Salasaka The little indigenous town in the Andes changed everything for me; I was captivated by its people, their lives, the work. I wouldn't leave for a year.
______
just a glimpse, stay tuned for more to explore · MilesAstray unfolds in retrospect. I was living these stories full time, now I’m penning them down. Head over to the countries page for the latest places/stories.
______
a glimpse
glimpse: PACHA MAMA | I remember learning about Pompeii as a child – the petrifying bottom line was dreadfully clear: don’t live near active volcanoes. Be that as it may, what sounded like a nightmare back then became a dream come true later on. Living (not too) near Tungurahua in Ecuador put me face to face with nature’s might like nothing I’d ever witnessed before. It was marrow-deep awe. By day, Pacha Mama’s fiery womb would breathe enough ash into the sky to cover it wholly. Then, when night fell, lava gushed from it in fountains and trickled down the voluptuous slopes, the vivid scarlet glowing determinedly against the darkness until it cooled and blackened and bled into the night.
glimpse: DESTINATION(LESS) | To be a place, a place just needs to be. To be a destination, a place needs to be more. Furthermore, it seems to be commonly agreed upon that a place can only become a destination, when said more is commonly agreed upon. Moreover, the more agree, the more a place becomes more. Yet, sometimes less is more, no? Unless what matters to you matters less to you than what matters to most, what’s just a place for them, might be just the place for you; a place to many, but a destination to one beholder’s eye, previously hidden on a map we never laid eyes on. Looking at this nameless house in Quito, Ecuador, I see an extraordinary architectural character and beauty on par with any glorified Manhattan landmark. Destinationless wandering made me find what I didn’t look for.
glimpse: SALASAKANS | And so the months passed by as the place kept me. Its spell felt like deliberate inevitability to me, some sort of circumstantial fate. I was stranded in a paradise. Salasaka. Melding yesterday and tomorrow today, the Salasakans knew something that was either long forgotten or far from discovery elsewhere. Their wisdom was intricate, their lifestyle so graceful. Everything was deeply rooted in bygone centuries, in the land, in Pacha Mama, but change was harvested everywhere. Salasaka was not a village outside the world or inside a vacuum. It was right there, where it seemed to belong, in a limbo between eras. Holding on to ancient knowledge while embracing the next generation’s wit, the indigenous life lingered beautifully and without haste on tomorrow’s verge.
It's one of these places that you simply can’t do without a tour. We city creatures are no longer made for the jungle.
_____
Cuyabeno, Amazon
Tungurahua I was always more of a coast guy, but the Andes changed my perspective on many things.
__________
places / stories
yet to be written
Baños / When Opposites Attractyet to be written
Cajas / Forks without Signpostsyet to be written
Chimborazo / Closest to the Starsyet to be written
Coast / The Beachyet to be written
Cotopaxi / Hiking Gear Noneyet to be written
Cuyabeno / Hoping for Crocodilesyet to be written
Quito / Party Nights & the Bluesyet to be written
Salasaka / Indigenous Life between Merging ErasShow More
yet to be written
Salinas de Guaranda / Weather Issues?yet to be written
Tena / Rabies Shot or Not?yet to be written
Tungurahua / Craving EruptionsShow More
Baños / When Opposites Attract
yet to be written
stay tuned
Cajas / Forks without Signposts
yet to be written
stay tuned
Chimborazo / Closest to the Stars
yet to be written
stay tuned
Coast / The Beach
yet to be written
stay tuned
Cotopaxi / Hiking Gear None
yet to be written
stay tuned
Cuyabeno / Hoping for Crocodiles
yet to be written
stay tuned
Quito / Party Nights & the Blues
yet to be written
stay tuned
Salasaka / Indigenous Life between Merging Eras
yet to be written
stay tuned
Salinas de Guaranda / Weather Issues?
yet to be written
stay tuned
Tena / Rabies Shot or Not?
yet to be written
stay tuned
Tungurahua / Craving Eruptions
yet to be written
stay tuned
_____
related
Show More
reads | travel
How to Find Free Volunteering Opportunities around the World
avoiding costly and ethically precarious voluntourism agencies
...rev the search engine, skip over the voluntourism industry and dig all the way down to the grassrootss... read more
photos | people
Story Time
we all have one
...it isn’t just a tale; it is the very world we live in, inside our head, and as much as we can let others in, they will always see it with a different set of eyes. see more
Show More
photos | landscapes
Americas
wilderness heart
Raw Patagonian horizons stretching all the way to rough coastlines in Newfoundland and an abundance of wilderness wonders in-between: from azure glaciers, psychedelic lagoons and altitude canyons to ash-spewing volcanoes, jungle greens and soaring falls. see more
photos | urban
South America
brick beauty & street art
tin roofs and brick oceans juxtaposing sleek high rises and architecture of the centuries see more
Argentina
all flavors dancingBolivia
surreal Altiplano dreamscapesBrazil
bustling sprawls & pristine jungleChile
rugged beauty, bohemian citiesColombia
where Caribbean & Andes meetPeru
between deserts & snowy peaksShow More