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| Sun rise of a most incredible day! |
Day5:
Yeah so. Machu Picchu.
Machu
Picchu means “it is all here” in quechua other interpretations go along the way
of “all that is needed”.
It
is a beautifull place, of course, but it is so much more, the energy there is
incredible! I remain a youth and yet I am blessed to have seen A LOT of beauty
yet in my life, I can assure you This sanctuary is much much more than a
beautiful place.
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| Me in the path to the Machu Picchu mountain. Behind me, mythical Machu Picchu Sanctuary! |
This
day, tuesday, was a sort of peak of this journey, it consolidated
the ever numerous amazing experiences and moments I have had the luck and honor
of going through. Cusco February, march, april and may (until now) 2014 have
been powerfully generous. This journey has been incredibly rich and I feel as
if I was given everything needed. This can be a bit overwhelming at time. I
honestly have had a hard time realizing everything that I have come to
experience. I am truly grateful.
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| Perfect dawn weather. strong impressions |
One
aspect of this journey is “first times”. As you may have read in the trek post,
I had “never” been outside of western civilization, “never” been south of the
equator, never been in South America etc. This was the first time I have lived
at high altitude, learned Spanish, first time I have been so high 4600m first
time I have been in the jungle.
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| There is a mark in the ground, that's where the king of spain destroyed a ceremonial sculpture in a manner to land in helicopter. Lazy bum. fog drifting by. |
And
yet I have a hard time explaining but does not really feel like a “First time”
or a discovery, everything felt perfectly casual. Simply, it was like that at
the moment. But it puzzled me, how come there is no surprise? Why does this
feel so normal? I have a few answers of course, I’ll be happy to share them
orally (as for some experiences, it has been made clear I should share them in
spoken fashion only).
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| Bus road, the foot path cuts through in a more "vertical" fashion |
But
Machu Picchu of all places, felt more like meeting a long since seen lover than
discovering a new place. I felt I had spent years, lifetimes there and this was
simply another day there. In another way it felt like I was only saying hello
in this life and That I would see it again. All the troubles and doubt about
“returning” to Switzerland and how life might be different were levied. I felt
that something enormous had blanketed my unconscious part and was softly
balancing it. Leaving Cusco will be easy in a certain fashion, for I feel I
could easily return for a while. I am going to go to south America again and if
I do I will pass by Perù, if I do pass through perù I will go to Cusco and if I
do I will go by Machu Picchu again. So there is quite a chance that I will
return. Here’s how the day went.
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| First checkpoint. 5 am |
Wake
up at 3:45. Sandwich making, finish
consolidating stuff. Meet at main place 4:30 and then we left in the night for
the Machu! We soon met other groups and in the time we came to the bridge I believe
we were around 200 people (around 8% of the total amount of persons allowed
through the gates of the sanctuary. each day 2500).
Passed the first check point before the bridge.
And we started climbing millennial
steps in the jungle. It was beautiful and amazing. I found myself extracted
from allocated trek group so put on music. Kind of had a retrospective résumé
moment listening to the entirety of my Cusquenian compositions climbing up to
one of the “new” seven marvels of the world. Headlights dancing at the rhythm
of sacred steps. cried of exaltation.
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| Dancing flashlights up to the sanctuary |
Arrived
around 5:50. Doors opened precisely at 6am (most precise moment time wise in
all of my Peruvian experience!)
Entered and was
put with an English speaking guide (not my trek guide) but felt tense and prisoner
as the strength of the place was becoming me. Returned to Juan, which was
giving a tour in Spanish, felt much better and was able to stay in place. After
a while I realized it was Spanish and not English, a small celebration in my
cabeza!. He left us around 8 am, felt like 3pm after exchanging virtual contact
info parted in different groups according to accessibility of sites; a
necessity to book tickets in advance for Wayna Picchu and Machu Picchu
Mountain. I found myself with a double couple of French folk, which honestly
were fun and enjoyable to hang out with. We headed to the Machu Picchu Mountain
entrance after going out of the site for a break.
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| First hours of day light. |
We
were told an hour and a half to access the top; it was clear none of us decided
to believe that before passing the checkpoint. After a grueling 45 minutes of
the strongest incline we had climbed so far, I had the stupid idea to ask a
random woman (we took pictures of her with her ipad) how long left? When I saw
her lone index be her answer, my brain skipped for a second and believed it was
only a minute left.
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| Mystical moments |
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| Stairway in the sky |
Of course it was
an hour. That was the hardest moment of the trek yet. At that moment we all had
blisters and assorted cramps, numbness, rashes, bites and a lot of fatigue. We
went on and the steepness did too. Harder and harder. Up in the clouds. At one
point I was blessed to feel that I was on stairs in the sky! It was beautiful.
And 600 m higher than the sanctuary we finally arrived atop. A moment I will
see during my passing certainly. Of course with lady luck granting me her
favors the view of the site cleared after 15 minutes and lasted until the
remaining of the day! Beautiful! Marvelous! A gift truly! Had pic nic (Food is not allowed but
thankfully the guard only cared about our safety. I did spend the day with my
jacket in one hand hiding my plastic bag of food).
And started back after an hour. I then
learned that one of the group has vertigo (fear of heights) and felt a great
deal of respect and awe for his accomplishment! We passed the checkpoint 3 hours
and a half after we entered.
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| Wayna Picchu |
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| HA! |
The day was perfect! The night walk was not
too cold yet the temperatures would cool us off a bit during the hike. When
entering the site there were wisps and tufts of clouds and fog surrounding the
site making it very unreal, eerie and mystical. I really had the lost mystical
city of the Inca feeling. As the day went on and as we made for the top of the
mountain the clouds parted to end in a warm leisurely sunny afternoon meditation
to top everything off!
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| See the building? started the day there, walked all the way here (and back) |
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| Machu Picchu Mountain as seen from the sanctuary. |
After returning from Machu Picchu Mountain
we wandered about and took pictures then we parted and I went to enjoy my last
hour with an old friend alone. Wrote, meditated, had reflexions on my life and
listened to music. The site closes at 4pm and we had a meeting in the center of
town at 530pm. What was not my surprise when modifying the volume my sound
device informed me it was 420pm already. Had to say goodbye to the sanctuary in
a rush, thanked it as if I was a Japanese man that had just had his life saved
and ran down hill to reach 400 meters lower in 30 minutes. Went to the agency
owned restaurant to retrieve my train tickets (for the 6:30 train, I had yet to
meet another chap from the group and retrieve my pack!!!) but discovered my
train would leave at 9pm! Went to the rendez vous point but only four of the
original ten produced at the meeting. But there were the two Irishmen with me
so we had a fun time nonetheless! I will mention the chap from Québec which was
my tent and roommate for the duration of the trek. A nice lad, generous and
taught me a few very enjoyable tricks to make a better experience of my
journey. The 11 of us all laughed a lot during the whole five days!
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| As I had nonchalantly wished for a flute solo earlier in the day, for it would perfect the experience. Life manifested my wish! pretty amazing moment! |
Went
back to the hostel and I wrote and watched crazy weird Peruvian TV whilst Mike
and Pat went for pizza ( I had prepared a picnic, plus had been bled dry of my
money during the trek). I finished rereading for the billionth time the volume
2 of “conversations with god”. We went to the station and I caught up with a
few of the people from other groups I had connected with during the five days.
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| Valley of Machu Picchu Pueblo at sundown |
In
the train had the (P)leisure of listening to music whilst seeking in the night.
Mostly being thankful and happy about other humans!
The change at the station was extremely
speedy. I was called scoo schmitzleuss and boarded a minivan with the delicate
luck of being last, hence in the front seat. Off loaded 2 streets from my
domicile and really felt my feet and legs pain for the very last moments of
15kilo hiking shoes pleasure. I think I did the whole hike without interior
soles. Tsst tstt. You know me! Went to bed and… woke up 5 hours later!
Whaaaatt?
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| Of course the skies had to offer such a sight for my eyes to witness it's power. |
I am surprised of the happiness of my feet
and legs, they recuperated astonishingly fast! Thank you thank you thank you!
Much love!
Scott
