Llama love

I climbed up the monkey steps with perhaps the
last reserves of energy and then stumbled onto the clearing of the Sun gate.
There, stood in front of me, a view I had yearned for the years. The mist had
risen and was holding itself off on the mountain tops.  The river meandered peacefully in the valley
below. A serpentine road was in plain sight. And on the shaved mountain slopes,
lay the wondrous ancient ruins of Machu Picchu.

As exhilarating as that was, the journey to
that point after four grueling days was almost more rewarding. We started on
the Inca trail at a drive’s away from Cuzco. Our porters ran ahead to set up
camp and carry our sleeping bags and mattresses, while the rest of us began our
hike along the ancient Inca trail towards Machu Picchu. The first day was a
decent walk without it being a challenge. On the way, we came across several ruins
whose purpose could be only speculated by the hike guides. We ended at a beautiful
location for our campsite and feasted on a well made meal.

Mystical ruins

The second day was exhausting in all aspects. We
climbed over 1500m which was compounded by the fact that you were already at
3000 odd meters. We went up stony inclines, through wooded forests and came across
clearings that put glacial mountains on display. Making my way up the dead
woman’s pass, I constantly told my legs to keep moving. And on top, when we
reached the highest point on the trail, the weather turned sour bringing hail
in the game. On the other side, lay a steep decline path made of wet stones. My
one repaired knee hated going downhill. 

I am certain the facts say the chewing coco
leaves bring no known medical benefits. But on that day, I revisited the old Indian
habit of chewing ‘paan’ and gladly rolled myself 10-15 leaves and stored them
in the cavity of my cheeks. There was the numbing of cheek, a drying of the
throat but mostly importantly I didn’t notice the brutality of the climb and
the thinness of the air that surrounded it. I am fairly certain that chewing
half a bag of such leaves was primarily the reason I stayed awake all night
despite my lower body crying for sleep.

The third day was one of my favorites. A small
hike later we reached some more fascinating ruins and our camp site. A stone
throws away lay the ruins of ‘Winaywana’ which translates as forever young. We had
massive ruin to ourselves. There I witness the Incan method of terrace farming,
irrigating rivers to flow through their sites, small living quarters and places
of worship that elevated rainbows to God status. 

Next day, we got up very early to be the first
to Inca gate and then ambled down to Machu Picchu where eventually our sanctity
was mixed with thousand other tourists who had taken the bus up.

There was no denying the mystical nature of
this hike. The body hurt constantly but the mind was fascinated beyond belief. The
thin mountain air, the ancient broken ruins with impossibly large stones, the
strong sun and sudden downpours, the mist and the greenery and the strolling
Llama added such unique dimensions to this walk that it almost paled the reward
at the end. Despite not having showered for four days or used remotely clean
restrooms, I found myself giggling with this pursuit of happiness.

Peru, otherwise, was also my first foray into
South America and my first time south of the equator. I had expected an out of
the world experience, but strangely it felt like a strange rendition of India
almost at every intersection. There was similar chaos the streets, although
there was more order. The food was spicy but eaten with forks and knives. There
were sit down toilets coupled with toilet paper that couldn’t be flushed down.
Although Spanish was spoken everywhere, there was a general distrust of the Spaniards. 

There was of course plenty that made Peru very
unique. Bus rides were always accompanied with gorgeous vistas. The county
offered such fascinating variation of geography and air density. Street food
had guinea pigs on offer. Cultures of Uru people that lived on floating islands
made of totora reeds and other isolated cultures that lived on islands on a
lake that 4000m above sea level.  Despite
the generic poverty in cities, I was amazed at how prim and proper the government
workers and Policemen looked.

The city of Arequipa left its own mark. It
seemed to have embraced the Spanish influence in a far more welcoming fashion.
The city was surrounded by gorgeous volcanoes and the sunsets that went with
them. It was different from Cuszo which primarily was a tourist city. People
here were working, and the tourists only kept coming their way.

Another early morning effort took me to Colca
Canyon, where I witness the magical Condors take flight. To see these three
meter wingspan birds in flight along the edge of the canyon was to see nature
in its best rarest raw form. On the way back, we enjoyed the dusting of smaller
towns and hot springs along the river.

It was, without a doubt, one of the nicest
vacations I have had. There was the excitement of the unknown, demands
of physical nature, a new plethora of food flavors and uncomfortable language
barriers. 

 And despite the very southern latitudes, I felt myself soaring in high spirits even on thin air.