Peru

The young man in the red bandana passed me three times in the tight confines of Cusco’s “Gringo Alley”, each time repeating his pitch, “Marijuana, cocaine, and Ayahuasca.”I wasn’t interested in the drugs, but I was curious. Everyone knows marijuana and cocaine but I wondered what the third one was. Ayahuasca, he told me was a drug with ancient and divine meaning to Andean people. He offered to be my guide into the spirit world; a trip that would give me enlightenment and wisdom. He claimed to be an Inca shaman. I declined this dubious offer of enlightenment, but became intrigued by Andean psychedelic shamanism.