WAQRAPUKARA The past couple of days in Chosecani Peru have been spent hard at work to help put together the community center for the town. Our group is split into homestays in the community. On the first night of my homestays, our house father told me and housemate, Megan, about a long hike to an ancient ruin. We had a lot of work to do on community center so we worked hard knowing that there was the possibility of taking a morning off to do the hike. Fortunately, we surpassed our work goal so we made plans to hike to the ruins the next day, leaving at four am in order to get back for afternoon work. Megan and I have the sweetest house mother who woke up early in the morning to make us breakfast and a packed lunch. At 3:30 am we were in bliss as we enjoyed homemade bread and warm chocolate milk. I couldn't help but accept seconds of the chocolate milk, but we had to leave in a haste in order to meet with the six others in the group and our guide. Going into the hike, there was a variety of rumors floating around about the difficulty and length of the hike. The guide told us he would be setting a brisk pace so we could get to the ruins in good time. I felt like we were running up the mountain. I consider myself a brisk hiker but with two glasses of hot cocoa, fridged temperatures, and miles of unknown uphill ahead I felt at my lowest. It turns out, our trip from chosacani to Waqrapukara was a total of 30 km(miles) with an elevation starting at 3750m and peaking at nearly 5000m. The first couple miles were honestly rough, I was a little bitter about the pace but because of the speed we were able to experience amazing views of the sunrise over the pomacanchi region and a little Munya oil and coco leaves can help any hiker fight altitude. We hiked up up, and up through frosty covered rolling hills and laughed at the thought of us being able to return back to our work town by noon. We looked forward to the ruins and walked in awe as we crossed scenic panoramas of the Andes. After reaching our highest point we had about three miles of down hill till we got to the ruins. We embraced the change in pace. The land opened up to expose a gorgeous canyon that appeared to have infinite depth and range. The ruins stood in the middle of the canyon. The ruins were said to be older then the Incas, their unique fortress building style differing from traditional inca infrastructure. I tried to run up the stairs to reach the top of the fortress but my mind was overly ambitious and had more energy compared to my worn legs and acclimating pulmonary system. Slowly but surely I made it to to top where I stood in awe of the canyon and mountains surrounding me. I wondered what thoughts and experiences lived in the past in this wonderous place. The remaining walls holding all the secrets to the past. We explored, took photos, played around with yoga, dreamt, and relaxed after the long 5 hour hike to reach the beautiful fortress in the sky. I could have stayed and explored the ruins for days, I was captivated by my colors in the canyon, how the ridge line scraped the sky and how the archetecture of the old ruins were intelligently layered. The hike wasn't over though. We had to return to Chosecani. After enjoying the ruins we set out to climb back up to the summit. Your mindset shifts to embrace the inevitable of completion.. The hike back to the highest point was strenuous, and setting out at noon posed a new challenge of heat. As with all long distance hiking, your mindset shifts to embrace the inevitable of completion. No matter what, you have to finish the miles ahead or else you will be at a standstill. So we fought against our pounding hearts and shakes legs so we could make good time. We were cheered along by a herd of wild alpaca and the thought of snacks and homemade dinner back at Chosecani. Once we got to our downhill section, we raced ahead taking notice of the hardwork it took to climb the steep trail. Four hours went by and soon we floated into the plaza of chosecani feeling accomplished and a little loopy after being awake and highly active for the past 12 hours. It was a monstrous day hike, but to be amongst the Andes is undeniably humbling, inspiring, and worthwhile.
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