Part 1 of our journey into the Andean world and my own slight obsession with the concept and Quechuan word, Ayni, here.
The Quechuan word ‘Ayni’…a sublime and old Andean idea; a responsibility that one has to one’s community. A guiding principle and philosophy rather than any law, it very roughly translates into ‘reciprocity’. A part of the social responsibility to one’s community and the earth, the Pachamama. The idea is a living thing and not simply an arcane idea where one can sit on one’s ass and simply ‘not collaborate’.
It remains a term (and concept) that stays in my blood from our precious weeks in Peru, and like so many of the mountain concepts, its’ time is always and it is
‘now’. Read more about our journey and the characters in an upcoming piece in the very Canadian Outpost Magazine. And, oh, the characters oozed integrity…and every one of them could slug back tea.
About JeffFuchs
Having lived for a decade in Yunnan, Fuchs’ work has centred on indigenous mountain cultures, oral histories along with an obsessive interest in tea.
Fuchs is the author of 'The Ancient Tea Horse Road' (Viking-Penguin) and he was the subject of 'The Tea Explorer' documentary based on his exploration of the Tea Horse Road.
His photos and stories have appeared on three continents in publications such as Kyoto Journal, TRVL, and Outpost Magazine, as well as The Spanish Expedition Society, The Earth, Silkroad Foundation, The China Post Newspaper, The Toronto Star, The South China Morning Post, and UNESCO amongst others. Various pieces of his work are part of private collections in Europe, North America, and Asia. Fuchs served as Asian Editor at Large for five years at award-winning Outpost magazine.
Jeff has worked with schools and universities, giving talks on both the importance of oral traditions, tea and mountain cultures.
His recently released book ‘The Ancient Tea Horse Road’ (Penguin-Viking Publishers) details his 8-month groundbreaking journey traveling and chronicling one of the world’s great trade routes, The Tea Horse Road. Fuchs is the first westerner to have completed the entire route stretching almost six thousand kilometers through the Himalayas a dozen cultures.
Fuchs partnered with Wild China to create a journey along the Tea Horse Road which National Geographic Traveler called one of the "50 Trips of a Lifetime".
He is co-founder of Akahiao Nature Institute on the island of Hawai'i along with his wife, Julie Rogers.
