"But it's only a ten hour bus ride." That is all I needed to hear to be convinced to take a week and a half off of working to go see the famous city of Cuzco and its plethora of Inca ruins. I packed my backpack and we were off!
Ernesto "Che" Guevara said Machu Picchu is a "place that drives any dreamer to ecstasy."
I am currently reading an anthology about Peru's history and I have loved learning about the places that I am visiting. I recently read an excerpt from the journals of Hiram Bingham, the first white man to "discover" Machu Picchu. He said this, "The elusive beauty of this chaste, undecorated surface seems to be due to the fact that the wall was built under the eye of a master mason who knew not the straight edge, the plumb rule, or the square. He had no instruments of precision, so he had to depend on his eye. He had a good eye an artistic eye, an eye for symmetry and beauty of form."
It was great to meet up with some friends from BYU and travel for a few days as a group. We stayed in some funky little hostels, ate great food and enjoyed many laughs. Here is our favorite place we stayed: Super Tramp Hostel. (yes, that is the real name)
After Machu Picchu, our friends moved on to other cities and Conner and I decided to backpack our way through the Andes to get to the Inca ruins of Choquequirao. A 5 hour bus ride(it only broke down once) and a 1 hour taxi drive(7 passengers in a falling apart station wagon) got us to the trail head. We were so excited to get into the mountains and forget about civilization for a few days.
To get to the ruins you have to hike 20 km down the canyon wall to the river bed at the bottom, then hike up the other side another 12 km. It was really difficult, but the views were incredible and we made many friends at the camp grounds from all over the world.
Once you get to the river there is only one way to cross: hop into a little cage and pull yourself accross the river on a cable. It was so fun. We did it plenty of times just for fun, but the first time held its novelty.
We spent the night next to the river and then woke up early the next morning to head up the other side of the canyon. The trail is straight uphill so we frequently rested in the many stream beds that we crossed.
When we finally made it up to the ruins we were exhausted. We couldn't bear to walk any further so we we had a good long rest enjoying the beautiful ruins and the amazing views.
Besides the archaeological excavation team, we were the only people there! It was awesome!
We spent the night near the ruins. Can't complain about the campsite.
Hiking out of the canyon the next day seemed unbearable in the heat of the day, so we decided to hike back down to the river in the morning, spend the afternoon at the river and hike up the canyon that evening. It was one of the most incredible experiences. The full moon lit our path. We didn't even use our headlamps. By the time we had reached the top of the canyon wall we were standing in a cloud. So tired, but so satisfied we snapped this pic at the peak of the mountain.
There was no campground so we asked the sweet owner of this home to let us camp next her house and she put us right on the porch protected from the wind. She was very sweet to us.
All in all, the 60 kilometers were hard and painful, but totally worth it.
On the ride home I found myself sitting next to a woman roped in the most beautiful colors. Her skin was wrinkled and sun worn. Her toothless smile made me happy. I went to speak to her only to find that she did not speak Spanish. She only spoke the native language of Quechua. Suddenly there was such a difference between us. I felt that she was so different now that I couldn't communicate with her. She was so foreign. But couldn't help but see the small space between us on the car seat. We were close physically, but culturally we were divided by an enormous gap.
I was blessed to have a thought brought to my mind at that moment: "Heavenly Father is no respecter of persons." He doesn't see our clothes or the language we speak. He doesn't care that she harvests potatoes for a living and that I'm a spoiled college student. He sees the heart. Maybe there was a large cultural gap between us, but in that moment I felt closer spiritually to that woman than any other human on the planet.
After Machu Picchu, our friends moved on to other cities and Conner and I decided to backpack our way through the Andes to get to the Inca ruins of Choquequirao. A 5 hour bus ride(it only broke down once) and a 1 hour taxi drive(7 passengers in a falling apart station wagon) got us to the trail head. We were so excited to get into the mountains and forget about civilization for a few days.
Once you get to the river there is only one way to cross: hop into a little cage and pull yourself accross the river on a cable. It was so fun. We did it plenty of times just for fun, but the first time held its novelty.
When we finally made it up to the ruins we were exhausted. We couldn't bear to walk any further so we we had a good long rest enjoying the beautiful ruins and the amazing views.
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I was blessed to have a thought brought to my mind at that moment: "Heavenly Father is no respecter of persons." He doesn't see our clothes or the language we speak. He doesn't care that she harvests potatoes for a living and that I'm a spoiled college student. He sees the heart. Maybe there was a large cultural gap between us, but in that moment I felt closer spiritually to that woman than any other human on the planet.
