Episode 64 - In Conversation: Our Peru Adventures

In this episode Rev. Carol has a lively conversation with her daughter and traveling partner about their recent travels and spiritual adventures in Peru. They share their experiences and reflections on Indigenous ceremonies, Earth religions, hiking the Inca trail, seeing Machu Picchu, feeling the life of the terrain, experiencing the native culture and much more. Their time together in Peru was a life-changing and grounding experience that will always be a part of each of them.

NOTES:

This trip was remarkable in so many ways. We did our best here to capture what happened and how it impacted us. As a mother-daughter team, it was a bonding experience and an adventure beyond what we imagined. There were many spiritual encounters, some of which we talk about here, some we forgot to talk about and some we are still processing. Spiritual encounters take many forms. For us, the simplest encounter was often the one that transcended time and space. In addition, we found that just being open to doing what the other wanted to do and going forward into unknown territories was an impactful inner journey. I want to give a shout out to Travel & Healing, Willie, our guide, Danny, Juan & Eugene, our drivers, Maestro Raul, the Inca priest who led our welcoming ceremony, Maestro Jesus, the Amazonian priest who led our San Pedro ceremony, Soledad, our second Inca trail guide, and Ruti, the Travel & Healing point of contact who made everything fit together.

Here I will share some photos that go along with our experiences each day.

Day 1: Welcoming Ceremony, Cocoa Tea Reading and Lunch

From left to right, Kelly, Maestro Raul, me and our guide for the week, Willie

Inca Priest/Maestro Raul preparing the sacred altar before the cocoa tea reading

Here you can see the food being placed into the bed of hot rocks. It is then covered with the rocks, then grass, then the earth and left to cook.

Receiving a final blessing

Day 2 San Pedro Ceremony

From left to right, me, daughter Kelly, Willie and Maestro Jesus

This is the cleansing ceremony where we were instructed to inhale the Essence of the plants and exhale with vigor!

Kelly watching the clouds

This is the best depiction I could find of my San Pedro experience. I felt magnetically drawn to the Earth as if I had become her.

Day 3: The Sacred Valley

This is our first view of the Sacred Valley

The Incan agricultural terraces in Pisac.

The best corn ever

Ollantaytambo - I dare you to say it three times...

Day 4: Hiking the Inca trail

Willie letting us know what to expect on the Inca Trail before we get going

You can see here that we literally walked on stone steps and check out the drop off!

Kelly at the refreshing waterfall about midway on the trail

These are the last 50 steps until we enter the Sun Gate - the ominous and aptly named Gringo-killing steps

This is a shot of our Inca trail hiking group - we made it to the Sun Gate!

You can see Machu Picchu in the distance

Machu Picchu as the sun was setting - isn't she just stunning?

Day 5 : Visiting Machu Picchu

The door to Machu Picchu - a photo that Willie made sure we got!

What you don't see in most Machu Picchu photos is the majesty of the surrounding mountains

This photo is a little cut off but I am trying to show the mountains, the terraces and also the way the houses used to look.

This is the Sun Temple - the opening you see is a window

The juxtaposition of the ancient civilization ruins and the mountains is breathtaking

This isn't the most beautiful shot but it is my view when I came apart from the crowds to pray and meditate. If forgot to mention that on the recording.

This gives you an idea of the size of the stone blocks and the exactness of their positioning. It is truly incredible.

Day 6 Rainbow Mountain

NOTE: We failed to mention on the recording that we COULD have ridden a horse on trail, but we chose to do it by foot. Also our guide had oxygen on hand if we needed it. So we were always safe! Apologies to Travel & Healing if we gave any other impression.

This is the alpaca herd who passed by our car on the way up to Rainbow Mountain parking area

A local mom and child walking on the trail to Rainbow Mountain

These are the rock offerings to Pachamama that we saw on our hike

We made it! 16,000 ft! Here we are pictured with our driver, Eugene. We are grateful for his safe driving!

Want Love? If you are ever between Cusco and Rainbow Mountain, stop here for DIVINE food. We only regret not taking a photo with the goddess/chef, Margaret. It was a meal we will always remember, because of her.

Day 7: Social Responsibility: Volunteering at the Dog Shelter

Here is the space that all the dogs can run and play in

I wanted to bring this girl home. She was a sweetie.

Farewell Peru