Recap of the PM Portion of the Summary from the Last Post:
- (Troy) “Everyone can suck it.”
- (Me) “Why are my feet swollen?”
Elaborations on Memories of the Day:
Let’s back up for a second. Troy and I had done our homework on the mysticism of Machu Picchu. We had learned about the higher energetic frequencies there and that people could “feel” the energy of the place dance around their chakras. It took a lot for the Incans to find this location and build on it, with stones that weren’t from there, and the way they built it adds to the energy. We thought we would be able to sit there and gain some kind of enlightenment. At least, we thought that since we’re not great energy feelers naturally, being in some place with such a high amount would make it at least noticeable to us.
By the time we got there, we had already walked six miles that day and had been up since 3 in the morning. Let the private tour commence!
It was really hard, ya’ll, to keep my eyes open. Troy and I wound up falling asleep against one of the walls. When we awoke, we suddenly realized the massive amounts of people there. People we hadn’t seen on the trail. They were clean. They were refreshed. One was in a red dress with clean white cross trainers on.
“All of these people don’t deserve to be here,” Troy started snapping. “We worked our asses off to be here. They all just took a bus. Everyone can suck it.”
I realized it was well past lunch and handed him some kind of calories, I can’t remember if it was a bar, a goo, or a coca candy.
“Whoa there Betty, maybe you should just eat a Snickers.”
As if the spell had been lifted, he lightened up. He got camera happy and I followed him around as he captured every angle of the place. He even captured every angle of a baby alpaca that was hanging out.
We were both so tired, numb and hungry. We lost all remembrance of wanting to try to meditate, or just “feel” things. We went to their lunch stand.
After actually having sat in something other than a camping chair or the ground for the past three days, I relaxed on the picnic bench. I raised my legs up to stretch out and lounge and noticed my cankles.
“Why are my feet swollen?”
Shock. Trauma. More walking than I had ever done before within a three-day period in my life. At an altitude I had never experienced before. Yeah, that’s why they were swollen.
The rest of the day was relaxing under some trees, riding the bus back down to Agua Caliente where we originally thought we’d explore but just stayed in a pizza parlor. At least I think it was a pizza parlor. We then took the train back to Cusco where Troy had upgraded our stay to a luxury hotel where we thought we would enjoy nice showers/baths, have a nice dinner, and spend our last night in Cusco reveling in our memories.
I think I showered. I know I slept. That was it. Troy said he took a long bath and accidentally fell asleep and then finally crawled into bed. Up and at ‘em early for the flight home.
And my feet stayed swollen for another week. It may have been because of the parasite I picked up from eating the cuy at the beginning of the trip, instead of the trauma from the hike…
But that’s another story.
Patti is still learning 