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.
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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.
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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: 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.
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Cuyabeno, Amazon
Tungurahua I was always more of a coast guy, but the Andes changed my perspective on many things.
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places / stories
yet to be written
Baños / When Opposites Attract
yet to be written
Cajas / Forks without Signposts
yet to be written
Chimborazo / Closest to the Stars
yet to be written
Coast / The Beach
yet to be written
Cotopaxi / Hiking Gear None
yet to be written
Cuyabeno / Hoping for Crocodiles
yet to be written
Quito / Party Nights & the Blues
yet to be written
Salasaka / Indigenous Life between Merging Eras
yet to be written
Salinas de Guaranda / Weather Issues?
yet to be written
Tena / Rabies Shot or Not?
yet to be written
Tungurahua / Craving Eruptions
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
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