Travelling 101

Well, I'm living in a tent in the backyard of a healer that they call the Cosmic Mechanic, in the country-side of Mexico a half hour walk from one of the most magnetic places on Earth that has a magical energy. Although, last night I slept in a tee-pee beside what they call the magnetic vagina. How I got here, goes something like this:

As soon as I was physically well enough, I left Uruapan, and headed for the coast of Michoacan, to a beach called Nexpa. It wasn't my original plan. Originally, I was heading for another beach recommended to me by a girl I met in Monterrey called La Ticla. But when I was in Uruapan, I met a few crazy dudes who said that if I want to learn to surf (which was my original goal), I should head for Nexpa. So I did.


(Nexpa by day)


(...and by night)


I'm not going to lie. When I arrived, I felt like shit. I was still feeling the lingering effects of my chest infection, and I was lonely. I wanted to be sharing with somebody, but there was nobody there. This is a reality of travelling solo sometimes.

However, as always happens in the life, my mental and physical state changed, and one beautiful sequence of events started to unravel. This is the beauty and essence of why I never plan a trip. Of course, it's a good idea to have a general idea of where you're heading, and what you want to learn and experience, but being open to whatever comes up, if at all possible, is definitely the way to go.

I spent a few days totally not living in the moment. I was always thinking either about the future or the past. "Oh man, what am I doing?! I should go home and get a job in computers before I fall too far behind.... I should go home and do a masters in this or that... I should, I should, I should...." or "Maybe I should've gone there... maybe I should've done that..." Fool. This is not living. Then I remembered what was taught by a great teacher: a wise person always makes the best use of the time remaining. And I changed my mind. And then, wow.

I hung out learning about the theory of surfing from a couple of whacky Auzzie surfers and a Swiss guy. Alas, there was a swell in the ocean, and the waves and rips were too crazy for a beginner, so I wasn't able to learn to surf. I could've been upset about this, and was for about 5 minutes, before I realized that this is just the way it is, and I wondered what else would happen.

So, I was just doing my thing: reading, hammocking, eating, playing guitar on the beach, balancing rocks, drinking beer, etc (not necessarily in that order, not arranged by frequency of participation in each event). Chilling out. Waiting. Manifesting. Then, BAM.


(is that Jimmy Hendrix? I thought he was black...)


(I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts...)


(Balance is key)


Chapter 1: The Doctor, the Dentist, and the Hippy.
There were two gorgeous women staying in a cabin in the same cabanas as we were (the surfers and I). Naturally, as we had a lot of time on our hands, and people watching is just too much fun, and they were the only people withing eye-shot, we spent lots of time looking at them. We were sure they were lovers.

But then, one day, along came a man that was obviously a significant other of one of the girls. Interesting. One night, when the electricity was out (the guy running the cabanas was strung out on something like crack most of the time, and forgot to pay the electricity bill...), we were eating a meal and playing cards, and somehow we drank a bottle of mescal, and were into a party mode. With his lowered inhibitions, the Swiss guy, who spoke a number of languages fluently including spanish, went over and invited them to the party. We drank some beer, had some laughs, sat around a mammoth bonfire beside the Pacific, and called it a night.

The next day, I needed help with some spanish verb conjugations (ser vs. estar, the eternal battle rages on), so I went over to ask. From that moment, we spent all of our time together for the next 5 days, just really living life at the highest quality that we knew how. It was a simple, slow, mañana type time. Just, perfect. These were my kind of people, but it was time to part... or so I thought.


(Dentist, Hippy, Doctor)


The night before they were leaving, I was saying how I wanted to go to Teotihuacan, an ancient Aztec city, just north of Mexico city. Ana, the doctor, decided that it was a good idea to come with me, as she had a few more days of vacation (the others didn't), and hadn't been to Teotihuacan since she was a little girl. So off we went.


Chapter 2: Ancient Pyramids, and Mexico City

We tried to hitched out of paradise, but the first ride we got was from the bus.


(hitching away from Paradise)

So, we got to Lazaro Cardenas, where we parted with our other friends, and then took an overnight bus to Mexico city, and onward the next day to Teotihuacan.


(Ana, checking out the goods, aka: Pyramid del Sol)


(We're going to climb THIS? HAhahaa, now that's funny)


(blazing guns infront of the Pyramid de la Luna)


(Some steps were steep)



(Elvis may live in Tweed, but Travolta lives in Mexico!)


Wow. We ate mangos at the top of the Pyramid del Sol (of the Sun), and imagined what the life must've really been like, and what it must've taken to construct these massive pyramids.

Then after spending a day in Mexico City, taking care of business (fixing broken glasses, buying new glasses, eating vegetarian food, etc)...


(What is a typical picture of the most populated city on earth?)

...we decided to head to Tepoztlan, the mythical birthplace of Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent God, an hippy-magnet town extrordinaire. Not to mention, the place of the best ice cream in Mexico.

Chapter 3: Tepoztlan, Amatlan

Here we climbed the mountain to take a look at the view. At the top, we met a crazy animal and neurologist, both of whom took a liking to Ana and I, and invited us out to his home for dinner (only the doctor did this, the animal didn't have the proper hardware for human speach).


(talk about a wild high five)


(sweet view)

So we went and had a great party, and agreed to meet up again the next day. The next day, we went out to another town called Amatlan, a tiny little village, to look at some property he'd bought and go and visit a magical place with tee-pee's and one of the best traditional Temazcal ceremonies in this town, famous for it's Temazcal ceremonies.




While at the tee-pees, we met a Jewish artist who told me about this crazy place she's staying with a guy they call the Cosmic Mechanic.


(The Cosmic Mechanic himself)

Since Ana was leaving the next day, and I didn't know what I was doing, I thought this sounded like something I needed to explore. After Ana left to go resume her duties as a doctor, I adventured out to find this magical land. And that I did.

When I arrived, I couldn't believe what I had found. Charlie, the cosmic mechanic, took one look at me and said that he'd rent me a tent and I could stay in his backyard. So, after watching he and the artist to a chakra attunement on another man who is a world-renouned crystal bowl healer, I popped my tent.

That night, there was a party. People just kept showing up, which is extremely unusual, as Charlie says that it "never happens, it's usually so tranquil and solitary." Then later, after getting an unbelievable massage, we had an amazing jam session. Charlie is also a musician, and has an incredible array of instruments: a guitar, flues, recorders, xylophones, drums, a trombone, a baritone... and who knows what else is hiding in the rafters. Of course, we finished the night by taking the crystal bowls out into the yard and playing and chanting together.


(typical Mexico, at least in Amatlan)

The next morning we woke up before dawn and did some yoga as the sun was rising. Then off to the tee-pee's, where I spent the day trying to catch up in my journal and playing guitar. That place really is magical. It oozes creativity and good vibes. It's straight out of a fantasy magazine, with the palm trees, the sweat lodge, the tee-pees, and the giant vagina. It's a place where two mammoth rocks (which form a large ridge) come together, and open up at the bottom, forming a rock vagina. People have been coming here to meditate and worship for thousands of years, and the energy when you stand infront of it, even if you're not very sensitive, is noticably calming.

That night, I did a traditional Temazcal (sweat lodge ceremony, for those that didn't click the link above). I think part of my brain melted. It was one of the hottest sweats they'd ever done, said the man that runs the sweat.


(the blowing of the conch -- let the Temazcal begin!)

From start (the blowing of the conch, and the creation of the fire to heat the rocks) to the end, the ceremony lasted about 5 hours. It was all in Spanish. I understood about 3/4 of it, as it was delivered slowly, and stretched and tried to stay alive when I didn't understand what was going on. After the sweat, we joined together and ate a delicious meal. By the time it was all said and done, I was so bagged. The director said that I should just stay there, which I did. So last night I slept in a tee-pee.

And the life rolls on.

My life is magical.