64. Tour of Cuzco

64.

Back in Cuzco: I meet a skinny Japanese person who calls himself “The Bank of Tokyo”. He draws, teaches karate and yoga and is willing to exchange American dollars for Peruvian Soles at a black-market rate. He has a pretty Peruvian girlfriend and no desire to return to Japan.

This hustler and his girl take me on a tour of “underground” Cuzco.

The dens we visit feature candles, incense and stoned hippy freaks from all over the world sitting on dirty carpeted floors tripping on drugs and soft guitar music.

These bearded young men and half-naked girls don’t move, speak or even see. Wasted, they live in their own drug created reality. Well, there are millions of people on this planet and millions of different life styles. I suppose creative people will always find some way to live that suits them.

The “normal” shabby Cuzco bars where the natives go at night are full of ugly old men. If a woman comes in, ostensibly to buy cigarettes, they grin and paw her as she passes. This inexpensive kind of sexual encounter makes these old goats’ evening enjoyable

There are also one or two world-class hotels in Cuzco for those tourists with two weeks and a pocketful of money, but unfortunately, I do not see their interiors!

And what sort of meaningful lifestyle am I experiencing as I make these critical observations? Do I, perhaps, feel a little bit superior to the people I have just described? Hmmm?

Well, I do like my freedom of traveling without a destination and I don’t seem to want or need drugs or even intimate companionship right now. I find all kinds of teachers and learning situations on my present path and I especially like the guidance that seems to come from within.

Dare I call it “insight”?

Anyway, I feel that my chosen “earthprobe” lifestyle is good for me right now.

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