Peru: Retracing the Steps of the Incas To The Cloud City of Machu Picchu
“It’s an irritating reality that many places and events defy description. Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu, for instance, seem to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about. For a while after, you fumble for words, trying vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and what’s happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there – with your eyes open – and lived to see it.” - Anthony Bourdain
To say I was excited & filled with anticipation on the day we waited in that bus line to take the final leg of our long journey to arrive at the entrance of Machu Picchu would be an understatement. My excitement was palpable. My excitement was sheer joy. JOY. WONDER.
We had already spent a week in Peru and had many adventures by the time we had arrived at Machu Picchu.
Paracus.
Ballestas Islands.
the Nazca Lines.
The Sacred Valley.
Ollantaytambo
Cusco.
But, taking that 30-minute, winding switchback road up to Machu Picchu, seemed to last a lifetime. I felt like a 10-year-old boy walking through the crowds, wanting to push my way through the people in excitement, the way you feel on Christmas morning as child when you tear the wrapping paper off the gifts Santa has brought.
Around the first few corners, up tight staircases, to finally catch my first few glimpse of the world-famous site was magical… and it took my breath away. I just kept taking pictures, in a sea of people… at first, really, really bad pictures… and almost missing the moment, witnessing it through my camera lens and not right in front of me. I had to stop. Breathe. Focus. And be present in the moment.
And it was definitely worth even minute of motion sickness, altitude sickness, dehydration and every other ailment I had experienced along the way to be there in that moment.
The first time I saw Machu Picchu, I kept saying to Kristin, “There it is! There it is! Can you believe it? We’re actually here! We’re at Machu Picchu! How wild is that? It’s wild!”
Like, Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu has long been on my list to visit… going all the way back to when I studied archaeology/anthropology & history in college. And, like Angkor Wat, I never in my lifetime thought I would actually be standing on the grassland steppes of Machu Picchu. I still consider myself one of the luckiest human beings on the planet. I am so grateful and have been so blessed to have these types of adventures.
I can honestly say, of all of the places I’ve been on planet earth, the Sacred Valley is one of THE most profound places I have ever visited, next to Angkor Wat.
From my journal entries while visiting Peru:
10/19 – 10:09 PM CST – Friday
“Laying in my bed at the Inkaterra Hotel in Machu Picchu, MACHU PICCHU, PERU!
So today… I did it… with Kristin… (& Alfredo Fisher our guide)
I walked where the ancient Incas walked… I walked on Machu Picchu…
& with that, a significant Bucket List item has been checked off:
Machu Picchu
Nazca Lines – another Bucket List item for me!
& Machu Picchu more than lived up to its billing… like Angkor Wat. Much, much more!
I need to write down my ideas for later before I fall asleep:
I talked to God today. During my hot stones massage session. I was in tears. I was in an open cave. First a voice, but it was telepathic, no sound. Then a staff, then a silhouette of an older man. He said, ‘you’re on the right path. You’re doing well. You need to write. You have a message people need to hear. It will be the hardest thing you ever do, but you will be successful in getting the word out to those that need to hear it.’
“Experiencing the Americas” non-profit idea – local guides, local cultures, first-world travelers get indigenous, cultural experiences, tied to nature & knowledge. The world becomes a better, more thoughtful place through personal connection, common experience, empathy, curiousity & openness.
Hullioc (‘we oak’) Village Experience
The Vistadome train experience (The English family we spoke to (53 countries, Agatha Christie stories)
Doris & Andean Stones massage
The Machu Picchu impressions
Ollantaytambo
Need to sleep… more later.”
10/22 – 6:36 PM CST – Monday
“So much to write about. Don’t know how far I’ll get. I’ve been sick for 48 hours. Altitude sickness. Severely dehydrated. Throwing up. Chills. In and out of sleep… pushing ourselves to see things every day for a few hours, but then passing out in an altitude-friendly room. I haven’t decided if it is good or bad. & the travel is intense. I will try to capture some of the moments.”
Our personal ceremony with the Shaman
“yesterday, Kristin & I had a very special ceremony with a shaman; a “white” or good shaman. It was incredible. It was a general ceremony for prosperity, balance & protection. We made an offering to mother earth as well…”
10/22 – 8:45 PM CST – Monday
“Day 11 of our Peruvian adventure… so much has happened…
So again, of all of the places I’ve been, the Sacred Valley is one of THE most profound places next to Angkor Wat. Like Angkor Wat, I want to live here. No surprise that I connect with these ancient places. I wonder if I would feel the same type of connection if I went to visit Egypt, Iraq, Jordan or Jerusalem? Or say, the Yucatan peninsula?
Maybe I was meant to come to these places because I have some past connection in a past life or I am meant to make some new connection and share what I find with the world... Regardless, Peru, like Cambodia, has left a profound impression on me. I feel as though I belong here. Especially in the Sacred Valley. It really felt like home.
And the Incan technology, up close is incredibly impressive:
The terraces
The engineering
The astronomy
The understanding & connection to the natural world
All of these things and more… and all of these cultures had similar technologies… how? So incredible.
As Kyrylo & I talked about on the train… Humanity’s evolution has not been in a linear line like we’ve been led to believe. There have definitely been ‘setbacks’ & ‘dark ages.’ I’ve seen evidence of that in the last two weeks. The Spanish may have ‘conquered’ the Incas, but the Incas were superior in every way.
And it does make me think, are we in one of those ‘setback’ periods of human history now? For all of our advancements in technology & self-expression, level of comfort & luxury, is humanity really healthy, happy or better off?
Is our technology, helpful or hurtful? Are human beings really smarter, or dumber? Less or more easily manipulated & influenced? Less or more easily distracted? Less or connected to each other? Ourselves? God? Nature? More or less empathetic?”
