DYING A LITTLE BIT WITH EVERY STEP TO MACHU PICCHU

This was one of the most grueling travel experiences I've ever done in my entire life (so far). Originally, I wanted to do the four-day trek, but called that off since I wanted to break my 31-hour travel in Sao Paulo and stay longer in Puno.

It's not the continuous trekking that was tough, it was the relentless climbing at 45 to almost 90-degree slippery stone steps at high altitude for hours on end that took a toll on me. Or maybe it was because we had an altitude gain of 2,400 feet in one day from Aguas Calientes (6,500 ft) to the Sun Gate (8,900 ft). Or maybe because I'm just really unfit, hehe. Though I hiked at Taquile Island at the highest elevation of 14,000 feet - considered VERY high altitude - and did fine! So anyway, here's how the one-day Inca trek went down....

Pretty snazzy train carriage by Peru Rail. Everyone woke up early, armed with their daypacks, to walk to the train station and happily anticipating the day-long trek. MOOD: PRETTY PUMPED AND ON A COCA TEA HIGH!

With river scenery like this one along the way, the train ride was one of my favorite moments. MOOD: OOOOHHH .... NATURE IS AMAZING!

Half an hour later, the train pulled to a stop in the middle of nowhere and our guide started herding us trekkers out of the carriage and unto the side of the railroad tracks. We had arrived at KM 104. MOOD: 150% CONFIDENT. #CHALLENGEACCEPTED.

We had a trek orientation, took some selfies, slathered on sunscreen, and had a toilet break before we stepped on the famous Vilcanota river footbridge. Altitude: 2,600 feet. MOOD: I FEEL SO FIT & HEALTHY, WOO! **IMAGINARY CHAMPAGNE TOAST**

SELFIE STOP! The day was warm and the trek was going well. Amazing scenery all around me and nary another trekking group was in sight. I was pacing myself well, even chatting to a few trekkers in the group who matched my pace. I felt like Beyonce doing her hardcore dance routines while singing without being breathless; this was relatively easy. MOOD: PRETTY PLEASED WITH MYSELF. #WHORUNTHEWORLD? GIRLS! GIRLS LIKE ME WHO ARE MACHU PICCHU-NINJAS!

I WAS SO, SO WRONG. So wrong. The universe and Incan gods tricked me. Someone up there must have been bored by the way the hike was going and announced: PLOT TWIST! .... The trail started becoming tougher, the ground terrain gave way to an infinite number of stone steps (which haunted my dreams for days). We started going higher and higher and the air got thinner and thinner. MOOD: NATURE SUCKS. WHO INVENTED MOUNTAINS, ANYWAY?!

At a rest area, our guide told us that it was the halfway point a.k.a. THE POINT OF NO RETURN. If anyone wanted to stop and go back, this was it, as the trail wasn't going to get any easier. Great pep talk, by the way.... For some reason, I didn't quit. I thought that if I died on this hike, at least I'D DIE ON THE WAY TO FREAKIN' MACHU PICCHU!!! Ain't nobody could take that away from me. I stopped for asthma puff breaks almost every hour, and fell behind the group. The female local guide matched my slow pace and entertained me while I occasionally gave her death stares. And by death stares, I actually mean: help meeee, I'm dyinggg stares. MOOD: HELP ME, I'M DYING....

I stopped taking selfies and concentrated on STAYING ALIVE. Guide told us we were nearing Chachabamba, at elevation 7,100 feet. But to get there, we had to climb narrow, unending steps, HOORAY! .... #NOT. Up there by the beautiful ruins, we ate our packed lunch. Everyone was pretty quiet at this point. Some had no appetite at all and merely drank juice (to least have the sugar rush to forge on). We were all slumped on the ground, looking worse for wear. The only thing that would have made this worse would be rain.... Aaaaaaannnddd I spoke too soon. Rain clouds started moving in and little drops fell from the sky. MOOD: MAYBE I SHOULD START DICTATING MY LAST WILL & TESTAMENT TO THE GUIDE. JUST IN CASE.

We were all feeling hot and sticky under the plastic raincoats. Thankfully, the rain didn't progress, so I guess that was a silver lining. We stopped at a small waterfalls and took a quick break. Some climbed all the way up the boulders for better views. Some seemed to be enjoying the refreshing mist from the waterfalls. I was busy looking for the nearest dry rock to collapse on unceremoniously. MOOD: HALLUCINATORY. IS THAT A HELICOPTER I HEAR? I THINK MY INSURANCE COVERS HIGH-ALTITUDE RESCUES.

We started to see Winya Wayna from the trail at elevation 8,800 feet, another amazing Incan archaeological site: or at least that's what our guides told us. At this point, I couldn't care less. OOOOHH GREAT, another vertical climb! was all I could think of. I was just focused on breathing and regulating my heart rate. I didn't even snap a photo from the trail. Heck, I wasn't even breathing thru my nose anymore and was just unglamorously gulping mouthfuls of air like fish gasping for breath while on land!!!! MOOD: HAVING AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS - WHY AM I HERE? WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF? WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

After this, the trail merges with the 4-day Inca Trail, and we passed by camping tents and hardcore trekkers looking exhausted. Thank goodness I called off the 4-day trek! This day hike is already enough to kill me. I was but a shell of original myself at this point, when the guide told me that we were nearing the Inti Punku (Gate of the Sun), at elevation 8,900 feet. And that **SURPRISE!!!** the near 90-degree inclined stone steps were the last barriers to me having my first glimpse of Machu Picchu. It was aptly named "Monkey Steps" as I needed to climb it on all fours. Almost..... There ..... MOOD: I WANT MY MOMMYYY. <HUGS SELF & QUIETLY SOBS IN A CORNER>.

FINALLY! I was at the Sun Gate! Last one in the group, yes, but effin' made it! #YASSSS! First glimpse of Machu Picchu....! Where is it, by the way? Oh yeah, THERE! This deserves a selfie! MOOD: SMILING THRU THE PAIN. FACEBOOK CAN'T SENSE EMOTIONS, RIGHT?

Oh, but my celebratory mood was short-lived. As you can see from the pic above, the actual Machu Picchu ruins are still a long way down. Easy-peasy since it's downhill, right? WRONG AGAIN. Damn you, universe, for giving me false hopes! *Shakes fist at the skies.* The steps are slippery, steep, and at times, would break into tiny pieces the moment you stepped on them. Everyone was dead tired and just wanted to finish this trek.... But just when the finish line was in sight, OF COURSE I just had to slip and twist my ankle. OF COURSE! My trekmates said I had to walk it off so it doesn't balloon into an ugly monster. MOOD: HAVING SERIOUS TRUST ISSUES WITH THE WORLD. ALSO, THROBBING ANKLE PAIN.

Then, like an apparition, Machu Picchu appeared in front of me in all its glory. I'd like to say that when I first saw it up close, it filled me with joy, happiness, an overwhelming sense of achievement, and every positive emotion out there. But I was just so f*ckin dead tired and limping that I wanted nothing more than to go back to the hotel and (possibly cry myself to) sleep. Though of course I had to document this moment in a photo. MOOD: SMILING FOR THE CAMERA BUT DEAD INSIDE. WHATEVER LIFE WAS LEFT IN ME WAS LOST AT THE MONKEY STEPS BASE.

We didn't stay long at the site after the trek. Thankfully, a bus took us back to our hotel.... After we had to climb down yet another series of steps. My legs felt like jelly, my hands were shaking a bit, my lips were dry, my shoulders were sunburnt from the strong sun in high altitude, my ankle still throbbed in pain, my feet were screaming murder, and my brain couldn't yet grasp that I actually made it. Alive, too, so that was a plus.....

I did feel that overwhelming sense of achievement, pure exhilaration and joy the morning after: when I was well-rested, had taken a long hot shower, smeared myself with copious amounts of Counterpain and Salonpas the night before, and got over the feeling of wanting to smack myself every 30 minutes for not having trained enough, pre-trip.

We took the bus all the way up to Machu Picchu (HALLELUJAH!), hiked up for a few minutes to the actual site, and then saw the ruins again in all their grandeur. I just stared at it for a whole two hours before joining everyone else to explore the nook and crannies of this AMAZING, AMAZING archaeological site. And in that moment, its beauty, highlighted by the glorious morning sun, took my breath away.... Figuratively, of course. ;-)

MOOD: FEELING F*CKIN AWESOME! #ACHIEVEMENTUNLOCKED

HAPPY TRAVELS! x

#Peru