Greetings nexians. Ive recieved quite a few pm's asking very similar questions regarding ayahausca in traditional settings. I have tried to respond to as many as possible but see now that it would be helpful to write a thread addressing the most common questions to help others more efficiently. Im happy to recieve pm's and dont mind at all but I am not always able to reply quickly and I know what it is like to wait for information when your ready to make a move on your path to healing and understanding.

Firstly I always try to clarify that these words are just my opinion and experience, some may have very different opinions and ideas so take it all in but dont think any of this is set in stone or fact. I can only give information from what I have either personaly experienced or have been told by trust worthy knowledgable fellow travelers.

Just like answering aya dose questions there are no one size fits all answers to the question where do I go?. Its best to know ahead of time how much time you have, what is your budget, and how good are you at roughing it? Be realistic about your needs. Roughing it may sound great from your cozy home sipping tea reading these words but trust me it does get difficult and tiresome.

I highly recommend a 30 day stay as I have written in length about aya being a process that takes time but understand most people cant take that much time off. Just keep in mind that the more time you can spend in ceremony the better and do what you are able to do.

Where- Well for me I went to 2 areas in Peru northern and central amazon looking for a place to spend a couple months in ceremony. Iquitos in the north and the pucallpa and Ucayali river area in central Peru.

Iquitos has many, many upper end healing centers with a plethora of shamans usually from the central regions like the Shipibo. As the masses flocked to Iquitos, centers opened up all around and grabbed as many of the noteable shamans from central Peru and other regions. There is also as many scams and bullshitters in this area as their are healing centers if not more so do your homework and be a bit skeptical when approached on the streets in Iquitos. The good centers here are often nice, comfortable, and certainly fully designed for travelers. They are also quite expensive compared to other regions, in fact the most expensive I have ever heard about. This is the hub of the aya tourism boom without a doubt and where you will find yearly aya conventions and many mover and shaker's of the aya sceen. Many of these places you do get good service with things like floral baths and pilates classes and the shamans are quite good but these places have a very high turnover and many visitors are there for 1 week to 10 days if not just a couple days. For me I didnt want all the fluff nor could I afford these places. Many of the reputable places here are between $1200-$2500 U.S. dollars a week or more depending on who you book your stay through. I payed about $750.00 a month in San Francisco and will write more about that in a bit.

I mention fast turn over because I feel it is important to develop a relationship with the healers you are working with and I have heard many visitors complain that they didnt feel they had much connection with the men and women they were working with. Well I think this is due to the shamns having so many people come through their center's for quick visits. They tend to not sit down and try to get to know everyone when most just leave in a weeks time or less. I'm not defending this but i do see the shamans side of the coin.

Iquitos is a good place if you have limited time as well as a decent budget and need to make all yopur arrangements from home on line. The places in central Amazon you more kind of have to show up and start searching and haggling. This is why I dont discount the expensive and ofetn non native owned healing centers of Iquitos. They help many people and some give quality ceremonys...but not always.

Pucallpa and the Ucayali river-
This is the area of the Shipibo and other well known Indians. Its not as visited as Iquitos but this is the area that most of the shamans were recruited from to work up north. Pucallpa is the largest city in this area and from there you can have ceremony right in town with well known healers such as Don Marciel for a very reasonable fee. They fee's are never the same for any 2 people depending on time of year, how broke the shaman is at that moment, and your haggling skills. Roughly, drop in one time prices are about 100 soles or $35 u.s. for ceremony and maybe a crude sleeping quarters. Some charge 150 soles for ceremony and nights stay. This is the average base price. Week stays are around 400 soles or $165.00. This is also usually the lowest you can find during the peak seasons.

From Pucalpa you can travel up to 4 hours in various directions finding more places to have ceremony's and the prices vary but usually not that much. San Francisco and other Shipibo villages are just across the lake about 45 min boat ride from Pucallpa and have more than a dozen different places. Thia is where I chose to stay and work with ayahuasca. It is nice to have a city close by to get supplys, use the internet and get away from time to time from the quite sleepy villages.

This region is not wiothout its scams or rip off's. You do need to also do your homework but most of this research can only be done in country by visiting the places and asking other travelers their thoughts and experiences. Keep in mind that for every person that has something good to say about a healer you will find at least 1 or more that will have something bad to say.
This I feel is because that not everyone is looking for the same thing as well as many people try to put a guru label on shamans and healers. If you are looking for Yoda or Christ like men and women I assure you you will be disapointed. These shamans are regular people. Many are great and loving humans but also have flaws. Some can be dishonest, especialy about money, womanizers, treat their animals or spouses not so good, and often have unpaid debts. One thing I noticed is that shamans tend to be terrible with finances.

Its not as bleek as this may read. I never saw anything that was too far out of line to me. Its just that if your looking for a guru go to India. These men and women never claim to be anything other than healers and guides. Its as if someone expected their doctor back home to be a flawless human being in order to treat them. Nice but not always the case.

Dieta- Many of us myself included have an innaccurate understanding of dieta. Some use the term refering to eating clean, no sugar, no salt, no fats, no sex during their stay. To me this isnt at all dieta. This is simply eating clean. Dieta is actually a very difficult undertaking of strict food restrictions but most importantly consuming or sometimes bathing in a specific plant teacher in order to learn from said teacher. Often times true plant dieta's are no less than 14 days and some up to one year. Most people dont get much out of their first couple dieta's to be honest especialy short duration ones. The more dieatas you succesfully complete the more results the user experiences. It takes a tremendous ammount of dedication and self control to complete a dieta. I know its not for me at this time. I prefered to eat clean as possible but just focus on ayahuasca and healing my first big go. After 6 weeks I did see that for me to take things to the next level dieta is the logical step.

There are dozens and dozens of different plant teachers all geared to different needs wants. Some are very healing, some are filled with information. There is even one dieta that requires the diciple to remain under water the entire time! Often many of these different diets the user does not drink ayahuasca or may just drink once or twice so be careful what you ask for if you show up to get down with ceremony and end up drinking ayahuasca just 2 times in a month. I met a girl staying in the same village at another shamans that insits that everyone do dieta. The girl came all the way from Canada and took 6 weeks leave of work to spend 30 days there. She wasnt allowed to drink aya till day 14 and only drank about 5 times in total and didnt even have 1 strong journey. She was less than thrilled and got little out of her dieta went home broke, confused, and the same person. Again, careful what you wish for it may not be what you think.

Dieta's always cost additional money and can make the cost of your stay and ceremony's look like pocket change. One fella staying with me payed about $600 for his desired 30 day dieta that consisted of 3 seeds in a bottle of red wine. That is one expensive bottle of Pinot. I bring this up because often your paying more for the shamans work than the actual plants. You need to trust that the healer is actually spending the time each night at home doing what they say they would for you. Each dieta is different and I dont know much about the different plant teachers, sorry i cant be of more help in that area.

To sum it up its very hard to choose a place and I empathize with anyone trying. You may strike gold you may strike out. In the end it is just like life. sometimes you have to just make the best out of your situation. The place i stayed was far from perfect and I have a good amount of gripes but over all it was the single most important life changing experience of my life.

I hope this is helpful and im sorry its not as black and white as many would want. Its just not a black and white topic im afraid. Its one more reason i feel at home aya is such a blessing and shouldnt be dismissed.
If you have any more questions please post them here. There are multiple nexians that have a lot of good info on this subject and this thread could be quite informative if they all chime in as well.

cheers
Om'

Excellent post, Olympus mon!

I hope you are fine and well. The "Dieta" can be very expensive indeed. 3 seeds in a bottle of red wine for $600 doesn't sound good value, to anyone i guess!!

Well, i'm not trying to promote anyone, but like you said earlier in this post, i have also heard great things about Don Marcial. He is apparently very experienced with "la dieta". I also went to meet him in person. He seems like a really nice person indeed.

Wishing you well,
Chris.

thanks OM

olympus, thank you so much for the precious info!! I bookmarked this thread as a reminder for when Ill finally put my first steps on the mystical land.

Love and light