從北京飛到秘魯首都利馬,到達(dá)地球另一端充滿隔世文明和外星傳說的世界,飛行了30多個小時的飛機(jī)就像穿越時空的航班。這座城市依山傍海,從機(jī)場驅(qū)車前往利馬老城區(qū)酒店的路上,南美植物、西班牙式建筑、繁忙而亂糟糟的城市、集市中熱情的秘魯人,展現(xiàn)著一種獨特的魅力。我們一眾旅客顧不上導(dǎo)游加西亞的瞪眼勸阻,5個人擠上一輛計程車就跑了,在路邊攤上一通亂吃亂喝,嘗試了據(jù)說能壯陽味道卻令人作嘔的秘魯人參茶,又跑去圣弗蘭西斯科修道院瞻仰了7萬多具尸骨。
第二天出發(fā)后才明白導(dǎo)游加西亞前一晚的良苦用心,我們即將前往的熱帶雨林和印加古道都是需要游人一步一步走出來的,她希望我們保存體力,不要興奮過度。這一天我們從利馬乘飛機(jī)前往亞馬遜雨林,開始了披荊斬棘的旅程。南美的雨林很神秘,很容易迷路,而我們一行人完全依賴加西亞的判斷,生怕跟丟了。外表年輕稚氣的加西亞有著讓人完全信賴的知識與經(jīng)驗。
傍晚時分,我們來到叢林深處的森林屋——Refugio Amazonas。在大片大片油油的綠色、高高的巴西榛果樹之間,搭建著我們住的房子。熱帶雨林異常潮濕所以衣服上都蒙著一層水汽,望著床邊霧中的巨大芭蕉林就覺得好像生活在阿凡達(dá)的世界。這個森林屋遠(yuǎn)離城市,每天只有4個小時的供電時間,只能在供電時間段用一個無線網(wǎng)信號跟外界交流。挑空大堂非常寬敞,星星點點的煤油燈通向遠(yuǎn)處的房間,就像叢林中的皇宮。房間完全開放,沒有門沒有鎖,一邊用白色帷幔與走廊隔開,另外一邊是茂密的熱帶雨林,晚上伴著鳥蟲青蛙聲入睡,扇著蒲扇,仿佛回到了從前躺在竹床上的光景。
早晨降臨時,或許是空氣太好的緣故,大家一點賴床的欲望都沒有。這一天大家都很興奮,因為我們要去尋訪傳說中的古代文明馬丘比丘。大家對馬丘比丘的理解都停留在印加古城4個字上,啟程后匆匆和當(dāng)?shù)馗叽蟮难蝰劊ˋalpaca)合照后,誰也沒有意識到接下去旅途的非凡意義。
在和挑夫一同出發(fā)之前,大家采購?fù)讲接〖庸诺赖淖詈笠粯颖匦杵贰趴氯~。按照古老的印加傳統(tǒng),加西亞在我們一行6人上路前用古柯葉祭拜了安第斯人世代敬拜的大地之母——帕恰瑪瑪。一行人隨后合影留念,便踏上了印加古道的征程。
一路沿著山路攀登,加西亞一次次地停下腳步等大家趕上,真不知道她纖細(xì)的身板里哪來的如此巨大的能量。途中我們遇上一位每走幾步就要停下來大喘一通的英國女孩,她的身邊跟著一名當(dāng)?shù)靥舴颉E⒚兴鞣?,她和同伴一起來秘魯旅行,自己決定徒步跋涉印加古道,而其他兩位朋友則知難而退,乘全景火車去了馬丘比丘。他們約定最后在馬丘比丘會合。索菲表達(dá)出后悔之意。加西亞轉(zhuǎn)身望著她說:“你知道嗎?很多人在走上印加古道的第一個小時就后悔了,但當(dāng)他們走完全程時,每個人都說這是他們一生所做的最正確的決定?!彪S后索菲加入了我們的隊伍,在大家的鼓勵下繼續(xù)前進(jìn)。
隨后的3天大家走走停停,靠著葡萄糖片和古柯葉增加體力。現(xiàn)在我們才知道,朝圣的意義其實是拷問自己的內(nèi)心,它絕非普通的觀景行程可比。到最后一天所有人都精疲力竭了,但因為接近傳說中的古城,大家都起得特別早。誰也沒想到,挑夫?qū)⑸u蛋保存了一路,就為了大家在印加古道上終于到達(dá)太陽門的這一天早晨有新鮮荷包蛋可吃,這令所有人都感動得要命。最后,經(jīng)過風(fēng)餐露宿和艱難跋涉,終于能站在當(dāng)年印加人膜拜圣城的太陽石臺的古祭壇邊,懷著和他們一樣虔誠的心,向這座曾經(jīng)失落在歷史中的印加古城致以深深敬意。據(jù)說,人類七次文明的傳說就是從這里開始的。
乘著直升機(jī)飛回庫斯科,離開時加西亞認(rèn)真地望著我們說:“下次你們再來,就從馬丘比丘走回庫斯科,那樣就可以和印加人媲美了?!?/p>
加西亞 Garcia
秘魯旅程導(dǎo)游 Peruvian Tour Guide
歡迎大家來到秘魯,這里有你想象不到的古老文明與讓人心心曠神怡的風(fēng)景,有巖石完美堆砌出的城市,會給你留下最美好的記憶。
Welcome to Peru, a country with ancient civilizations, beautiful sceneries, and cities piled up perfectly with rocks. You will have a most beautiful experience here.
The Seventh Civilization — Peru
The more than 30-hour-flight from Beijing to Lima has taken me across time and space to the other end of the world where generations of civilizations and tales of aliens abound. Lima, the capital of Peru, is a coastal city thrived in the valleys. South American plants, Spain style buildings, a chaotic city buzz, and welcoming Peruvians on our way from the airport to the old downtown of Lima is already telling of its unique charm. Against the discouraging glare of our guide, Garcia, the five of us cramped into a taxi and hit the road. We had our share of local food on street stands, tasted the disgusting ginseng tea that is said to be good for the male function, and hastened to the Monastery of San Francisco to revere at the 70,000 bodies buried inside.
On the second day, we started to appreciate why Garcia tried to stop us. She had hoped to tell us to save energy, as we had to travel to our destination by the Inca Trail on foot through the rainforest. We took a flight from Lima to the Amazon before we start the treacherous hike. One can easily get lost in the mysterious South American rainforest, and we had to rely solely on Garcia’s judgement. She may be young, but her knowledge and experience of the forest makes it reassuring to follow her steps.
By dawn, we arrived at our forest lodge, the Refugio Amazonas, among the green and tall Brazil hazel trees. The humid air had left a veil of evaporation on our clothes and the huge banana trees seemed to have brought us to the world of Avatar. Far away from the city, the lodge is supplied with power only 4 hours a day, the only time we could communicate with the outside world with a wifi signal. Through the spacious lobby, lined-up kerosene lamps lead to rooms to the far end. It is a palace in the forest. The rooms have no doors and locks, but a white curtain that separates the inside from the corridor. On the other side of the room is the profuse plantations of the Amazon forest. We dozed off to the chirps of birds and croaks of frogs as our memories drift back to the days when there was no electricity and everyone slept on bamboo beds outside the house to keep cool in summer.
Probably because the air was so refreshing, nobody suffered from morning laziness the next day. We were excited about the trip to the legendary ancient civilization of Machu Picchu. We had some quick photos with the alpacas before departing for the ancient Inca city without realizing the significance of our following journey.
We purchased one last necessity—coca leaves. According to Inca tradition, Garcia and the six of us paid tribute to the Mother of Land for the Incas—Pachamama—with coca leaves. We had a group photo, and then started the journey with our porter, Maria.
As we walked up the mountain trail, Maria stopped every now and then for us to catch up, making me wonder where does her strength come from with her slender body. We encountered an English girl on the way who had to pause every few steps to gather strength. The girl, named Sophie, came to Peru with two friends. She decided to took the Inca Trail with the support of a porter while her two friends chose to take a train to Machu Picchu. When Sophie showed signs of regret, Garcia turned to her, “You know, most people would regret after one hour on the Inca trail, but when they finish the whole trail, they would say it is the rightest decision they have ever made.” With our encouragement, Sophie joined us on the pilgrim.
We stopped every now and then in the following three days, taking glucose pills and coca leaves to gather energy. We came to realize that the point of a pilgrim is not sightseeing, but a quest of your heart. We were exhausted on the last day, but we all woke up early with an anticipation to finally see the ancient city. We had another pleasant surprise when our porter miraculous produced some fresh eggs and made us omelet. It was so touching. Finally, after all the hardship, we arrived at the ancient altar by the sacred sun dial and paid our respect to a city that was once lost in history, with a heart as pious as the Incas in their heyday. According to legend, it is from here that the seventh human civilization originated.
When we depart for Cusco by helicopter, Garcia bid us farewell with an earnest look, “Next time you come, you can walk from Machu Picchu to Cusco, so you could match the Incas.”
Tips
往北去,在中美洲的墨西哥,可以探索神秘的瑪雅文化。奇琴伊察是古瑪雅城市遺址,它穿越千年之久,至今依然展現(xiàn)著瑪雅人無與倫比的數(shù)學(xué)造詣和謎一樣的文字以及他們的建筑藝術(shù)。在這里你還能用味蕾品味瑪雅文化,古老的瑪雅人用巧克力來供奉神靈,瑪雅巧克力長久以來被人們認(rèn)為是巧克力中最純粹且頂級的。