I think that many people would like to see Machu Picchu (above) before they die. It’s just one of those places like the Taj Mahal or the pyramids, such extraordinary achievements that knock the breath from you when you see them. We like the idea that at some point fate will be kind enough to allow us to see them for real, rather than in a book or on a television screen. Secretly, though, you hope it will not be an anti climax, that it will be as wondrous to behold as you had always envisaged. I suspect that, for many, Machu Picchu will be the star ‘draw’ which encourages you to undertake a journey to Peru in the first place. All I can say, is that it is just as magnificent as you might imagine. From my first view of it, high on the mountain from the train to Aguas Calientes, through to watching the sun edge its way above the sacred mountains, to a touching ceremony away from the tourists – it was a truly magnificent day.
Yet, it was surprising to find that Machu Picchu is just one of many jewels on a Spirit of the Inca trip. At our first hotel, La Casona de Yucay, for instance, you could turn in a 360 arc and see, all around you, beautiful mountains, some snow-capped, despite the heat, and then at night you could see the night sky like I’d never seen it before – bright stars and the Milky Way. Lying on our backs I recited part of the poem ‘Buddha in Glory’ by Rainer Maria Rilke – ‘A billion stars go spinning through the night, blazing above your head. But in you is the presence that will be, when all the stars are dead’. Beautiful Incan architecture (no mortar between the stones – the huge blocks sculpted to fit together and in such a way as to survive earthquakes & hundreds of years, intact) is not just at Machu Picchu but in many of the places we visited. Yet, sometimes, the landscape itself is the miracle. At Killarumiyok, for instance, there was an extraordinary ‘presence’ in the rocks, it was as if a crowd of people were watching us. Here, too, the moon was visible in the sunny sky, a rainbow formed, condors flew overhead.
Nothing, however, can quite prepare you for Lake Titicaca (above) – a vast, shimmering surface of silver – or your visit to some of the extraordinary islands upon it – Uros with its islands made of living reeds, Silustani with its flat table top for UFO’s to land upon or Amantani, with its twin pre-Incan temples to the mother & the father.
Yet, there is still more! The delivery of the rites, which some of you reading this will be familiar with from the medicene wheel or the Munay Ki course, are given a different slant when led by a shaman like Don Francisco in beautiful, sacred places, each off the tourist ‘beaten track’. The chance for a ‘one to one’ with a shaman will leave you floating on air and marvelling at their ability to shift your ‘stuff’ without needing to hear your story. Then, too, there is the joy of listening to the stories of Jorge Luis Delgado, as he relates myths and legends of Lake Titicaca, as well as touring sites, which he himself ‘discovered’ and made famous, such as the ‘Aramu Muru doorway’ (below).
For me, the ‘Way of the Shaman’ (the medicine wheel course) helped heal wounds and made me feel more comfortable in this ‘new’ world. I think, though, that it was the trip to Peru, which truly made me fall in love with the world and with life again. To see such beauty, take part in ceremonies in the place which gave birth to them, & to do so in the company of like-minded and supportive friends is really something. You are constantly reminded that you are a ‘Child of the Sun’ and, you know what? Months later I’m still basking in the sunshine of just how wonderful that feels! I still don’t know where this new life journey is going to take me but I’m enjoying the ride so much more.
Some of you reading this will know Chris & Joe (above) from the ‘Spirit of the Inca’ group and will know their worth – their gentle presence, enthusiasm and their love of the work – for those who don’t, know that you will be in safe hands. It certainly would not be the same trip without them, guiding and supporting you through what they see as a ‘return home’. Believe me, visiting Peru is, sometimes, a very emotional experience and you will be glad of their support.
If you’re feeling left out, the good news is that the trip is set to become even better in 2016 – the addition of some days in the jungle & camping at Killarumiyok will be extraordinary. It is expensive, I know – so much is packed into the trip that it is hard to cut corners & I think, for what is truly the trip of a lifetime, you would not want them to. Life’s too short! What are you waiting for?