Last Updated on July 31, 2018 by PowersToTravel
Nestled in a saddle near the top of a mountain in the Peruvian Andes, Machu Picchu long represented for me an unattainable great wonder of the world. Evidence of the great Incan empire, now rubble, causes me to question the permanence of our great civilization, and puts Inca into historical perspective of all of the great empires over the span of recorded history.
The ruins also bring to mind my teenage dreams of being an archaeologist. Right, a type 1 diabetic working in the heat or humidity or arid landscape, scraping back the dust of time. Sleeping in a tent with spiders ever encroaching and watching my insulin boil? (That’s me watching my insulin boil, not the spiders watching my insulin boil!) Needless to say, that dream never happened.
However, for Hiram Bingham III, it did, as he discovered Machu Picchu in his attempt to find “The Lost City of the Incas.” (Read more here.)
But for me, just the sight of Machu Picchu renders void the unfulfilled dreams of my teenage years. How can a type 1 diabetic regret lost opportunities? If I did, I would waste my entire life thinking of what could have been, had I not been insulin-dependent. If I did, I would be regretting myself, as diabetes is as much part of me as my brown eyes.
Instead, I’m not looking back regretfully in any way, but am amazed that I have the ability now to touch the stones that those long-ago Incan stonemasons created, the intrepid Hiram Bingham discovered, and the modern-day philanthropists, politicians and volunteers bring to life for the rest of us.
As I learned more about the configuration of Machu Picchu, I began to fear that I would not be able to experience what I was seeing in the photographs. My cousin Adam took his father to Machu Picchu several years ago, and they climbed Huayna Picchu, the peak which overlooks the city. His description of the trek, as well as other descriptions from travel blogs, taught me instantly that I was not fit for it, especially at the high altitudes in the Peruvian Andes.
I told our travel consultant that I did NOT want to pay the extra for the Huayna Picchu hike. No need to schedule us in for that.
So, I feared that while we had finally arranged to visit this long dreamed-of location, I would not get to experience it in full. Perhaps we would see the various carvings and building ruins, but probably not see the vast mountain vistas of the city nestled in the valley I had long associated with Machu Picchu.
To my excitement, once there I discovered that the regular hike at Machu Picchu leads directly up the opposing mountainside, on carved steps and wide terraces which had once been a part of the city. We climbed the many steps, and I stopped, rested on the grassy terrace and gazed out at the iconic view of the city, with Huayna Picchu facing me, towering above.
Not only was I out of breath, it was a breathtaking view.
