These Present Moments: El Camino de los Inkas

On Aug. 9th at 545am we began our 4 day trek through the Andes of Peru. We were nervous before, we aren't going to lie. Megan had been sick for about 3 days and hadn't eaten much of anything; I had no idea how she was going to find the energy. We were picked up at 545 and had about a 3 hour bus ride to kilometer 82 where the Inca trail begins. We had decided to share a pack, which even though helped Megan the first day, because she didn't have much strength, was not the best idea. We ended up hiring a porter to carry our things for the 2nd and 3rd days. Megan did regain her appetite and strength by the first night, which was such a relief and blesssing. We were able to enjoy the whole trip from then on. We were trekking with 12 other people from all over the world, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and Holland. It was an amazing group of people and mixture of cultures. We had many laughs during our free time at our camp site, playing cards and charades. The second day was definitely the hardest trekking day; we climbed uphill for 5 hours, to our highest peak of 1400 feet above sea level. It was gorgeously worth it. The 3rd day was mainly downhill and we saw lots of Incas ruins along the way. Every one you came upon, you felt as though you were discovering it yourself. Everything felt so remote on the side of a mountain. We woke up super early the 4th day to hike to Machu Picchu. It was incredible. It's bigger than any picture can ever show and there are so many details and traces left of the intelligence of the Incas from over 500 years ago. The challenge was well worth it and full of rewards.