Nothing is more liberating for a human soul than to live in the essence of nature!

My retreat to Amazon Rain Forest via the Peruvian gateway of Iquitos was nothing short of self-liberation. Sitting in the glittering metal bird soaring high over the thick green canopy of the rainforest, the shades of color green filled the space around me like an artist just unleashed the creative juices on his canvas. The bird-eye view of the serpentine Amazon River makes it look like a living border separating two worlds yet calling together the animals to rejoice in lap of nature.

Once I touched down at the landing strip, I hopped on what appeared to be a street-smart version of TukTuk from Thailand. It was a motorcycle attached to a carriage to race me along the streets during rush hours. The streets during the rush hours appeared to be a controlled chaos with no sensible traffic order yet enabling the people taking on the journey to reach their destination. My driver managed to get me to a nearby lunch spot which was also my waiting spot for my boat for travel.

A few hours on the sidelines and finally I stepped on the boat with several locals to being my Amazon adventure. As our boat was muscling through the dark and murky waters of the Amazon River, a present surprise popped its head up to greet us. I was awe-stuck when I say a dolphin racing along with our boat looking like a water angel. I was in oblivion that this part of the world had dolphins and our journey together till we turned off to a more remote waterway gave me a sense of elation and a feeling that my journey will be more rewarding that I had imagined. Amazon ecosystem feels like God himself as the gatekeeper ensuring the pristine aura of the place remains intact. I could see birds of multitude colors filling up the blue sky; I could hear the animals rejoicing their natural habitat; I could hear the winds gushing through the lush green trees almost whispering sweet nothing to me; it was surreal to see that so much beauty could exist in one place. Everything in that moment felt like home. The calmness, the excitement, the joy of being nothing but your true organic self; I loved every minute of finding myself filled with enthrallment associated with this place as each moment passed.

Finally, we arrived at our destination with my hut being a steady hopping exercise of 300 flights of stairs amidst the green palatial adobe. To my utter surprise, the hut was spacious and well put together. We only had electricity for two hours everyday, from 6 to 8 PM local time. The water for showers was cold and composed of the rainwater caught in the area and I could not be more thankful for that. After a hot, humid and tiring day in the rainforest, quick cold shower can really invigorate your mind and body and prep you up for next day of unrelenting sun beat down!

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My morning started with monkeys greeted me every morning, playfully taunting me and enticing me with their antics to earn some fruits that I ate for breakfast. Sometime I give in and treat them with the juicy delicacies. The entire experience was surreal to say the least. Every moment I spent listening to the rain softly pattering across the leaves of the canopy felt like living through the most soothing dream. What started as an Ayahuasca retreat for me eventfully made me realize that I’d more than happy spending days at stretch just listening to the honeyed voice of rain and hypnotic sounds of animals around me. The aura of the pristine living world around me was beyond incredible and it almost felt like a blessing to be able to live in its embrace. It was amazing to be there, a life-changing experience and a permanent memory ingrained in my mind and soul.