Editor’s Note: This is the third of four blog posts chronicling my journey on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. DAY 1 can be found here, and DAY 2 here.
And on the third day, I rose again.
It was nothing short of a miracle.
Before embarking on this trip, I had read and heard that the Inca Trail was a great spiritual journey. People felt enlightened upon completing the four-day trek. After all, the trail is the same that the Inca people took on their pilgrimages to Machu Picchu; and many archaeologists, scholars, etc. believe that Machu Picchu was a holy location due to the numerous temples found in such a small area. The theory is that the Inca elite flocked to Machu Picchu for religious celebrations and to honor their gods.
Up until DAY 3, I was more worried about surviving than achieving any spiritual awakening. I uttered more profanities during DAY 1 and DAY 2 than I had in my entire life – okay, the past year. And if I wasn’t verbalizing them, I was dropping F-bombs and others in my head. How was I supposed to make room in my brain for cool, collective reflecting on the meaning of life when I was just trying to make it to the next rest point? Even taking one step took a lot of focus and energy. My mind was maxed out.
And, for the most part, DAY 3 was no exception.
Body aching, I rolled out of my sleeping bag just a bit before the morning wake up call. The crisp air was refreshing, albeit chilly. I layered up, ready to tackle the day.
Our journey once again began uphill and continued alongside a cliff. One wrong step and you were a goner. I took my time, not caring if I fell behind my friends. I was sore, my knee was still throbbing, and my feet felt like they were about to fall off.
But as I slowed my pace, I was able to truly soak in the views that surrounded me. I paid more attention to the vastness of the sky, the colors of the leaves and grasses, the odd shapes of the rocks around me. I found myself with the same goofy smile I so often have spread across my face these days. No, I still didn’t develop any deep thoughts, but I was more appreciative of the experience. I lived more in the moment; outside of my body. I even laughed when I fell going downhill (admittedly I also said a few expletives).
We made it to our camp site around midday and were given the afternoon to relax. As I lied down, ready to doze off, I reflected on the past three days and debated grabbing my phone to jot down some thoughts (I forgot to bring pen and paper!). But, I didn’t really have anything worth writing. Or so I felt. I kept coming back to the same thing: that I had already spent the past year-and-seven-months thinking about my life, my purpose, my goals, my desires, my strengths and my weaknesses. Even more, I had spent that time challenging myself, testing my limits on a daily basis. I’ve lived outside of my comfort zone, and this trek was just another adventure in which I was pushing myself.
Now, I would be doing DAY 3 a disservice if I didn’t mention more about the actual trail. After the initial climb, we spent most of the day descending a stone pathway into the jungle. We passed through two archaeological sites on DAY 3. One smaller site early on and a larger just before camp. Then, at our campsite there was a third which we visited prior to sunset. At all three of the sites, I pondered what life had been like for the ancient civilization, the people who traversed the same trail I was on. The sites, carved into mountainsides, all had fantastic views and made incredible use of the land. Terraces had been built for farming, and channels had been dug for natural water flow. The Inca lived one with the earth; they worshipped the sun and the moon, the land and the water. And, that was apparent in many of their designs.
But, I’ll go more into that on DAY 4.
Brittany McGee 