EPILOGUE - London, United Kingdom
London, United Kingdom
And so it ends. As I sat by the plane window bound for home, starring out at the deep blue waters of the Atlantic down below, I began to reflect on the last five months of my life. We had left full of expectations and doubts, wondering about the marvels that we would discover on the long and winding backpacker trail, and have returned with a bank full of memories, a greater understanding of South America's history and the life of its people and a deep yearning for the comforts and normalities of the western world, which so many of us take for granted. We carved across a continent, visited six countries, travelled from one ocean to another, covering 14,600 km by road (that’s 17 times the distance from London to the northernmost point in the UK!) and 21,836 km by air. We scaled high, snow capped mountains, drove through rolling, windswept valleys and marched through dense, humid jungles and arid, lifeless deserts. We experienced the cold of the Andes and the heat of the Tropics and were initiated to a wide variety of cultures and traditions.
In Brazil we found a dynamic country with a deep sense of independence, a melting pot of ethnic diversity with a hard rooted history of slavery. There we explored the most beautiful beaches in all of South America. The weather was perfect for enjoying the local Caipirinhas, the people had a festive spirit and we felt very welcomed, despite the language barrier. We loved the exotic fruits and the lively music. We met some very friendly people whom we saw again later in our trip and were kind enough to show us some of the best parts of Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. At the border between Brazil and Argentina we witnessed the fearsome power of the gigantic Iguazu falls. In Argentina we discovered a very European culture, meat obsessed people and great cities displaying stunning colonial architecture and vibrant night scenes (which probably explained the ridiculously long siestas that locals took!). We were shocked at the state of the Argentine economy and the farce of the governments’ authoritarian monetary policies, which forced us to undertake a detour to Uruguay. We feasted on some of the best steaks I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating and drank the finest wines of the continent in the Mendoza valley.
In Chile we learned about the horrors of the Pinochet dictatorship, grew fond of the national spirit: Pisco and enjoyed the company of Chilean friends and foreign travellers alike in the capital Santiago. We also chilled in a city of a thousand colours and hills and walked through deserts and volcano strewn valleys in San Pedro de Atacama. In Bolivia we climbed mighty Andean peaks and drove around flamingo filled altiplano lagoons. We also discovered a strong indigenous pride and disturbing old traditions that die hard. The people of Bolivia know true poverty but have a sense of community and solidarity that we saw nowhere else. Outside La Paz I survived the downhill cycle of the infamous road of death and in Rurrenabaque we saw more wildlife in 3 days than an average person sees in a year. In Peru we learned much about ancient civilizations, witnessed the epic ruins of Machu Picchu, experienced the icy chill of the breathtaking, vividly blue lakes of Llanganuco and ate some of the best cuisine in South America, mainly the tasty seafood dishes of the coast, all the while perfecting our Spanish skills and learning to recognize the huge variety of accents that distinguish the people’s geographic origins.
The joys of travelling cannot be easily overstated. There is something incredibly liberating about packing your life’s necessities into a rucksack, hitting the road and leaving everything behind. It fulfils the basic human desire of exploration. We have it within us all, just as our ancestors had before us when they first crossed the seas into the unknown and charted new lands in search of the mysteries that lay over the horizon. Escaping from the dull routine of life at home and plunging yourself into an alien environment where nothing is familiar and you must ponder and investigate everything was an awakening experience. It brings you out of your comfort zone and makes you feel truly alive.
It can also test your patience and tire you out. Culture is as much of a barrier as language is and there were many a time when we were bewildered beyond belief at the behaviour of the locals. What I personally found quite striking was that most South American countries are very ethnically homogenous (apart from Brazil). People would constantly stare at us in the most blatant fashion due to our difference of appearance and we found this quite annoying at first, although we soon grew accustomed to it. It made us miss the cosmopolitan nature of London, where everyone is different and no one stands out, but also the intrinsically British politeness that would never permit one to shamelessly stare and point. Little things grind on you too. Like not being able to flush toilet paper down the loo, fearing for your safety at pedestrian crossings (in Bolivia drivers don’t respect these AT ALL), being constantly paranoid about having your belongings stolen, not knowing what you can safely eat (my digestive system is in tatters after 5 months on the road) and having to barter over everything you want to buy to avoid getting ripped off.
But overcoming these obstacles is a small price to pay for the benefits that you reap. The novelty of discovering new landscapes and exploring new cities was something that I really came to appreciate. How many people get to wake up every morning and say: "What will I do today? Where will I go and what will I see that I haven’t seen before?" ? You also profit from the strength of western currencies relative to South American ones and acquire a buying power many fold what it would be in the UK. You get to meet very interesting people from all parts of the world who offer you a fresh outlook on things. But above all you get to feel free and unbounded. No time schedules, no deadlines, no responsibilities.
However travelling also makes you recognize how lucky you are to enjoy the high standards of living that come from the simple fact of being born in a western country. South Americans have relatively little in comparison to us. Their countries’ economies are either weak or unstable (apart from maybe Brazil and Chile) and poverty is rife. Hundreds of years of western colonialism and exploitation have allowed us to prosper at their expense. The western world of today would be nothing were it not for the resources it usurped, through outright theft during the years of colonization and more recently under the more subtle guise of free market capitalism, from this rich and fertile continent.
But the most important thing we should value, and one that many take for granted, is the strength and integrity of our institutions. It is a privilege to live in a country where the democratic separation of powers are respected, where the judicial system is fair, the elected representatives don’t overstep their mandates and the police can be trusted (albeit with a measured dose of scepticism). In South America, many of the civil institutions are corrupt. Judges lie, politicians fill their personal bank accounts with the state coffers and trample over their constitutions and the police brutalize their own people and extort tourists. Most of the countries we visited have experienced bloody civil wars and brutal military dictatorships in the last half century and the populace has no trust in their governments.
Despite all these disparities, it is the things we cherish the most that we share in common. Friends and family ties are the most primitive bond of all, the adhesive that holds all societies together. And it seems to me, having looked upon the faces of the people of South America, that happiness is not measured by the depths of your pockets but by the wealth of your relationships. And that is ultimately why we don’t regret coming home. Because, for all the wonders of travel, there is a certain futility to wandering, a lack of purpose that can only be filled with the steadiness of a fixed address, the monotonous chime of labour, the recognition bestowed on you by your peers and the intimacy that you share with your closest and dearest acquaintances.
THE END