Machu Picchu

After weeks of anticipation our long awaited task of navigating the trails up to Machu Picchu lay ahead of us. Still recovering from a crippling bout of what we could only guess was food poisoning we boarded a tourist bus with 14 diverse and enthusiastic tourists from Canada, Australia, California and the UK, who were all luckily native English speakers. I didn’t know it at the time but over the course of the next four days I would grow very fond of the group who all became quite close by the end of the adventurous ordeal. Carrying most of our belongings on our backs we grew accustomed to having tenacious porters pass us with what looked like far heavier loads, while only wearing worn out sandals. Irregardless of the difficulty of the hike, everyone remained in high spirits and there was always an encouraging comment or helpful hand to be offered. Subsisting on three square meals a day expertly prepared, given the conditions, we neared the highest point of our excursion at Dead Woman’s Pass. Topping out at 4,215 meters above sea level we all celebrated with a group pow wow at the top of the blustery pass before descending into another valley before our next climb up the (much less daunting) peak.

Climbing ever higher through the first and second days of the hike we were surprised at how forgiving the weather was. Given that our trip fell right in the middle of the summer rainy season, we did not see any real precipitation until the 3rd day. And even with a couple of hours of heavy rain, our sense of wonder was not dampened in the slightest as each step brought with it a new vantage point over a wonderfully expansive and largely untouched landscape. Green mountainsides gave way to sweeping vistas that were often times dotted with old Incan ruins and long overgrown terraces where countless crops once flourished. Later into the third day whilst on our slow descent to our final camp site we were shocked to find that our surroundings changed quite drastically from relatively barren hillsides to alpine jungle.

All of our efforts finally paid off just after the dawn of the fourth day as our group made its last advance on the famed wonder of the world. Following a terraced wall we crested one last hill before we were greeted by the amazing stonework of Machu Picchu, which lay below our vantage point only slightly obscured by morning fog. As near as makes no difference to a spiritual experience we all gazed upon the man made monument to past splendor just taking it all in. To think that human power and ingenuity created such a striking city quite literally from the rock available in the area while regularly making the trip on foot up to this remote area was a stark and chastising thing to comprehend. Exploring the ancient maze of chambers and corridors was only enhanced by our journey to this point and I can think of no reason why anyone would believe otherwise. Leaving the historic city our group met in the rough little village of Aguas Callientes for our last meal together before taking the panoramic windowed train back to Ollantaytambo where a bus waited to take us back to Cuzco. Our excursion came to a close while riding through a rather ominous thunder storm.

Written by AJ Kwong