They told me oxygen would be scarcer, but they didn’t tell me it was the mountains that would take my breath away. I was deep in the heart of the Peruvian Andes, in a small village called Ollantaytambo. It’s an old community that rests in the valley between the huge mountains, complete with Incan ruins that cause a constant outpour of tourists to flood in daily and leave by night after they had their fill of the landscape. We were not one of these tourists.
My friend Gabi and I were visiting Peru for ten days with her dad. We’re both seventeen years old, fresh out of junior year of high school. We earned all the money for our trip ourselves, which by our calculations, was about 190 hours of working the summer before. After scouring the internet for study abroad options, we found a home stay program with Awamaki that sets you up with a family for $16 a night.
Our family was a wonderfully generous, multi-generational household complete with everyone from great-grandma to the youngest grandchild of ten months. The head of the house was an inspirational, hardworking 61-year-old woman named Ana Maria. Our first adventure began when we learned no one in the house spoke English, something we had anticipated but hadn’t fully realized the challenge of until it happened. Every time we spoke, we had to plan out the sentence in our heads. It was mentally exhausting by the end of each day, but the most tiring part was the countless hours we spent exploring.
Right outside our host family’s door was a picture perfect view of the snow-capped peak of Mt. Veronica stretching her way up to 18,000ft. On either side, more mountains rose and cut out the valley like a frame displaying the soft local farms, or chakras, that spread on the ground like a beautiful green juxtaposition to the unwavering russet backdrop.
Gabi pointed to the top of a ridge with visible switchbacks climbing to its peak and said lightheartedly, “I want to hike to that.”
But on our last day in Peru, we did.
We saw many other beautiful places such as the infamous Machu Picchu which, don’t get me wrong, was breathtaking. However, this last hike we did was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. After learning so many new things about the culture and tradition of the Peruvian people, I felt like I had learned to live simpler and happier. Our host family, especially Ana Maria, taught me strength and kindness in a new way when we could barely even speak the same language. That last hike was a symbol of the newfound spirit we had gained from our travels. It was a turning point when we realized after independently traveling the world, working hard, and learning so much, that we could accomplish anything.
We started the hike at about 8am and reached the peak five grueling hours later. At the end, atop this giant mountain, lay a small Inca ruin called Intipunku, or Sungate. The Incans created it hundreds of years ago to catch the light from the summer solstice. That day from that spot, we felt the ancient stillness that sat at the top of those mountains. We looked over the whole valley in wonder and saw what the Inca had seen before us. They had seen the towering mountains and the deep crevice of the valley; we were far from the touch of modern man. After the hardest hike I’d ever endured, we looked upon the open world with triumph and new eyes.
Dear Reader: This page may contain affiliate links which may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Our independent journalism is not influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative unless it is clearly marked as sponsored content. As travel products change, please be sure to reconfirm all details and stay up to date with current events to ensure a safe and successful trip.
0 Replies to “Life at 10,000 Feet”
Comment on this article
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
ok it was funny not like a formal article
Very informative blog.Much thanks again. Much obliged.
Wow, great article.Thanks Again. Great.
I’m extremely pleased to find this web site. I wanted to thank you for your time just for this fantastic read!! I definitely enjoyed every part of it and I have you saved to fav to check out new stuff in your website.
Really interesting post!
Thanks for sharing the article with the information we are actually looking for.
Well, I tend to be a very critical person with a critical bent of mind who always comments on others post emphasizing on the missed-out points. However, your writer seems to have done a great job as there’s nothing much that I can think of saying. It is an amazing write-up that is extremely useful for your concerned target audience. I’m definitely going to share this on Twitter.
Enjoyed looking at this, very good stuff, thanks.
Great info. Lucky me I found your blog by chance (stumbleupon).
I have bookmarked it for later!
Some truly great posts on this site, regards for contribution.
Very great post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I’ve truly loved browsing your weblog posts. After all I will be subscribing to your rss feed and I am hoping you write once more soon!
Pretty! This was a really wonderful post. Thank you for your provided information.
Wonderful blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News.
Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
Thank you
Rent a professional limousine service in Dubai with safety equipments
I believe you have observed some very interesting points, thanks for the post.
I pay a visit everyday some sites and websites to read content,
but this website gives quality based articles.
very useful topic
And very important
This is great,
I hope to do something like this
very useful topic
And very important
Please Fwd to author:
Your wallet has been found at IC Ranger station JTNP
Good day! Would you mind if I share your blog with my zynga group?
There’s a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content.
Please let me know. Thank you
Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find
It truly helpful & it helped me out a lot. I’m hoping to offer
one thing back and aid others such as you helped me.
Excuse for that I interfere … To me this situation is familiar. Let’s discuss. Write here or in PM.
This excellent phrase is necessary just by the way
I join. It was and with me. We can communicate on this theme. Here or in PM.
So many amazing selections! I wasn’t familiar with many of them. We just did Grapevine last week, which never disappoints. Christmas capital of Texas. ??????
Is it alright to reference some of this on my page if I include a backlink to
this site?
Thanks , I’ve recently been looking for information about this topic for a long time and yours is the best I have discovered so far. But, what concerning the bottom line? Are you certain about the source?
Thank you for your post.Really thank you! Cool.
wonderful blog !! love reading your post.
Greetings from Colorado! I’m bored to tears at
work so I decided to check out your site on my iphone during lunch break.
I love the info you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home.
I’m shocked at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone ..
I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, great site!
Every weekend i used to pay a visit this web page, because i wish for enjoyment, for the reason that this this
site conations genuinely pleasant funny material too.
Eco-therapy or nature therapy, sometimes comprehensively called family-centred nature therapy or outdoor therapy entails using the environment of nature and its various elements to become involved in the autism therapy process for persons on the spectrum.
We love your offering these details for folks hoping to get more information about topics like this. Your blog page was well-written and well investigated, that is certainly considerably liked. I am generally seeking for new sites to follow and browse on a regular basis.
Thank you so much for sharing this blog with us. Really Informative blog.