Machu Picchu

We started our day early in order to be one of the 400 visitors of the day to climb Huayna Picchu which means “smaller mountain” in Quechua. And by smaller, it does not mean small… The sun was out bright and early and five minutes into the hike, everyone in our group had stripped to their last layer of clothing, which luckily for me was workout pants and a tank top, in comparison to some who were in jeans. No matter what outfit you were wearing, that hike worked up a sweat! It was 45 minutes more or less up, up, up the mountain with lots of stairs, and lots of precarious edges and one very small, very dark cave. I struggled to get through that little cave, and there are many people on that trip taller than myself. I was quite impressed! Once we got to the top there was an amazing view. I don’t know if I have ever hiked to the tippy top of a mountain before and it’s really awesome to look at all the pictures of Machu Picchu now and say hey, see that really tall mountain up there? I was on the top of it. After taking copious amounts of pictures at the top, we started the hike back down. That was the part that got me. It was definitely difficult, it was definitely hard. Probably the second hardest thing I have done in the past year after racing an 800 on my home track. Finishing that hike with no falls, cuts or bruises, was enough for me to pack up and go home 100% rewarded and thrilled beyond imagination. But don’t worry, I didn’t go home yet. We then got a tour with our same guides we have had all weekend in Cusco and Ollantaytambo and we learned about various myths, facts, assumptions and knowledge they had about this ancient Incan city. It was really interesting to hear about and we did tons more walking. After that, we had about two hours of free time to just walk around and explore. That time was fabulous as well. We took pictures, sat on ledges and enjoyed the view, talked, met other travelers from all over the world and ate some snacks that we brought for the day (obviously). The scenery was just amazing and I wish I could express it in words but I just can’t. Look at the pictures, go visit yourself. I highly recommend it. I am so excited for my parents to come and see it.


I have now seen 2 of the 7 wonders of the world and that’s so exciting to me! That was never a goal of mine in life but, I might make it be. After being there, after being here, I just feel like there are so many things in the world that I still need to see and still need to visit. I have always loved to travel and I have always wanted to go all over the world but the longer I stay here the more I realize how much I have to learn and how much I have to see.

In addition to my own amazement and enjoyment of the day, being around my new friends and seeing the wonder on their faces after every turn or climb made me so happy. We have such a diverse group of people here. Some people have traveled all over, some people have never left the U.S, some people are 19, some are 28 and I loved the clashing of experiences and watching everyone go through the day. Leah’s voice was in the back of my head all day, or wait, Leah was probably just right behind me all day which is why her voice was around all day and it was amazing because every few minutes would just come a deep breath and a “wow” or a “holy crap” or “check this view” and I loved it. I loved enjoying it and feeling other people enjoy it and just feeling magnificently high.

Speaking of high: Here is a fun Peru facts paragraph about the coca plant and coca leaves. Coca is the plant that cocaine is made from. Here, it has a deep history and was used by the ancient civilizations as a multi-purpose plant. It curbed hunger, it gave you energy and for those of us who are not accustomed to altitude, we drink mate de coca tea like cocaine addicts (which maybe is a small possibility), we suck on coca candies, or chew on coca leaves to help prevent altitude sickness. We used the leaves as a remedy for our train trip to Junin a few weeks back as well and the tea is served at all the hotels, planes, trains and whenever we are traveling to somewhere with altitude. Some people thought the flavor was really bad but I thought it was pretty good. It was definitely a different flavor than I have tasted before but it’s something I will never have in the states so might as well have it here!

After Machu Picchu everything just seemed a little better. We did some more shopping at a market full of alpaca fur things, held some baby llamas, fed some alpacas and vicuñas at a little petting zoo/animal park thing and we returned home to cloudy cold Lima late Monday evening. But even the lack of sun didn’t damped my spirits because even as I write this now, I feel slightly warmer and can get butterflies in my stomach when I remember jumping into the air with the most beautiful backdrop in the world behind me.

*All Machu Picchu pictures can be found in my Cusco and Machu Picchu album as well as on my Facebook!*