Camino del Inca
I came back from the Inca's trail but before I get to the details I have to tell you about the meeting with a Shaman. I was wondering around the Church of San Blas today, resting from the tough trek and admiring stores with the folk art. I wanted to open the door of one of the places which looked like a store with jewelry but the door was locked. I was ready to leave but a man came to the door and opened it. I said that if it was his lunch break or siesta I could come back later but he said "No, you are welcome - I open only for certain people". Hm... I went inside and he closed the door. He started showing me the different types of jewerly which was all very unique. We were talking about nature and he was saying how it's sad for him to see how the influx of turists is changing his homeland, how it's being robbed of its sancticity. .. I said that it's not possible to turn the hands of the clock - certain places were discovered and called extraordinary and people want to see them. But I understand what he means. Machu Pichu is a sacred place. The fact that there's an expensive hotel right next to it and a fast food restaurant makes it less sacred... At one point he grabbed my hands and looked deep into my eyes, he held my head in his hands, put his hands on my shoulders and said: "This is your last incarnation. You were born eight times before. You will live a long life and can be of help to others if you choose to." He also told me I was sick and I am not fully recovered, that I needed three or four months for my chakras to be fully balanced. Among the eight incarnations in one I was a medicine woman burned at the stake for my "witchcraft" and in another one I was a very bad man, particularly bad for women and treated them very badly. These two incarnations have the most effect on my present life - I am confused because my karma comes from being very good and very bad to people. But I have the power to heal people, especially in my hands. He gave me two amulets: one to help myself and turn the bad energy to a pure good one - to open my third chakra. The other is to make me able to help people with my mind, without having to touch them. This one consists of seven materials, each representing a different thing - and the combination of them will also serve as my guardian angel, to protect me from bad boys ;) since it is my karma to meet them as I was so bad to women before... He told me a certain ritual to perform every month at full moon for the next 10 months to become a medicine woman again. He asked me many times if I really wanted to get that talisman and I said yes, I will stick to the ritual (no sacrifices needed ;). The Shaman is a traditional medicine doctor and also heals with alternative medicinal procedures, herbs, and the power of his hands. He has a store and also a clinic where he treats people of various diseases of body and mind. His father was a North American Navajo Indian (and was also a Shaman) and his mother was a Quechua Indian. He lived to be 113 and she to be 112. The Shaman is 58 but looks my age. It is unbelievably good to see a person who looks at you and you know that he knows your thoughts and who you exactly are but has so much compassion for you that he will not judge you - he will help you mend whatever is not good in you to make you connect with other beings and with higher power. During our talk there were many people who were knocking at the door and he would tell them sorry, it's closed - he explained that he knew whom he could help and whom he could not by looking at people's aura. The ones he has no ability to help, he sends away. I said I will visit him after the 10 months to show him my power. He said "Don't promise, do what you feel is good at the time. You are a free being - decide what is best and needed."
About the trail. Two girls which I met during the trek but who where not in my group said on our way back: "Inca Trail is like life. It's constantly going up and going down. Climbing up you sometimes think you won't do it, you will just sit and ask to be finished off. But then you move one leg and force the other to follow and you keep walking. You reach the peak, you are exhausted but extatic and you start descending and the descend is often not easy and then you start climbing up again..." We decided that to realize this, while climbing mountains, is to accept life/the trail the way it is, with all its difficult ascents and descends and occasional euphoria of reaching the peak. So, the trail is about the beauty of the mountains, the changing scenery of the humid and hot subtropical jungle, with hummingbirds and orchideas, the bare high peaks and the snow, hail and cold, but it is also about dealing with one's thoughts, the pain of the body pushed to the limits, the uncomfortable backpack, however light it may be, and the comradership of the fellow trackers and porters. The first day isn't so hard but the second day is a killer - first six hours of constant climb, in some places of a very steep slope, to the highest point of 4,200 meters (13,773 feet). The temperature drops tremendously at the peak and everyone starts to put on everything one has in one's backpack, including hats and mittens. Some feel dizzy and need the bottled oxygen which the guides carry with them. Then there's the descend along a beautiful valley, full of waterfalls, streams, and singing frogs. The track is mostly steps, hundreds and hundres of steps. When it rains they get very slipery and the descend is slow and cautious. Some places on the trail were so hard I was asking myself why, in my free will, I subjected myself to this torture, but then I looked around, saw the beautiful, most beautiful, mountains, the valleys, the trail, the founa and flora, the ruins, and I thought that whatever I had to do in life to bring me to this point was worth it... Our group consisted of six people: a couple Arnoud and Muriel and Arnoud's sister Emilie from France, and Laura and Miriam from Argentina, and also our guide Selso and six porters. We all immediately became friends and remained a very good team throughout the trip. Sometimes we walked as a group and sometimes we spreaded out to enjoy walking in solitude. A few times we stayed at the various ruins of Inca palaces, sacred places, and watchtowers after dusk to feel the spirit of the Incas... We walked to campsites with fleshlights and when we arrived the porters already put up tents for us and had the supper ready. We usually woke up at 4 or 5 am and went to bed at around 8 or 9, totally exhausted, without even washing our faces or teeth. The porters carried all the food, the tents and cooking utensils. The cook was great - the food was simple but very good and nutricious. We eate like horses... every time a three course meal, and snacks and chocolate along the way... And I still have to tight my pants with a rope because they are totally loose... In the morning of the third day we woke up to the pouring rain. We were sitting in a big tent which served as a sleeping place for porters and our "cafeteria". We were waiting for the rain to stop, after an hour decided to find a volunteer to be sacrificed for the God of Rain, no one volunteered so we decided to walk. We were totally drenched after an hour of walk, plop, plop, water in our "waterproof" shoes. I think nothing is waterproof in such rain. Muriel started to cry (she was the least fit of us and it was very difficult for her...) and we started to joke around to cheer her up and we eventually all got into this mode of silly laughter for no reason - you get into that state when it seems that it cannot be any worse than this and it can only be better. And it did clear up and when we reached the campsite we spreaded out everything to dry. The last third evening was spent in a big campsite with all other groups and there was a Last Supper which consisted of 7 dishes and there was a disco afterwards. This was also the first evening when we got to shower so all fresh and happy, even though extremally sore and tired, we sat to supper and enjoyed the evening. We also thanked our porters tremendously and gave them generous tip for their very hard work. The girls and I also went to the nearby ruins at night. The next morning we woke up at 5 am and walked for an 1,5 to the Sun Gate and from there to Machu Pichu. We saw it at the crack of down and how it nicely revealed itself to the world of the day. We then left our backpacs at a storage place and explored the ruins, first with Selso and then alone. The ruins are beautiful, yes of course, but I have to say that without walking the trail they would not mean much to me. By walking the trail we learned about the whole system of communication, about the Inca's religion, agriculture, architecture, the peoples they conquered, etc. The places which are accessible only by foot are more sacred to me then Machu Pichu because they just stand alone, in the midst of nowhere, completely isolated, completely quiet... In Machu Pichu, after 10 am, there are so many tourists that it is hard to concentrate and imagine what the life was there during Inca's times. Our group thought that the best feeling we had when watching Machu Pichu from the Sun Gate. I agree with the Shaman - it is hard for a place to remain a sacred place when it becomes a tourist attraction. Afterwards we went by bus to Aquas Calientes (Hot Springs), a town below Machu Pichu where we had the Last Dinner, and from there at 5:30 am the next morning we went by train to Ollaytambo - the train ride was beautiful - and took a collectivo bus to Cuzco. I came back to Hostal Felix and greeted the friendly people who run it and their five dogs: mom, dad and three puppies. The dogs threw themselves at me, barking and wagging their tails - that was the most beautiful "welcome back".
Tomorrow I will see if I can get a ticket for the train going to Puno, to lake Titicaca, for Saturday.
About the trail. Two girls which I met during the trek but who where not in my group said on our way back: "Inca Trail is like life. It's constantly going up and going down. Climbing up you sometimes think you won't do it, you will just sit and ask to be finished off. But then you move one leg and force the other to follow and you keep walking. You reach the peak, you are exhausted but extatic and you start descending and the descend is often not easy and then you start climbing up again..." We decided that to realize this, while climbing mountains, is to accept life/the trail the way it is, with all its difficult ascents and descends and occasional euphoria of reaching the peak. So, the trail is about the beauty of the mountains, the changing scenery of the humid and hot subtropical jungle, with hummingbirds and orchideas, the bare high peaks and the snow, hail and cold, but it is also about dealing with one's thoughts, the pain of the body pushed to the limits, the uncomfortable backpack, however light it may be, and the comradership of the fellow trackers and porters. The first day isn't so hard but the second day is a killer - first six hours of constant climb, in some places of a very steep slope, to the highest point of 4,200 meters (13,773 feet). The temperature drops tremendously at the peak and everyone starts to put on everything one has in one's backpack, including hats and mittens. Some feel dizzy and need the bottled oxygen which the guides carry with them. Then there's the descend along a beautiful valley, full of waterfalls, streams, and singing frogs. The track is mostly steps, hundreds and hundres of steps. When it rains they get very slipery and the descend is slow and cautious. Some places on the trail were so hard I was asking myself why, in my free will, I subjected myself to this torture, but then I looked around, saw the beautiful, most beautiful, mountains, the valleys, the trail, the founa and flora, the ruins, and I thought that whatever I had to do in life to bring me to this point was worth it... Our group consisted of six people: a couple Arnoud and Muriel and Arnoud's sister Emilie from France, and Laura and Miriam from Argentina, and also our guide Selso and six porters. We all immediately became friends and remained a very good team throughout the trip. Sometimes we walked as a group and sometimes we spreaded out to enjoy walking in solitude. A few times we stayed at the various ruins of Inca palaces, sacred places, and watchtowers after dusk to feel the spirit of the Incas... We walked to campsites with fleshlights and when we arrived the porters already put up tents for us and had the supper ready. We usually woke up at 4 or 5 am and went to bed at around 8 or 9, totally exhausted, without even washing our faces or teeth. The porters carried all the food, the tents and cooking utensils. The cook was great - the food was simple but very good and nutricious. We eate like horses... every time a three course meal, and snacks and chocolate along the way... And I still have to tight my pants with a rope because they are totally loose... In the morning of the third day we woke up to the pouring rain. We were sitting in a big tent which served as a sleeping place for porters and our "cafeteria". We were waiting for the rain to stop, after an hour decided to find a volunteer to be sacrificed for the God of Rain, no one volunteered so we decided to walk. We were totally drenched after an hour of walk, plop, plop, water in our "waterproof" shoes. I think nothing is waterproof in such rain. Muriel started to cry (she was the least fit of us and it was very difficult for her...) and we started to joke around to cheer her up and we eventually all got into this mode of silly laughter for no reason - you get into that state when it seems that it cannot be any worse than this and it can only be better. And it did clear up and when we reached the campsite we spreaded out everything to dry. The last third evening was spent in a big campsite with all other groups and there was a Last Supper which consisted of 7 dishes and there was a disco afterwards. This was also the first evening when we got to shower so all fresh and happy, even though extremally sore and tired, we sat to supper and enjoyed the evening. We also thanked our porters tremendously and gave them generous tip for their very hard work. The girls and I also went to the nearby ruins at night. The next morning we woke up at 5 am and walked for an 1,5 to the Sun Gate and from there to Machu Pichu. We saw it at the crack of down and how it nicely revealed itself to the world of the day. We then left our backpacs at a storage place and explored the ruins, first with Selso and then alone. The ruins are beautiful, yes of course, but I have to say that without walking the trail they would not mean much to me. By walking the trail we learned about the whole system of communication, about the Inca's religion, agriculture, architecture, the peoples they conquered, etc. The places which are accessible only by foot are more sacred to me then Machu Pichu because they just stand alone, in the midst of nowhere, completely isolated, completely quiet... In Machu Pichu, after 10 am, there are so many tourists that it is hard to concentrate and imagine what the life was there during Inca's times. Our group thought that the best feeling we had when watching Machu Pichu from the Sun Gate. I agree with the Shaman - it is hard for a place to remain a sacred place when it becomes a tourist attraction. Afterwards we went by bus to Aquas Calientes (Hot Springs), a town below Machu Pichu where we had the Last Dinner, and from there at 5:30 am the next morning we went by train to Ollaytambo - the train ride was beautiful - and took a collectivo bus to Cuzco. I came back to Hostal Felix and greeted the friendly people who run it and their five dogs: mom, dad and three puppies. The dogs threw themselves at me, barking and wagging their tails - that was the most beautiful "welcome back".
Tomorrow I will see if I can get a ticket for the train going to Puno, to lake Titicaca, for Saturday.
posted by Asia Kabat at 10:48 AM
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