In the morning Luiz and I went to the internet cafe, I wrote a blog post and we ran back to the house to meet up with Ninoska and Blake. We took a taxi to a bus station and from there we met up with two of Ninoskas friends, one a Spanish teacher and the other her Portuguese student, we greeted one another and piled into a van that would take us to a valley in the hills an hour away. Getting off beside a river we crossed the bridge to the other side, and Ninoska pointed out large metal pods dotting the mountains high above us, apparently someone had the bright idea of turning them into a hotel, one you have to rent climbing equipment just to reach.On the other side of the river we took out 3 cups and pored the viscus liquid into them. I was able to finish mine in one go, Luiz had an inch left in his, and Blake took the entire 30 minute walk along the train tracks to finish his, one sip at a time, which I know is the harder way to go, but he's always been a more cautious tester than I.The view along the tracks was gorgeous, with open fields, high mountains, a heartily flowing river and beautiful green trees lining everything around us. It was a scene reminiscent of so many movies I've seen before, you know the ones, desperate or wild youths of all kinds setting out down the tracks in hopes of escaping whatever, or wherever they came from.Compared to Cusco there was virtually no pollution, except that of trash here and there along the track and in the river, still, it was quite nice, and each of us was happy to be there. We came to a road and a dormant row of rail cars filled with plastic bags, that were themselves filled with something else. A short hike further down the track we came to a trail leading up into the mountains, at first nothing discernible could be seen but then we made out a large rock dwelling a hundred meters above us or so.Surrounding the dwelling were several large terraces that had completely grown over with shrub, no one had tended to them for quite some time. We climbed the grown over steps until finally reaching the dwelling. There was a wall with many windows that had recently been made, perhaps 400 years ago, you could tell that it had once been apart of a greater structure, that now was long gone. Beside it, and underneath the large rock ceiling that covered a portion of it, was a large smooth single piece stone that had been intricately carved into some sort of alter, the top half of which had been broken off, and likely resided beneath the ground in front of it.Behind all this, and further into the cave dwelling was a star-gate like entrance that led nowhere, something like a large rectangle laying on its long side, carved straight into the wall, with another, smaller rectangle standing on its ends carved deeper within it. The level of precision that each cut was made, and the perfection of the proportions relating to each shape is really hard to imagine. Within the last rectangle was a prayer offering, some flowers and half burned incense. In the very back of the dwelling there was a rock wall half way to the ceiling, climbing that you found yourself in a cave in which you could hear bats fluttering about, but no exit or entrance to any deeper part could be seen or foundWe all sat and meditated for a time, I was the first to drink and thus the first to feel the effects of the San Pedro, and I was also the first to get up and walk around. I went to the right side of the outer structure and climbed the rocks that made up the roof of the dwelling, above I could see more terraces and little hovels that used to be something else, but they were so grown over I couldn't really make out what.Beyond the first outcropping of rocks I found a hole big enough to climb into that went straight down into the area behind the dwelling, the structure must of had connecting tunnels at one time that were now blocked off, and this was an entrance or exit to those tunnels that still remained open. Feeling more and more confident in my abilities by the minute, thanks to the Mescaline, but not enough to risk entry without my companions knowledge, I decided to climb the vast ridge that rose up beside the whole area instead, at least this way they would be able to see me, and what I was doing.The ridge was quite narrow, perhaps only 2 feet in width in places, I was wearing my crocks and socks, with virtually zero tread, but somehow was making light work of the entire endeavor, Looking at my companions below I quickly noticed that Blake was in hot pursuit of me, easily closing the gap I had made between them and myself, and joining me on the ridge moments later. From where we sat we could see both sides of the valley, one leading back to the main river and the road from which we came, and the other into parts unknown.As the San Pedro worked itself into us, a sense of unity with the land and disconnection from the world of man pervaded over us. "it's funny how quickly (man) becomes something so entirely separate from something else inside us in this state of awareness, isn't Blake?" I said. "Yep" he said, as we both turned our focus to the roaring siren of the train rearing the corner to our left. A huge and ugly beast, tearing its way into our reality, we quickly took on the emotions of the native peoples who must have felt just as we did right then, back in the time of Americas conquest by the western juggernaut of expansion and genocidal colonization. How terrifying and invasive such a creation must have been for the indigenous people of these lands. How hopeless they must have felt in the face of these demonic metal behemoths spreading the white devil and his ways all over their lands.The train passed and some other people joined the others in the dwelling from the tracks for a short while, after which Blake and I returned to join them as well. At around 4 we left the holy site and once again walked along the tracks back to the river. Halfway there I vomited all over the tracks, several times, each one the hallucinations became more vivid and intense, as they usually do when I vomit on psychedelics, and just as I did a family passed us on their way to who knows where, an interesting passing of souls to be sure..We stopped at a store and our two sober friends got somethings to snack on, while Blake and I went across a small bridge and sat down overlooking the brook. We left shorty after and I remained behind the group looking about, enjoying the sensations that flowed freely through my muscles and skin. Mescaline allows you to feel the same bodily feelings as mushrooms but doesn't effect your mind in almost anyway, something I cant say the same for mushrooms, which is entirely overpowering for the mind and body, making mescaline my top choice for people who cannot handle the mental aspect of psychedelics. It's really amazing actually, I didn't even think such a substance existed, even Marijuana can scare me pretty bad, not so with San Pedro.While the rest of the group was a good 30 meters ahead of me, an elderly Peruvians women, perhaps in her 70's, wearing traditional dress and a beautiful rounded red cap, came up behind me and I offered her some of my water, she graciously accepted and we talked while we walked about the beauty of the land and of the crazy metal pod hotel that was now visible upon the mountains in front of us. "It's just a crazy thing for money!" I told her, she smiled a broad and terribly cute smile and held me with a laugh, Sii! Claro.. She then said several things in quick succession which I didn't understand, but I nodded knowingly with the intermittent , "si" to keep her going smoothly, and for every one of my nods and "Si's" she would give me a smile and call me here "little one".With one last smile and an air blown kiss from her time and experience worn hands, she bid me farewell and walked off into the field to the right and tended to the animals grazing there. The group was waiting for me at the junction and when I came within range they asked me what we had been talking about and I answered honestly that I really had no idea.. haha.We came to the side of the road and waited until a Movil Bus, one of the many tour buses in Peru, came to pick us up. The ride home was astonishingly beautiful, the sky was lit from all sides with a stark orange glow, emitted from the falling sun, and the clouds were creamy white mixed with hints of dark grey, signifying the coming storms which would bring the rain. As we ascended back towards Cusco, a bull fight could be seen in the city below, with the cheers of the crowds surrounding the arena still seemingly audible. There were only 3 people on the bus, the driver, his copilot, and a Frenchman with an entirely ridiculous accent, so heavy, it was beyond comprehension, I almost thought he was a collective figment of our imagination!We returned to Cusco, paid the 10 soles for our wonderful ride home and we then said goodbye to our two new friends, both of which knew beforehand that we would be partaking in San Pedro, but came along even so, and Im sure they are glad they did, just as we were.Ninoska, Luiz, Blake and I went to a Pizzeria, ordered a large, half vegetarian, half meat pie and sat in near drunken states waiting for it to be ready. In a strange twist of circumstance, the pizzeria was playing on all 3 television screens, UFO and alien conspiracy shows, with the go to X-files sound track to boot. We all thought that was very intriguing, especially Luiz who was kinda tripping out on the whole scene.We took a taxi home and sat in the living room listening to music for the next 3 hours, At the end of which Ninoska decided to drink a cup herself, none of us thought this was a good plan, since the duration of the trip is over 10 hours and she had to work in the morning, but she had really wanted to join in on the experience with us, so she took the plunge. San Pedro by the way is no glass of fresh OJ by any means, it's harsh and hard to get down, just what you'd expect a cactus to taste like in liquid form. I played some of my trippy music from my trippy friend in Australia that I worked with on the Boats and she freaked out a bit, so we all went to bed and somehow she was good to go to work the next day...