Peru
PERU
Solo Travel Journal
Arrival
My entire childhood I thought Peru, Machu Picchu was just a beautiful place in my history book. I never thought normal people like myself could see a place like this in person. It just looked and sounded like a place only white people on tv could go. Until 5 years ago I began researching a plant medicine called “Ayahuasca”. I quickly learned that one of the best places to consume this plant medicine was in Peru, which was very shocking because all of a sudden this place I read about in my history books was obtainable.
After much research and a high high high respect for the plant medicine I decided to stop all research and let my timing reveal itself to me. Now,5yrs later my path mother/father Ayahuasca aligned with my spirit and I began planning my trip to Peru. THE MOST difficult trip I had ever planned in my life. I QUICKLY realized getting around Peru would not going to be easy for this country girl, self proclaimed solo explorer from Houston, Texas.
Last minute I planned my entire 17day trip 6days before I was set to actually leave to my 10day Aayahuascha retreat. I was stressed the hell out lol. To explore Peru i’d have to take 5 flights, 2 trains, 2 buses, 1 horse, 2 boats, numerous Tuk Tuk’s and literally walk through the Amazon Jungle lol. My head hurts just thinking about paying for all of that shit lol. But with 6days to plan I did it all down to the T.
For the sake of sharing my Ayahuasca separately from this blog I won’t speak much about the retreat in the jungle just yet. But I will say my 1st 2 days in Peru were uneventful and I slept in the airport lol not to glamorous. Im a very easy solo traveler, so sleeping in the airport was very convenient for me. Once I got to Iquitos, Peru I met up with my family for the next 10days that would be joining me on the retreat. We had dinner, mingled and got ready for an experience that would change our lives forever.
The next morning we made our way through the amazon jungle where we’d stay for the next 10days.
Time to Explore
10days in the Amazon Jungle, 5 Ayahuasca ceremonies and countless unanswered text messages from my friends, I was now back in regular civilization and ready to explore Peru with a couple of my new extended family, Prinathe and Sylvan!!
1st things 1st. Gotta call my momma lol and my best friend Tim and tell them Im ok and safe. THEN on to catch our flight & train to Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu
After 1 flight and 1 train we finally landed in the beautiful city Aquas Clients, home of Machu Picchu around 11pm. Praying the bus ticket office to the mountain was still open. Thank GOD it was. We stood in line, around 45degree weather and prayed they didn’t close the doors in our faces. Luckily we got our tickets for our next day adventure to the magical lost world of the Incas. it then dawned on me I had to wake up at 4am to be in line at 5am to catch the 1st 6am bus that headed to the mountain to watch the sunrise.
My friend Prinathe and I then headed to our hostel to check in. Thankfully when I booked I was thinking clearly and got a single room with my own bathroom, I didn’t realize the other rooms were coed with bunk beds lol. Freak that!! to sketchy for us. I got about 4 hours of sleep in this FREEZING cold room then it was time to go explore. I got up, got dressed & headed to the line. I was on the 2nd bus up the mountain were I met two beautiful ladies that kept me company telling how this is their 2nd day going back to Machu Picchu and gave me some great tips.
Altitude SUCKS
I didn’t realize there was a small hike up the mountain to get to the main viewpoint, but as a self proclaimed mountain hiker I secretly knew I was about to struggle lol. As I took my first 3 steps into my 20minute total hike I was already out of breathe and had to step to the side to take a break lol. The altitude instantly effected me. Breathing like I just ran a 7minute mile, I sloowlyyyyy lugged myself up the mountain one step at a time, straight incline. Once I finally made it to the top, I was in complete shock, in awe and so overwhelmingly happy that I cried a little lol.
As I sat at the top of Machu Picchu with pure excitement on my face I had the opportunity to wait and watch the sky get lighter and brighter as the sun began to peak over the horizon and light up this beautiful mountains. To see the sun shine on each mountain was so magical, I didn’t want to move, walk or even blink because I didn’t want to miss one second of this gift of an opportunity.
As the sun rose I got hotter and hotter and was looking forward to taking off all of my layers of clothing, but before I began to strip at the top of the mountain I had to take a picture in my “Black Mental Health Matters” hoodie. It was important to me to take a picture with this particular hoodie because,
Black people, black educated, mentally, spiritually, emotionally intelligent people travel the world and the black and brown people who look like me, that have suffered moments of mental illness or trauma just like me deserve to see HOPE from someone who got into the solution, saw a therapist and did the self healing work. Black people deserve to see that they can take care of their mental health and can come out of their depression, live in POWER with their bipolar disorder, anxiety etc WITHOUT shame and travel to beautiful places like Peru with their head held high, full of confidence and a loving passion for LIFE.
Once the sun came up, I did my reflections & meditation while watching the extremely vibrant sun rays touch each mountain one at a time. I spent the next few hour sitting, taking pictures and taking in the history and spiritual energy of this beautiful place. My eyes would tear up each time I thought about how big of a deal it was that I was actually HERE!!
Then it happened I saw the beautiful Lamas, or Alpacas lol i’m not too sure on the difference yet. I named her Lam-Eisha lol get it? LAMA, Lam-Eisha lol
Anyways that was another highlight for me. Taking photos wasn’t the easiest because the security in Machu Picchu is everywhere so I couldn’t take my tripod out to take my own pictures, they have a zero tripod rule (rolls eyes) so I had to smile and ask strangers to take my picture lol I hate doing that because you never know if you’ll get the person who wants to make sure you get a great photo or the person that just doesn’t give a shit and takes any kind of picture and then you’re left with a fake smile while telling them thank you, knowing damn well all of the pics they took were trash lol.
I Prayed for This
Stay Present
While on my journey to get he perfect photo lol I saw an elderly lady sitting on the ground in the sun with her eyes closed and prayer hands in front of her as if she were praying. She opened her eyes and saw me glancing at her and politely asked me to put my phone down and come worship the sun with her. To me this was GOD reminding me to stay present in this moment and to soak in the energy of a life time.
So I did, I put my phone away sat next to her, put my prayer hands together, closed my eyes and worshipped the sun with her. She only spoke Italian so I couldn't understand much of anything she said, but she was adamant about introducing me to her family.
I met her husband, daughter and son-in-law. Before moving to the next space in Machu Picchu I was blessed to be able to take a photo with her and her husband. Somehow when ever I travel my connections always feed my soul.
Prinathe!!!
Finally my sister/travel buddy Prinathe made it into Machu Picchu. We had just gone through 10days of hell and heaven in the Amazon jungle, now to the lost world of the Incas together. We couldn’t wait to take pictures in our matching authentic Peruvian sweaters lol.
I kind of initiated a mission looking for them and randomly the night before Machu Picchu we found some in freezing cold while walking looking for food. Mine had a hoodie lol.
Sacred Valley
The funny thing is I remember when Airbnb was a new service and I looked up places to stay in Peru and the 1st place I saw was Sacred Valley, I had no idea why it was sacred but I just knew I wanted to stay there. Fast forward, another train ride from Machu Picchu and I was not in sacred valley staying in a place so beautiful, surrounded by mountains. The mountains reminded me of a mother hugging her child, with full security, embrace and love. I stayed in a beautiful home with two dogs one night and in a yoga retreat my 2nd night in Sacred Valley.
Samadhi Sacred Valley
This place is such a beautiful and peaceful gem. We met the owner and had a late dinner with him. Such a nice soul. The grounds were full of colorful flowers and surrounded by mountain from all sides.
As soon as I got there I walked and did my tour then my friend and I decided to do some sunbathing. The weather was soooo nice, full sun but with a cool breeze from the mountains. We laid in the grass and relaxed until sunset.
Mother NAUTRE!
With MAYBE 3-4hrs of sleep, it was wake up time again for our next adventure smh lol. At this point I was exhausted, feeling sick, sneezing, horrible headache and on top of that I had 4 layers of clothing on because it was so freakin cold in the mountains but NOBODY had heat lol. I was miserable at this point and to top it off I woke up around 11pm because I was having horrible chest pains, actually it felt like my heart.
On scale 1-10 the pain was a 4, just enough to wake me up out of my sleep and google “Am I having a heart attack” lol I knew it was unusual but figured maybe I was cutting off my circulation with all of the damn clothes I had on. 1am we got our bags went outside to catch our taxi to head to the famous Rainbow Mountain. As we continued to drive 3 hours to the mountain my heart began to hurt more and more. I was literally scared at this point, but I didn’t say anything because I was hoping it would go away.
Honestly I was more focused on the fact that I was freezing lol The pain was in 2nd place to my ice cold feet. We arrived at the mountain and I got out of the van to get my asthma pump from my bag in the trunk and THAT ALONE was the hardest 5 steps i’ve ever taken in my life. I felt like I was going to pass out and my heart would burst wide open if I made one more move. Finally I decided to tell my tour guide what I was feeling as everyone ate their breakfast while the sun came up. He informed that I was experiencing was altitude sickness!!
Altitude Sickness?
He told me that I needed at minimum 2 days to get my body acclimated to the altitude. He gave me the option of taking a horse up the mountain & getting occasional oxygen from his oxygen tank to make it to the top of the mountain. At this point I broke down crying lol
1. because I was sad I couldn’t do the hike id been looking forward to for years.
It reminded me that self care and self love first start with honoring my intuition. Also respecting Mother Nature. I was quickly reminded that she is to be respected at all times, my body is to be respected at all times and is should not be neglected just for a photo at the top of a mountain.
Long Story Short
Everybody else got to hike the mountain while I stayed in the car for 5 hours CRYING & trying to breathe. I was so sleepy but I couldn’t lay down or even breath enough to allow me a semi peaceful sleep. My pain level on scale 1-10 now was a 9 and I was O-VER-IT!! I decided the only thing I could do in that moment was cry and be angry so I did. I cried my eyes out lol I was so annoyed that I didn’t show myself the love I deserved, but there was a huge sense of humor that came over me mid way of wiping my snotting nose, slowly so I wouldn’t burst my heart open lol.
it was like Mother Nature was saying “See I tried to tell you to sit yo ass down somewhere but nooo you gotta be hard headed and not listen” Nature and my body had my FULL attention after this. 5 hrs later the crew came back to the car and gave me oxygen from an oxygen tank. About 4 hours later I was on the road to feeling much better.
oh yea I had use my friends pictures at rainbow mountain since I only have pics in the car crying lol. *Kanye Shrugs
Take Me Home!!
I had plans to stay 3 more days and do more exploring but after my altitude sickness scare I said F that!!!… I booked a flight from Peru to Houston right after leaving the mountain. My body was in shambles and this time I was going to listen and recover properly and with care.
Love Peru.
I met my soul in Peru, she will always have my heart. I will always respect her and see her as home. Since i’ve been home EVERYDAY I reflect on my fun,scarry,painful and life changing experiences in Peru lol. If I were to say i’m blessed, that would be an understatement and disrespectful to GOD.
I don’t have to vocabulary to express how blessed and grateful I am for this opportunity of a life time, for my experiences, connections and for my LIFE!! My life is so beautiful. I close my eyes and shed a few tears each time I think about my journey and what Peru, Ayahuasca, The Universe & GOD have given me. Im forever full of gratitude.