A dream come true

Peru

I remember being a kid exploring Youtube when it was still a pixelated mess of home-made videos. I came across videos talking about the Incan Empire and the vestiges of that once great empire that remained dotted across the Peruvian landscape. It became a dream of mine to see Macchu Picchu and an even bigger dream to hike along the Inca Trail to arrive at the Sun Gate.

Luckily, I had a friend who really wanted to finish her original South America trip before the pandemic rudely interrupted her adventures. We joined a G Adventures group that guided our exploration of Cusco, led our hike of the Inca Trail, and gave us a chance to see some weird and wonderful wildlife in the Peruvian Amazon.

History Alert

The Inca Empire

It was the largest empire in Pre-Colombian South America, with its administrative and political centre in Cusco. Through conquest and negotiation, it obtained vast swathes of territory along the Western border of South America with communities dotted around the Andean mountains. What always impressed me most was this architectural feat. Without the use of large carrier animals like horses (they only had cutesie llamas and alpacas) or a system of writing, the Incans were able to coordinate and build these towns thousands of feet up mountainsides. The buildings they developed were even earthquake resistant by keying large granite rocks together without mortar. The small protrusions interlocked, allowing the rocks to “dance” on each other during an earthquake before resettling into their original locations unperturbed.

There were a few things I wanted to highlight from the Inca Trail. Firstly, the changes to topography along the route was incredible. You start along desert landscapes with cacti blocking views of snowcapped peaks. As you continue to hike, the air grows thinner and you enter dense cloudforests with beautiful streams trinkling alongside your path. The closer you get to Macchu Picchu, the more often you hear the buzz of mosquitos working hard to find a bit of exposed skin to nestle into and suckle on your blood. The forestry transforms itself into a jungle.

Secondly, it shocked me how great the effect altitude was on my fitness. I am a simple desert girl who has rarely ventured up a hill, and most of those trips happened when I moved to the United Kingdom at 17. It was a shock on my first day in Cusco where a short 10-step set of stairs left me completely winded and about to faint. I was very worried about the journey up Dead Woman’s Pass, as that reached heights of almost 15,000 feet. The last time I was that high was just before I jumped out of a plane skydiving, and frankly I had other safety concerns at that point!

Finally, it was a realisation that the journey truly does matter much more than the accomplishment. Macchu Picchu was stunning and every bit as exciting as I expected it to be. However, what stands out were the meditative moments on my journey to get there. Away from the usual distractions, I was focused on how my body felt, the environment around me, the friends I met along the way, and the occasional very cute wild alpaca in the distance. It brought me back to myself and taught me that focusing on end results detracts from the joy of the present moment.