Love affair with coca

An artful glass of coca tea in Cusco

In an Incan legend, a number of men aggressively pursued a particularly beautiful and pure young woman. She resisted all temptation which angered them. The men ended up abusing her, and she responded by committing suicide. On the spot where she died, a coca plant grew. This explains the spiritual importance of the coca leaf in a culture that places it in such extraordinarily high regard. The other reasons, as I’ve learned firsthand in Peru, are a lot more practical. 

An excerpt from my Andes expedition

A panoramic view of Mount Salkantay

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South America is a rugged place, and Peru embodies every geographical possibility imaginable. It has barren desert, thick rainforests, and unforgiving mountains. Especially in the Andes, it is a land that must be walked. Think twice if you want to rest your legs and go for a drive. The roads are mostly unpaved and rudimentary speed bumps appear almost everywhere. The one lane mountain highways wind nauseatingly with cliff face on one side and deadly drops on the other. No one feels rested after these rides. The land was made for hiking.