Majesty and Wonder In the Andes

The early morning clouds part like the removal of a bridal veil and there it is: Machu Picchu. Majestic green mountains and fleecy white clouds envelop the ancient empire, seemingly protecting it from what lies beyond its mysterious edges. One gets the sense that they have just stumbled across this wonder and discovered it for themselves.

Indeed, our physically demanding four day sojourn along the Inca Jungle Trail, which included mountain biking, soaking in hot springs, riding cable cars, ziplining, and more, set the mood that we were all rugged jungle explorers looking to uncover the deep secrets of the earth. The entire experience was tinged with a mysterious and exotic edge -- the eerie hiss of the cicadas pulsing in our ears as we trekked; our eyes absorbing the hot pink of foreign flowers and other unfamiliar plants; the feel of the dirt, roots, and rocks beneath our feet; the scent of bananas ripening on vines; the taste of maracuya juice as we rested our weary legs -- every sense we had was heightened and overwhelmed by the shock of the beauty of the world.

From the top of Wayna Picchu, an adjacent mountain providing an excellent aerial view of Machu Picchu, one can see the terraced agricultural slopes undulating down the mountain like an ocean wave; the temple where the sun would directly hit a stone during the solstice and leave no shadow, and the “mirrors” of water used to observe the sky. What stunned me most about Machu Picchu was how natural it seemed to have this man made creation here. Everything seemed to be in harmony with, rather than at odds with, nature. The stacked stones cut to fit perfectly together, the temples worshipping the gods, the astronomical calendars, all of it seemed to compliment the natural landscape rather than try and manipulate or control it (as many modern man made creations do). It is clear by looking at Machu Picchu how much the Incan people understood, loved, and honored Mother Earth.

Visiting Machu Picchu and absorbing the sense of peace and harmony that pervaded the site got me thinking: where did we go wrong? The predominant idea in people’s heads nowadays is that we are separate from nature, better than nature. The amount of barriers we have put between ourselves and our home is incredible, as is the growing oblivion and disregard for our suffering planet. However, these thoughts did not make me lose heart: walking along the Inca Jungle Trail with the knowledge that the Incas has once walked this trail made me feel connected to them and their way of being. A quote from a Walt Whitman poem comes to mind: “it avails not, time nor place—distance avails not/ I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence/Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt.” I felt the spirits of the Incan people swirling around in the air, blossoming in the curvature of a leaf, spreading out amongst the clouds. As I stood staring at Machu Picchu, I not only felt my own love and wonder for the earth flowing through me, but that of all people who had ever walked the same journey, seen the same beauty, and felt the same ebbing emotion of disbelief in the present moment. Seeing Machu Picchu helped me tap into the sense of the universal -- the universal human soul, the universal need to be in harmony with nature, the universal sense of peace when both of those things are achieved. I’ll close with another Whitman quote that fits our intentions as we continue our journey: “we love you—there is perfection in you also/You furnish your parts toward eternity/Great or small, you furnish your parts toward the soul.”

--Sophia Mautz