It first started at the beginning of this year. As a team, More Amor, we created an impossible prayers list. We dreamed with the Lord, we prayed, we asked God to reveal to us what He had for us this year, we laid on the table some of the deepest desires of our hearts. We trust that God loves to give good gifts to his children & we know each of us are on the WorldRace for many reasons. As our list was filled with many of our personal desires, we also asked God to make a few fun things a reality, while we’re on the race.
One of those prayers was for God to make it possible for us to go to MachuPicchu! Of the four teams on our squad, two were assigned ministries in Cusco, which is the closest big city to many of the Incan Ruins in Peru. First step – thank you God! Right away, we asked our ministry host if it was going to be possible to visit MachuPicchu, & the answer was yes – second step, praise! Even a bigger prayer answered, we found a 2-day tour for $100 & it included a few meals! Off to a great start, right?!
If we would have looked a bit deeper into what the “cheapest” route to going to MachuPicchu would look like, we would have seen that it included walking approximately 15 miles, climbing 155+ flights of stairs & two early mornings starting at 3am 🙂
It wasn’t nearly the early mornings or 10’s of thousands of steps we took in those 48 hours. It wasn’t just the body & stomach aches each of us experienced over those few days. It was the culmination of everything that made it bitter at first & ultimately sweet – traveling to the ruins & enjoying the beautiful sites.
Here’s the run down:
We woke up Tuesday morning, caught a taxi at 5am, got dropped off at the center of Cusco at a McDonald’s at 530, left at 6… were on a us through the windy mountains in the amazonian rain forest, stopped for lunch & snacks & we finally arrived at a place called “hydroelectrica.” We were told that from there we could walk along the railroad tracks for 2-3 hours & finally arrive at the small town of Aguas Calientes {yep, it means hot water}. Although flat & unpaved, this 2-3 hour walk was actually 13 kilometers. Then once arriving at the town, we had to walk up another hill, across a bridge & through a neighborhood to arrive at our hostel. We made it around 4pm. After a short rest, a shower, & a few time changes that weren’t communicated to us by our travel agency, we finally ate dinner around 8pm, got our tickets & headed back to our hostel to catch some shut eye before our next alarm
3am rolled around too fast; we awoke to alarms & very loud rain outside. Katie, poor thing, had been battling a nasty stomach ache all night & we only had one working toilet between two hotel rooms. As we headed downstairs, were greeted with bread, jam, & coffee at 330 that morning. We soon set out to walk a half hour “abajo” {down} until we saw the bridge {these were the actual instructions our tour guide gave us}, it was very rainy, dark, & chilly. We eventually made it around 430, only to find that we weren’t allowed in until 5 🙂
Slowly but surely headlamps & ponchos made their way down to gather beneath a very small overhang, hoping to get out of the rain. At this point we are all exhausted. At 5am, we were allowed into the ruins & we climbed the stone stairs for an hour. Katie puked, Court had her life saved by two Australian men as she tripped forward towards the edge of the trail & the rest of us huffed & puffed our way up this mountain. Around 630 we met up with our tour guide Alex & about 30 other people.
As we stepped into view, we were a tad disappointed at first, the entire ruin was covered in fog. We took some slightly disappointing pictures.
If I’m being honest, I think at this point I was thinking that none of it was worth it.
We began to head deeper into the ruin & soon enough the sky started to clear up. The fog lolled around the mountains, what began as chilly turned into bright & sunny – yet another answered prayer: that we would be able to see the Incan craftsmanship & the beauty of our creator in the mountains & valleys surrounding.
The view was breathtaking. Worth it? yes. Would I have paid more money to arrive there more comfortably? Probably yes haha.
After the many miles walked & the few nights of little sleep, we treated ourselves to a bus ride down & a train ride back to our stop – “hydroelectrica.” We got some mediocre pizza & some warm drinks & waited for our train.
There are so many things on the race that never go as planned. Times, plans, ministries, contacts, food – even three months in, I find myself thinking it silly that things might actually go how I expect in my mind. What I really love, however, is that the Lord works in the midst of everything seemingly going wrong. He answers prayers, He blesses us with small gifts, He challenges us & draws us closer to Him.
I’m not here to tell you how “not to do MachuPicchu” because I think everything worked out how it was supposed too. I just want to encourage you to keep your eyes open to what the Lord has for you – whether it be a change of plans, holidays looking different & more difficult than you imagined, or even having more time with friends & family than you expected. Cherish all of it, dive in, & seek God in the midst of the difficult, He shows up, He moves, He changes things.
Merry Christmas sweet friends!
Maddie
P.S. I am doing a Q+A – I am going to post a blog responding to all of your questions, all you have to do is submit them to me – no matter if they are related to the race or not 🙂 You can email me {[email protected]}, message me on FB or insta, or even reply directly to this post & I will post your question with your name & my answer in one of my upcoming blogs! If you also wish to remain anonymous, I don’t mind excluding your name when you share your question, just let me know! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear from you!!
