If you are in Cusco Peru there are a couple of things you HAVE to do-you gotta go to Rainbow Mountain and you ABSOLUTELY must go to Machu Picchu. Cause, one of the 7 Wonders, can’t miss it. Our team has been praying since Colombia that we would be placed close enough to Machu Picchu that our tiny budges would allow us to go. And guess what? God answered us and had us be one of the two closest teams to The Wonder! Wild stuff.
We booked the cheapest route we could find. It wasn’t bad price wise, but there were some hidden treasures (think minuscule print) that we didn’t consider or weren’t aware of at all.
We started our journey bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5 AM Tuesday morning when we were picked up at our door by a taxi. We squished 6 people into the 5 person taxi and we were off to meet the tour guide at McDonalds. After a 6 hr bus ride we arrived at a tiny restaurant in the actual middle of nowhere. I mean, nowhere. The loudest thing in the area was the power lines. And that’s when I found out a small detail that the travel agent had glossed over
Surprise #1-The 8 mile hike we were about to embark on to the town outside of Machu Picchu.
We strapped on our trusty day packs and took off. The only instructions we were given was to follow the train tracks all the way, we couldn’t miss it. Okay, so those train tracks were speeding past us full of people zooming to the same town we were walking to. Cruel. Just cruel.
I digress. 3 hrs later we arrived in the town looking like we had been dragged for 8 miles rather than walked it. Exhausted and ready for bed, we found our hostel, discovered the toilet in our (Katie, Bre, and I) room was broken, missed our tour group for the dinner we had already paid for, found our tour group, and were informed that we would need to start the CLIMB to Machu Picchu at 4 Am the next morning. Tour guide informed us that at 4 we would just have to follow the crowd because so many people would be headed that direction too.
First of all…
Surprise #2-CLIMB?? The CLIMB?
Oi
And then they said stairs. And I’m like okay, stairs isn’t climbing. Just some normal stairs up to Machu Picchu? I can handle that. No worries.
After 3 hours of sleep we get up and plan to start our trek with the “crowd” since we don’t super know where we are going.
Surprise #3-No people, no signs
We managed to make it to the beginning of the stairs in the pouring rain and I realized I was in for a doozy of a morning. When they said stairs they actually meant a steep, winding, “staircase”, which was basically cut into the side of the mountain. Uneven, crazy close to the edge of a drop off in places, and steep as all get out.
Within 20 minutes of this 1.5 hr climb I’m out of breath and its still dark.
I’m not in the best shape in the world, but I would like to think I’m also not in the worst. But let me tell you, I was struggling. I kept having this image of myself giving up and never making it to Machu Picchu. And let me tell you, that ticked me off. If you’ve ever met me you know that one of the top ways of getting me to do something is to tell me I CAN’T do it. And then I’m like “BET ya snickerdoodle!!” That’s the conversation I kept having with myself.
All the things you learn with kids about telling them to have positive self-talk and say things like “I can” or “I am capable”…those work super well unless you have a hard headed challenger like myself. Lol.
Anyway, about halfway up the stairs I’m beyond frustrated and am RAILING at God. Like, how could this possibly be worth it? There’s no way His creation is beautiful enough to make this pain I’m enduring worth it. He isn’t enough for all this. It’s not worth it. I’m not having fun, I’m tired, hungry, sore, and out of breath.
And that’s when it struck me.
Surprise #4-Spiritual lessons can come from Machu Picchu
It’s just like my spiritual walk. Its hard, I get tired, I get sore from being beaten up by the world, I get out of breath from trying to do this in my own strength, and it doesn’t look like it could possibly be worth it. But that’s because I have human eyes rather than the eyes of God. I can’t see the big picture or the end result yet, I just have to trust that it’s worth it.
Def wasted a lot of valuable breath and told God out loud “There is NO WAY THIS IS GOING TO BE WORTH IT!!!”
Do you ever feel that God smiles at you like you would at a two year old? Well, He did that day. And I heard Him say
“Bet!”
Yup, using my own words against me. Cool.
About 15 minutes later when I fell and almost flew off the side of the mountain (thanks random Australian man for saving my life!) I had really convinced myself it wasn’t worth it. I couldn’t tell what was rain water, sweat, or tears because all three were happening the last 10 minutes of that climb.
But I made it! Me and God did it!
And you know what? There were clouds covering absolutely everything and I couldn’t see a dadgum thing. Not. One. Thing.
I was livid.
NOT. REMOTELY. WORTH. IT.
God laughed at me and said wait. And I was like No, you had the entire climb to clear this up and you didn’t so I win. Not worth it.
“Wait”.
15 minutes later the clouds cleared and I got to see one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. Climbing the side of the mountain was one of the 7 wonders of the world, and I understand why it falls into that category.
I lost.
It was beyond worth it.
I’m so glad God allows us to get over our bad attitudes and still lets us enjoy the beauty around us. The hard things give us a better appreciation for the good things. Sometimes these are physical things, but I’ve learned that more often than not these lead back to spiritual things.
Surprise #5-We took the bus down the mountain AND the train back to the bus stop.
