acid trips in bamboo forests

the first thing i could think of when i saw this forum was the bamboo forest that changed my life. every detail leading up to this moment seemed so unimportant after i found myself.

i was 16, and it was the first time i ever experimented with any type of psychedelic drug. the whole experience wasn't what i expected, and the first four hours i was confined in my friend's room watching the movie natural born killers all by myself. i was horrified, and alone in a dark room. however, after the movie ended, and my friend realized what a terrible mistake it was to put in that movie, he guided me to his car, and drove quite some way to a village. the town i live in is an abysmal wasteland, littered with stores, and corporations. it is unpleasing to the eye, and unpleasing to me. however, he took me to a place called melbourne village ( melbourne is the name of the town i live in ). this place was so seperate from everything i was used to. it had it's own community center, and police department. it was like entering a new world.

so then he stopped infront of a nature walk sign. i was already excited by the purity of this area, and i took the initiative to dart into the path, leaving my companion behind. as soon as i ran into the woods, everything around me suddenly became so much greater than anything i have ever known.. there were millions of ferns surrounding me, and they all were reaching out and touching my arms as i ran. even though it was dark, a glowing light seemed to radiate from underneath the soil, and shrubs. i finally stopped running, and sat down. i grabbed handfuls of dirt and the forest floor, and looked intently at it. it pulsed slowly in my hand, and i could even feel it's life beat. the ferns still waved, and reached for me. i realized their dependance on me, and i crawled off the path to the nearby sound of water. it was a tiny stream occupied by shimmering patterns, and sounds. i let go of the dirt, washed my hands, and splashed cold water on my face. i heard my friend come behind me, and he engulfed me in his arms. he told me he had a surprise.

we walked for almost 30 minutes. it easily would've been a 5 minute walk if i hadn't continuously strayed from the path, and giggled widly about the colors i was seeing, and the revalations i was having. we finally arrived at a quite dim clearing. as far as my eyes could see, there was bamboo. it was a bamboo canopy draped over our heads. hundreds and hundreds of trees. he took me farther into this canopy, and told me to stop. he then jumped up, latched onto one of the bamboo stalks, and with his weight, pulled it down. suddenly, the whole forest began to creak with the soothing sound of bamboo. the entire canopy was shifting, and it sounded as if it were singing to me. i understood everything it said. the beauty was too much for me to handle, and i started to cry. not out of sorrow, or confusion, or intensity. it was the beauty of everything. i put a bamboo leaf behind my ear, and insisted we leave. i didn't want to learn any more than what i already had.

every trip i have had after this one has not compared. i wish i would've wrote more about my trip WHILE i was still tripping, but documenting what was happening didn't really seem all that important while it was happening.

i tripped for a good 12 hours, and in the last two hours of my experience, i made my way to work.