We started with Lima and the MSA 2024 conference in Peruvian Posts I through to the missed flight chaos in Peruvian Post II and the ingenuity of the Incas in Cusco in Peruvian Posts III. Now we arrive at the final of the Peruvian adventures. This time it’s about the experience which was both the climax and anti-climax of the two weeks stay in Peru. The climax involved the 4 days mountains hike through a beautiful place on earth while the anti-climax happened about 30 minutes after arriving to Machu Picchu – one of the seven modern wonders of the world. Don’t get me wrong, Machu Picchu is an incredible site of Inca ruins and well worth the visit but shortly after arrival, I was itching to restart the whole 4 days hiking again. I wished it was possible to be stuck in an unending loop of me doing the hike from Day 1 until the morning of Day 4 when we arrive at the ‘Sun Gate’ (‘Inti Punku’ – in Quechua) – ‘ad infinitum’. In this way, Machu Picchu will always be just in the distance, tantalisingly close but ever out of reach as the days of hiking by themselves become the destination. This is because arriving at Machu Picchu shattered a bit of the illusion given the we contributed to becoming part of the crowds and congestion.

There are many ways to travel from Cusco to Machu Picchu but I choose the route of the Classic 4 Days/3 Nights Inca Trail Hike offered by TreXperience – a local “100% Peruvian Tour Operator” founded in 2017 by a brother and sister born in Cachiccata which is a small village near Ollantaytambo in the Cusco Region. I highly recommend this tour operator if you ever decided to head to Peru for adventures of your own – instead of living vicariously through my adventures 🙂 For my 4D/3N trail hike we were a group of 10 people with 2 tour guides plus a group of porters and chefs. The sociology and psychology of our group formation process was lovely to witness as we quickly went through Bruce Tuckman’s stages of forming, storming, norming and performing and finally adjourning/mourning at the end of Day 4. We started out as strangers and ended up as friends who hope to cross paths again.

For me the hiking journey was the destination itself. I allowed myself to be enchanted by many things on the route including the flowers; butterflies; birds; the sedimentary profile of the mountain; the wild ‘pineapples’ growing on the mountains; the waterfalls springs and rushing streams; the llamas; the stones and boulders; and the very design of the hiking trail. There were certain moments on Day 2 that were really difficult for my oxygen deprived heart and body to keep going. It was amazing to see some of the porters running up the trail with heavy bags on the backs while I struggled along with a tiny backpack with barely 2kg of stuff. Given the high altitude runners of Ethiopian, Kenya and Uganda, I wondered why Peru with its high altitudes does not produce top athletes. I was told by two separate tour guides that this is mainly due to the lack of governmental support and the (un)availability of high quality facilities. For me, while heading up higher and higher the mountains I literally had to take it one steep step at a time: one heavy foot in front of the other, pause, breath, take in the view and take another step while trying not to look too far ahead of the route still to come.

It was a beautiful and memorable experience on so many different levels not least the coming in tune with my own body’s rhythms and sensations. I could just be in the moment with nothing to think about but the simple pleasure and wonder of the natural world around me. The imprints of the memorable experiences include witnessing the beautiful sunrises and sunsets; seeing the clarity of the Milky Way, Southern Cross stars and the whole wonder of a bright starry nights. The memories of the fun times as well as the very gruelling tough climbs while struggling to breath at altitudes of 4215 meters above sea level will forever be cherished in my heart. I could write a whole PhD thesis on my experience on this 4D/3N Inca Trail Hike but I will rest my case with brief abstract of pictures as they say a picture is worth a thousand words.