Monday, August 6, 2007

The Wisdom of the Inkas - Lessons from the Inka Trail


With the highest point of the trail reaching 13,775 feet, the Inka Trail trek leads to Machu Picchu, the ancient city of the Inkas. Forget the soccer tournaments with three games a day: We hiked 45 kilometers in 4 days, and with the elevation and the heavy pack on my back it was surely the most intense physical conquest I have ever completed. The scenery is incredible—snow-capped peaks, enormous, jagged mountains, deep valleys, scattered wildflowers.

Las Chicas Poderosas
The Inka trail is heavily regulated, so there are only around 200-300 tourists on it per day, outside the 200-300 porters and guides. Group sizes vary, but I lucked out and got the best group imaginable: two other girls my age! The three of us were all from the states and all had a ton in common, and a great time together. We were perfectly suited fitness-wise; no one held anyone back or pushed anyone too hard. Jose was our guide, and he spoke excellent English. Each time we reached a ruin we stopped, took off our packs, and sat down for a “story time” of him telling us more interesting facts about the Inkas and the Inka culture.

We had 5 porters who all had great personalities, encouraging smiles, unbelievable strength and stamina, not to mention were amazing cooks! Our group was unusual in that we didn’t have additional porters to carry our personal stuff. A combination of our tour company not letting us know it wasn’t included paired with our inherent toughness, we carried our own things, increasing the intensity of the hike tremendously. The second day, this idiot looked at us and said, "You guys are crazy to be carrying your own stuff." Annoyed with such a ridiculous comment, I immediately snapped, "Nah, we’re just strong." Hahahaaa. Nicole and Kristin smirked. How do you like us now? Needless to say, he didn’t speak to us anymore after that. At the end of the second day we arrived at camp and three boys looked delighted to be camping next to three girls. But as we walked in they said "You are carrying your stuff? You know there are porters for that. Harharharhaaarrr" Needless to say, we didn’t take them up on the offer to share a cigar and a drink that night. Noooooooo, gracias. Jose, our guide, enjoyed the attention enormously. He said all the other guides were coming to talk to him about his group of three girls that carry their own packs! The "Chicas Poderosas."

El Camino
I had been in Cuzco for about 5 days getting acclimated to the altitude before beginning the trek. The tour company picked me up at 6am and we drove an hour to the porter village where we had desayuno with the other two girls on my trip. The first day we only hiked about 4 hours, which was the easiest day. Our lunch and dinner was always ready when we arrived to the camps. Our porters are some of the most amazing people I have ever seen: they would leave the rest stops after us and arrive to the next place long before us, carrying three times the weight, wearing nothing on their feet but sandals. The second day was the toughest. We did 3.5 hours of tough uphill to lunch, where we ate everything we could get our hands on and then took a quick siesta. After lunch it was another 2.5 hours of extremely intense uphill to the highest pass, "Dead Woman’s Pass" which sits at 13,775 feet. Dead Woman? I’ll say.

Following our uphill, we had about 2 hours of steep downhill until we got to our camp for the night. It was FREEZING that night, and I was so tired I went to bed around 8pm wearing every layer of clothing I had. The next morning, after being woken up by our porters with tea—which they kindly did every morning—we started our 2 hours of tough uphill to the second pass. It was about another 2 hours of steep downhill to lunch, and then after lunch we had about 4.5 more hours of moderate up and steep down (we are talking steep staircases you should climb down backwards like a ladder). Upon reaching our evening camp, my knees were DONE, and my group kept making me eat along the way because my blood sugar was so low I kept making stupid jokes (oh wait, that’s all the time! I was a little out of it, though).

The last evening, our cook baked us a cake and wrote on it, “We Made the Inka Trail.” That will make me smile for years to come, and I am still impressed he was able to bake a cake on a camp stove! We crashed that night early due to fatigue, and the fact that we were getting up the next morning at.....4am.

Reaching Machu Picchu
The morning came early, but we were chipper and awake because we were to arrive at Machu Picchu in only a few hours! We waited with everyone at the checkpoint. It didn’t open until 5:30am, but you want to be close to the front of the line because the trail is packed as we all had the goal to reach the Sun Gate before the sun rises fully around 7am.

Getting through the checkpoint, it was a tough, adrenalin-filled, race-like haul, but we, the "Chicas Poderosas" pushed through despite fatigue, sweat, and irritating disrespectful people stopping to take pictures. Come on! Toughen up or get out of the way!!!!! We climbed the last set of insane steps and burst through the Sun Gate, and, hearts pounding with anticipation and excitement from the view unfolded before us, immediately looked at Jose. Did we make it?! He smiled, "we are too early." Yes!!! We hauled past the Sun Gate to get away from everyone and hustled to the main lookout place as fast as our beat-up, sore legs could take us. Nicole actually ran a bit, and I almost fell over in laughter because it reminded me of the movie "Troop Beverly Hills" as her pack jumped back and forth with each step. Yes, the Chicas Poderosas made it in time for all the great photos of the sun light breaking through the jagged mountains and highlighting the buildings and structures of Machu Picchu.

The Wisdom of the Inkas
With hours of focus and time to reflect and process, a few key metaphors became evident that I realized were applicable to more than just the trail.

I will get there. It’s just a matter of when. When faced with a difficult challenge, a successful outcome occurs from embracing the notion that you really can do anything—it’s just that the tougher things take longer.

Always be looking forward, but every once in a while, turn around and enjoy the view of how far you have come. It is important to always look forward, but there are clear rewards in glancing back, even if it is just to view your progress.

Make every step solid. Give a strong, deliberate focus to the task at hand; a careless step can be painful and costly.

Less weight grants flexibility. And flexibility is often directly related to strength. Always, always, always travel light—even if that means leaving the soap behind!

Fuel your body for the challenges it faces. Health comes first. Take responsibility for making sure you are prepared and positioned for the tasks you undertake.

Experiencing—The Way I Wanted to Experience It
Taking on the challenge of the Inka trail was not only about making me better embrace what I was learning about the Inkas and ultimately appreciate Machu Picchu more, it was a personal feat. Not too long ago, intense physical activity was completely off limits for me. I was forced to sideline my affinity for active, adventurous pursuits, and opt for safer, tamer choices—which simply wasn’t me. I remember having moments on the trail, catching myself thinking, “for the love of god, why are there more stairs? When does it end?” and realizing where I was, and what I was doing. If you were to tell me a year ago that I would be here, doing this for 4 days in a row without any problem, nothing in the world could have made me happier. And so, with those painful steps, the burn in my quads, the ache of my knees, the weight of my pack, the slime of my sweat, I was grateful. So, so grateful to be here, on the Inka trail, experiencing it—breathing in the thin, Peruvian air and seeing all the mountains before me—the way I wanted to experience it and not hiding behind the threat of becoming painfully sick afterwards.

What Life is About
The Inka Trail was without question the most rewarding experience of my life. The scenery, the sites, the history, the friendships, the food, and the stairs…but most importantly, the opportunity to step out and truly absorb an incredible experience on my own terms, the way I like to experience it will all surely stay with me for a lifetime. This is what’s out there—this is what is in the world that you’re missing if you stay home. This is what life is about: Find your challenge, go sign up, then show up to kick its ass while coming away with amazing friends and a renewed sense of well-being and new-found knowledge of what it is that you are: una chica poderosa.

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