wonders of this place

As I was looking back through pictures and souvenirs bought over the past few months, I not only realized how quickly my time here is coming to an end, but also all the amazing adventures I have been able to experience over the past four months. The past few weeks of traveling have truly lead to some incredible memories and stories. My adventures first began with a trip to the beautiful, but very touristy town of Copacabana in Bolivia and touring some native floating islands on Lake Titicaca, each one home to about five families. The people of this tribe were forced to the islands (on which they have to keep laying down new reeds every few years, so they will not sink into the lake) by the powerful Incans, and have lived there ever since in their small, single-room, reed constructed houses. The children travel by rowboat every morning to a different island, where they have one school. Because of tourism, the people here have begun to learn Spanish, but it is not their native language and they embrace their own tribal culture and religion, rather than that brought on by the Spaniards. The next magnificent adventure I got to be a part of was a four day trek to Machu Picchu. However, it was not all hiking, though we did get to hike part of the Inca Trail; my friend and I elected not to do the whole thing because of the diversity we would be able to experience with this other trip (including biking, hiking, rafting, and zip lining). Our group was just so wonderful and diverse, made up of a man from Italy, who taught me how to properly eat spaghetti, a Polish guy from France, who has lived in China the past several years, and who I believe has visited the most countries of anyone I have ever met (he gave me lots of advice of all the places I need to travel to next), an incredibly intelligent guy from Ireland, who has had job opportunities with credit card fraud and processing companies, my friend from North Carolina, who is currently living in Lima and working with a surfing-missionary program, a girl from Washington DC, who is spending about six months down here traveling and writing for her NPO, and a girl from Germany, who had been teaching in Chile for several months and we picked her up in one of the small towns along the way, as she was attempting to take a bus to Machu Picchu, but none of them could make it through because of the recent sixteen landslides, and of course our awesome, knowledgeable, Cusquenan tour guide. The first day was all biking, beginning at 14,275 feet on a nice paved road and ending with us racing through the mud on a narrow back road in the mountains. The following two days we hiked through mud, straight up steep hills, on the sides of cliffs, under and over landslides, and waterfalls, through the beautiful diversity of the Inca Jungle. Along the way, we encountered hundreds of different plants, including coffee, cocoa, coca, avocado, ketamine, and many more. We learned about the history and culture of the mighty Incan People and the glimpses that still exists in parts of Peru to this day. We finally made it the third day to the town at the base of Machu Picchu, called Aguas Calientes, where we were able to enjoy the relaxing, natural hot springs. The following morning we woke up at 4am to begin our hike to the top. The first bus leaves at 5:30am, so if you want to beat the crowd, you have to hike the straight-up trail from the bridge right outside town (that opens at 5) in less than an hour. So we booked it. Being one of the first few people to arrive up there in the morning, drenched in sweat but feeling somewhat accomplished is just such a magnificent and beautiful experience, as you catch glimpses of the ancient ruins and timeless, huge mountains through the fog. Because we were within the first 250 people up there in the morning, we were able to hike up the mountain right behind the ancient city after our tour and enjoying some coffee. It was another steep climb, but the view from the top was like no other. We sat at the top for several hours just admiring the hugeness, yet detailed work of God´s creation and the unimaginable intelligence and work that it took to create this ancient home of the Incas, while we enjoyed our fresh mangos and avocado. The rest of the day was spent wandering around the ruins, getting chased by a llama, encountering an old Incan Bridge on the trail hovering over a cliff, and racing back down the path from the top to see if we could beat the bus down, all the while focusing hard not to twist an ankle. This place, though a mind-blowing wonder to see (obviously, as an average of 2,500 people visit it every day), is so much more than that to the people here. They feel such a connection to it and their ancestors, and they will all tell you of the “energy” that it possesses. My Cusquenan sister even went to visit for a weekend because she was going through a difficult time. Even though our guide has been there hundreds of times, you could see his excitement as we got closer and he told us that he felt like he was being called home. I am grateful to get to experience a little bit of the true culture here and to have gone on this absolutely unforgettable adventure, but I am also just excited to spend time at my home back in Cusco with my family and my dear friends that I have made here, as I make the most of my time here over my last two weeks.