Warped Vines

Painting by Pablo Amaringo


I've always been wary of tourism. From the time I took the trolley across the border from San Diego to Tijuana at the age of seven, I knew there was something fundamentally wrong with traveling in order to gawk at another culture. And after spending four months in the deep dark continent of Africa, I feel the same way. It's the stark 'us and them' contrast, the economic divide, and the ignorance of other tourists that are most troublesome. It's also the fact that locals often have to put on a show to give tourists what they want to see - a world that is foreign and authentic. But tourism is an industry, and on the other hand I'm sure it's essential to developing countries' economies.

I've been learning about more dangerous and/or deviant forms, i.e. sex tourism, medical tourism, and drug tourism. Medical tourism is an odd concept. I understand the demand for cheap medical treatment, but especially with cosmetic surgery, how could you put your body (and your life) in the hands of someone you don't know and may not be able to communicate with? And how much sightseeing can you do while recovering from surgery? It's beyond me. Anyway, I've become fascinated with drug tourism. Last summer I read Fierce Invalids from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins, where the main character Switters visits a Peruvian shaman and after having an overwhelming 8 hour psychedelic experience, is told he will drop dead if his feet ever touch the ground again. Meanwhile, I came upon this article from Rolling Stone about ayahuasca and the latest psychedelic movement. Supposedly, this potent concoction made from an Amazonian root is the new LSD. Not only do people travel to Peru, Brazil, and other countries for week-long "retreats" like this this one led by psychologist Silvia Polivoy in Brazil, but hipsters and other aficionados in the U.S. eagerly import supplies to make their own brews.

I have mixed feelings about this phenomenon. Apparently drug tourism has been going on for several decades - in this 1994 article, Marlene Dobkin de Rios takes a fierce stand against Amazonian drug tourists, saying that the trend is a "contemporary weapon to hasten the demise of native cultures..." as tourists indulge in dangerous fantasies about shamanism and the "exotic, erotic primitive, or happy savage" living in the jungle. Rachel Proctor makes a similar argument, saying that traditional healing is being treatened by the allure of money involved with leading ceremonies for tourists. In my opinion, it's pretty presumptuous for white affluent people to visit Amazonian countries for a week and believe that they will somehow grasp not only the underlying mythologies of the society, but also wisdom and healing practices that have been passed down through generations. The drug tourists seem to think a lot about their own spiritual enlightenment, and not so much about the effects they're having on the people they're hoping to learn from. I suppose it's like most forms of tourism in this way; the visitors are interested in seeing exactly what they expect to see, not necessarily the reality of the situation.