little. He was throwing rocks with his cousin when he suddenly stopped, walked over to where Nittie was sitting, over fifty feet away, then faced her while he placed his hands on a large rock, then with model-like sexuality tore off his t-shirt and dunked his 80s rocker-style hair into the waters. He stood up dripping, pulled his hair back and bared his chest to unimpressed Nittie who struggled to contain a giggle.
Marjolein, my Dutch travel companion remarked, Did you see Jason's Herbal Essence Shampoo move?
Before it was over Jason, without saying a word, gave a clumsy smile, stood cautiously proud and hesitated awkwardly for a moment then walked back to his rock pile. Nittie finally gave a laugh, the condescending way French people do when confronted with American guilelessness.
When we arrived at our destination in steamy Tena she was gone in under five minutes for the bus station declaring she was bound for one of those spots promoted in the travel guides as an "off-the-beaten-path" experience. These guides are bibles for the uncreative non-adventurous types and they adhere to them with remarkable predictability. The implication made in these travel books is that you will be the only non-native person there. And like most things that share characteristics of the bible it leads to group-think and group-actions that end in dull predictability: the "intrepid" backpacker finds his congregation has already arrived at the same hotel and taking meals in the same restaurants.
A traveler's comfort comes in many forms, tonight it is being alone in a cheap street-front room, a candle in the window with a large bag of Doritos, a chunk of cheese and two bottles of beer. Made complete with a good book, this one a biography about the Argentine revolutionary Che.
Little else is needed in this mountain town.
Compañero, a biography on revolutionary Che Guevara, now I know the story and it is a great deal more than the pop-art posters that are plastered everywhere. A complicated and extraordinarily interesting man, he was a Gemini after all. After his capture the Bolivians decided to execute Che to avoid further problems they anticipated would come with having just captured the World's Revolutionary leader whose stated goal was to export revolution. The Americans wanted to interrogate him in Panama and there was a possibility the Cubans would send an armed rescue to break him out. Aside from being a rural tourist I am also a morbid historical seeker, my plans are to visit the ravine where he was captured and school house where he was summarily shot. Years ago I stood at the motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. The combined pleasure of seeing the actual location of one's death and history is difficult to explain.
Blinding Light, Paul Theroux's (One of America's great travel writers) worst novel ever and something rare for me, left unfinished and abandoned on a bookshelf for another traveler to suffer.
A contemporary history of The Arab-Israeli Conflict, an eye opening read from a world historical perspective. The rule of history prevails, those in power rarely negotiate. Israel is in the driver's seat on this one.
Endurance, the Shackleton story of an exploration ship getting trapped in antarctic ice floes and of his miraculous, truly miraculous story of survival and leadership. An unbelievable ordeal that lasted nearly two years, in 1914-17.
Howard Hughes, The Secret Life, a biography of the billionaire sex crazed bi-sexual control-freak who was also a titan of American industry, a friend of the CIA and to wrap up his further eccentric side was a germaphobe and notorious tightwad (an odd trait shared by many of the super wealthy). Contrary to popular belief, the evidence demonstrates he was not crazy nor controlled by others, but was, in this account very alert and active in his latter years. With his Hollywood productions he influenced how films were made, especially the loosening of sexual censorship. Others include contributions to the aeronautics industry; spy satellites for the U.S. government; various CIA escapades involving Cuba; a secret technology provider to the intelligence boys at the CIA; transformed the Las Vegas you know today when he bought several casinos from mob families in the 1960s. Howard initiated corporate-run Vegas of today made fit for a child and a man of vice.
A Short History of Nearly Everything, a layman's book of modern science by Bill Bryson, very good, especially the biographies of the fame-crazed scientists that either made novel discoveries or stole them from each other -these guys are catty self-promoters! Did you know that if your text book diagram of the solar system was to scale that Pluto would be two kilometers away from where you sat?
What am I Doing Here, a Bruce Chatwin posthumously published book of travel and interview notes. It helped me better understand my current nomadic traits. He has a thing for very good first sentences too.
Lima, Peru
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