Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
unpleasantintheextreme.Finesandandevenlittlepebbleswerecontinuallybeingblowninto
my face which was badly chapped. My lips were so badly cracked that they had swelled con-
siderably, causing a great deal of discomfort.
OnedayImetsomeIndian
arrieros
(troopdrivers)whoweredrivingatroopofloadedbur-
ros back to their distant mountain home. Having nobody to talk to, I entered into conversation
with them and was very glad when I found out that they spoke Spanish quite well. I told them
that I was on my way towards the border and they offered to show me a short cut that would
takeusoverabettertrailinthemountains.Atfirstmynewacquaintances wereveryshy,buta
fewcocaleavesanda
traguito
(swig)ofalcoholsoonmadethemmoretalkative.Wehadsome
very interesting conversations as we were threading our way between boulders, or bordering
precipitousmountainsides,andthesementaughtmequiteanumberofthingsthatwereuseful
to me at later periods. Among other things they warned me against some poisonous herbs that
grow in these and other mountain regions, herbs that will kill mules and horses should they
eat them.
Towards evening we arrived at a lonely hut, high up in the mountains. This was very small
and built entirely of big stones that were merely piled on each other. We called, but as nobody
answered we crawled through the door - a small opening in one of the walls. At first I could
see nothing, but once my eyes became accustomed to the dusk, I discovered an old man lying
on some dry goat skins in one corner. In the middle of the room there was a hollow in the
ground, the ashes in it suggesting that a fire had been made there lately. When I approached
the old man he became aware that somebody was near and enquired who it was. The poor old
man was practically blind and almost deaf, and when I asked him if there was anything to eat,
both for men and beasts, he replied that he had absolutely nothing and that he was waiting for
his son who brought him food every other day and who looked after the few goats he pos-
sessed. The smell inside the hut was so repulsive that I had to go outside for fresh air every
now and again. After a considerable time an old man, dressed in rough mountaineer's clothes
and wearing heavy sandals, appeared. He introduced himself as the son of the old man in the
hut, and judging by his appearance he must have been some eighty years of age. (He later told
me he was ninety.) I offered him a drink and some coca leaves and promised to pay him well
if he brought grass for my starving horses. In these regions there is no vegetation excepting
in some of the hollows which a stranger is not likely to find. Fortunately the man agreed to
bring some much-needed fodder and immediately left, taking a large net with him, and soon
he disappeared, leaping over rocks and from boulder to boulder with the sure-footedness and
agilityofachamois.Afterabouttwohours,whenitwasalreadygettingdark,hereturnedwith
a big bundle of grass on his back.
Having attended to the horses I began to think about having something to eat myself, but
it was difficult to make the man admit that he had some dry goat's meat and oats hidden away
somewhere outside, but after a little more alcohol and a few more coca leaves he brought in
what we wanted, and lit the fire to boil water in an earthenware pot. Although the wooden
