By Yann Scavarda
Published on 21 Mar 21 @ 11:36 am
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In this Sunday March 15, 2020, in front of the spectacle of a colony of pink flamingos in Celestun, on the Mexican coast: “We are well: the virus seems to us distant »Writes Francis Lepioufle in his travel diary. And yet “he is approaching dangerously” …
Pursued by the pimple beast!
Departed on February 7, 2020 from Paris “avoiding touching the escalator” so as not to risk a possible contagion coronavirus, Francis and Martine Lepioufle have decided to fly far, far away. On a whim. Or rather at the click of a mouse after stumbling across an offer to travel to and from Mexico for three times nothing.
“We travel inexpensively. Initially, we wanted to go to Peru, but with the events that happened there at the time, we were dissuaded from doing so, it was really too dangerous … “
It’s rapped for the Incas, either. But the Mayans are great too! And then, at this price …
–For Francis, “ voyager, it is a job “. He scrupulously takes note of all these small details of daily life, no doubt insignificant for the native, but precious to know for the Western novice who ventures without a guide in these lands of the New World.
This is how the account of this trip that he has just published under the title Mayan splendours and end of worlds constitutes, at the same time as a “reflection on the differences of cultures, so respectable”, a mine of information and practical advice for who would like to leave in turn.
From the dangerous art of lighting an antique gas water heater in order to successfully take a hot shower to the almost routine one of dodging kidnapping and ransom attempts, Francis Lepioufle takes us on a safe journey through the fascinating land of the Feathered Serpent.
At 71, this former teacher still has the same spirit of adventure, eager for discoveries. Attracted by Latin America, he enrolled in the Spanish course at UTL with José Maria Pujol, whom he followed for three years. This language lover, who masters Gallo, considers that we must speak at least a little the language of the country we are visiting. “What matters in the journey is contact with people, being able to communicate with them. “
In a country like Mexico, not really known to be very safe, “you have to have a spirit of adventure and an reactivity very strong. But we were never worried. You always have to check where you are and where you are going and things are going well ”.
Two Mexican women living in Loudéac who have read the book are grateful to him for not having portrayed their country from the sole angle of the cartels. “I speak about it too, of course, but without obscuring all the richness of the cultures which intertwine in this country; it is very particular. “
And during that time …
“The corona advances its tentacles on the earth’s crust like a crawling, a serpent from the underworld, penetrating all human cavities. Would the inhabitants of the earth be condemned to live like woodlice? From the year 40 on a planetary scale! “
While they were gone for two and a half months, Francis and Martine had to return in disaster on March 23, by the last plane. Atmosphere of the end of the world …
“Did the Inca populations, those of Yucatan, disappear because of such a virus? “
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