Travel to South America

Trail of Feathers: In Search of the Birdmen of Peru

Format: Paperback
Author: Tahir Shah
ReleaseDate: 16 June, 2003
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
Rating:

A powerful book!

I am not for the earth, I am for the sky. "O men, up from you I fly.
I have soared to the sky as a herald,
I have kissed the sky as a falcon,
The essence of a god, the son of a god,
The messenger of a god am I. "
(Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts)

It seems to me these beautiful, evocative opening lines of an ancient poem belong somewhere in Tahir Shah's powerful work on the Incas and Birdmen of Peru, the best book in the travel genre I've read to date. (And, indeed, early in the author's research into the question of actual flight by ancient man, an expert whom he consults reminds us of the model airplane, or glider, which was found in an ancient Egyptian tomb in Saqqara in 1898. )
This book is much more than a fascinating and often hilarious travel book; to me it is more akin to a narrative of an unfolding spiritual journey. In addition to the usual points of interest of a Peruvian tour, this author's 'nose' for uncovering the 'underbelly' of a given culture allows him to get right to the heart of a matter he is investigating. And, true to his Sufi upbringing, he is not afraid to seek knowledge wherever it takes him; by means of itself, by experience, not content to be a mere observer (or as the proverb goes, "He who tastes, knows. ")
Thus, his ocular experience of El Colibri (the Hummingbird), and the other symbols of the Nazca Lines from a Cessna, prove to be only a prelude (almost like a facsimile from the past), a metaphor, for the riveting experience which is to follow, as, undaunted, the trail leads him into the heart of the Upper Amazonian jungle to find the descendants of those who occupied the coastal Nazca plain when the Lines were made, before they and their shamans were driven into the interior by the Spanish Conquistadors.
Loose your grip on your analytical, Western mind and get ready to "kiss the sky"!
Early in his quest, perched precariously atop Huayna Picchu, looking directly down on Machu Picchu, the author recounts a conversation which hints of ancient memories of a forgotten and glorious past:
"I opened my eyes a crack, and began to understand the significance of Machu Picchu. Stretching out in symmetrical flanks, on east and west, the ruins were arranged as wings. Once I saw them, I couldn't get them out of my mind. They gleamed up at me, glinting in the yellow light.
Machu Picchu was laid out in the shape of a condor.
I would have slithered my way back down to the cafe much sooner. But a refined-looking Peruvian man was watching me.
'It's a condor!' I shouted. 'Machu Picchu's a gigantic condor!'
The man was dressed in a sheepskin jacket, with the flaps of a woollen hat pulled down snugly over his ears. His nose was streaming, ad his cheeks were scarlet. In his hand was a tin, and in it were coca leaves.
'The condor is the messenger,' he said in English, offering me some of the leaves.
'Whose messenger?'
Resting the tin on his knee, the man washed his hands over his face.
'The condor links us to heaven,' he said. 'Just as it did the Incas. It is the bridge, the bridge between man and God. '
'Could the Incas glide like condors?'
The man twisted the corners of his mouth into a smile.
'We can all fly,' he said.
'All of us?'
The man nodded.
'Si, all of us. '
He paused, to regard me sideways on.
'Todos tenemos alas, we all have wings,' he said, 'but we have forgotten how to use them. '.

Adventure!
This search involves his discovery, and imparting to us, lots of information about textiles, mummies, shrunken heads, and many, many colorful characters that the author encounters. This is not your typical travel book! The author describes a long journey through Peru as he searches for the origins of a myth about people flying in Pre-Columbian Peru. Honestly, in reading Mr. Shah's books, I can only think that the dreadful places I have stayed in were oases of tranquility and cleanliness when compared to his places: For example, a hotel that keeps its chickens in his bathroom, a hotel that has no other guests because a story is circulating that anyone who stays there will be beheaded by a ghost, a boat so rank that a stay in a pit toilet might be more pleasant, etc. But somehow, when he tells it, you just have to enjoy and laugh. I recommend this book highly to anyone who enjoys travel writing, adventure writing, or simply a great story. As an aside, I should mention that if anyone doubts the possibility of the final scenes (and I do not want to ruin this book for anyone), a beloved relative of mine actually did a similar trip (and I am SO glad I didn't go along! And the only reason I didn't, at the time, was that I thought I would be needed to retrieve her body [which thankfully didn't happen] after such a crazy trip). The physiological experience of the native drug was absolutely perfectly described (and many a jolly laugh we have had over my relative's story at her expense)! So, don't doubt this book is possible. But whether or not it is, read it and enjoy!.

keep away missionaries
Como es sus otros libros, Tahir Shah construye una atmýsfera narrativa en la que se incluye, con humor, sin una gota de solemnidad ni de auto consciencia. Este es un libro de marcada factura antropolýgica, de antropologýa de terreno. Inicia la historia con una confesiýn de interýs personal y es capaz de emprender una expediciýn casi excýntrica en la que invierte sus haberes. Luego va desmenuzando el tema central, desmitificando (curanderos que usan týcnicas de amenazas y persuasiýn semejantes a las que observý en su investigaciýn de los shadu de India)personajes y roles, mostrando los efectos de la invasiýn cultural, turýstica e industrial en territorios hasta hace muy poco výrgenes. Plantea abiertamente su repudio por la acciýn de los evangelistas que, en su afýn proselitista, ocasionan daýos que ellos mismos no alcanzan a preveer (enfermedades y desapariciýn paulatina de una sabidurýa medicinal milenaria). Finalmente, valida su interýs inicial con un real curandero y experimenta la experiencia de volar sobre la selva.
Con menos humor que en Sorcerer`s Apprentice, pero igual monto de rigor antropolýgico y una resistencia admirable a las fatigas de viajes llenos de incomodidades y dietas incomibles.
Para conocer el Amazonas peruano y para mirarse en los personajes.

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