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The Inca Trail and the journey to Machu Picchu has been something I have been a little hesitant to write about only because it was such an incredible moment for me and is really difficult to explain. It is a four day experience of fellowship, personal endurance, and walking in the footsteps of a great culture. At the end, Machu Picchu appears out of the mist and a great sense of accomplishment overcomes you as you walk increasingly towards it. But, really Machu Picchu is just the icing on the cake, so to speak. The real experience is the trail itself, the journey, the people you meet, eat, sleep, and hike with, the ever changing landscape and climate, and the ghosts in stone of a great culture. This journey lingers in my mind in framed moments: a smile from a Peruvian boy at the touch of a soccer ball, lending a hand to a friend, the rain pattering on the fabric of the tent, tired eyes through the steam of tea in the morning, seeing my breath in the light of my headlamp, fireflies sparkling with the stars over a mountain stream, a broad smiling (Bongia) greeting, words of encouragement from a brother, water running down stone steps, clouds parting and revealing landscapes as if the moment was meant just for you, the vast expanse of the cosmos and the milky way, an ancient citadel pearing through the mist, a race down a mountain, a flower living in the masonry joints of the Inca, flocks of blue green parrots, a shooting star, moments of truth and compassion, friends, family. I could go on and on but these are the moments that I take with me that helped me hear the music of the place and may someday take me back to the Camino Inca.
My thanks to Matthew, Ian, Mabel, Mauro, Cleiver, Julisius, Ariel, Quensia, Corrie, and Leeanna. The Fellowship of the Camino Inca :)
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