I just spent a week visiting Peru to see some of the archaeological sites in and around Cusco, including Machu Picchu and what an amazing experience! It's difficult to put into words everything that I saw and felt, but undoubtedly I started to develop a deep sense of reverence while there. I stayed in Cusco for the first few days and got to see all the architecture, which was a mix of Spanish Colonial built on top of Inca ruins and remains. I saw Sacsayhuaman which included massive megalithic stones, the largest weighing around 120-180 tons! How exactly the Inca's managed to move those stones and place one on top of the other is open to debate. Apparently they dragged the stones with rope that took hundreds of men to do so. While there I asked several tour guides and they believe they also built ramps to push/pull them in place from quarries nearby. I find that hard to believe.
In Graham Hancock's Fingerprint of the Gods he believes there was a previous civilization or culture, that brought this kind of architectural knowledge to the people of the Andes, highlighted in the legend of Viracocha, which Hancock describes as the father of invention and that the current conventional wisdom as to how they actually moved and shaped some of those larger stones seem unlikely.
I ended up seeing Pisaq, Moray, Puka Pukara, Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu.
Overall, it was pretty safe going to Peru and I got to see so much of the countryside, the Sacred Valley which contains the Sacred River that the Inca's built so much of their central civilization around. And there was just such a different environment and feel to it all. This is subjective, but living in a big city in Canada, I'd say there was far less of a 'frequency fence', and noticed the difference in the way I was thinking and feeling, with this sense of aliveness being there and this subtle internal shift and perspective. This became more prominent the closer I came to Machu Picchu itself. There was an emotional awakening of sorts that was deeply felt.
Elevation sickness is something to watch out for when arriving in Cusco being 3400 metres above sea level, but I'm happy to say that Wim Hof's breathing techniques did work when it came to adjusting to the altitude. I started noticing it the first day but by the second day in the afternoon felt nausea and could barely walk without feeling completely winded and my heart pounding from exertion. Oxygen content is about 85% there of what it is near sea level, which is the altitude I live in. Coffee helped temporarily but I was still bedridden for most of the day. EE helped with the nausea, but I still wasn't able to move around a lot. So finally did 5 rounds of Wim's technique and after the 4th round starting noticing a change and felt much better afterwards. I kept doing it every morning after that and quick breathes described here (without holding it at the end like he does) whenever I became winded or out of breathe seeing the sights.
There is of course, extreme poverty in some of rural Peru, but crime didn't seem to be a major issue, although I did go with a tour company. At the same time, at least from what I could see, a lot of children seemed to be happy and engaged, some of them finding fun in the simplest of things. Walking around, you see there's a lot of warmth and affection between one another in Peru and in other Latin American countries that I've visited in the past that you don't see as much of in Western culture. That may also have to do with the temperate climate, more sunshine and less EMF's and the like. These are just my observations but I couldn't help but wonder how many people in Peru are actually on anti-depressants, anti-anxiety meds or the like which has become so prevalent in North America.
Anyways, here a some pictures and videos from the visit!
In Graham Hancock's Fingerprint of the Gods he believes there was a previous civilization or culture, that brought this kind of architectural knowledge to the people of the Andes, highlighted in the legend of Viracocha, which Hancock describes as the father of invention and that the current conventional wisdom as to how they actually moved and shaped some of those larger stones seem unlikely.
I ended up seeing Pisaq, Moray, Puka Pukara, Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu.
Overall, it was pretty safe going to Peru and I got to see so much of the countryside, the Sacred Valley which contains the Sacred River that the Inca's built so much of their central civilization around. And there was just such a different environment and feel to it all. This is subjective, but living in a big city in Canada, I'd say there was far less of a 'frequency fence', and noticed the difference in the way I was thinking and feeling, with this sense of aliveness being there and this subtle internal shift and perspective. This became more prominent the closer I came to Machu Picchu itself. There was an emotional awakening of sorts that was deeply felt.
Elevation sickness is something to watch out for when arriving in Cusco being 3400 metres above sea level, but I'm happy to say that Wim Hof's breathing techniques did work when it came to adjusting to the altitude. I started noticing it the first day but by the second day in the afternoon felt nausea and could barely walk without feeling completely winded and my heart pounding from exertion. Oxygen content is about 85% there of what it is near sea level, which is the altitude I live in. Coffee helped temporarily but I was still bedridden for most of the day. EE helped with the nausea, but I still wasn't able to move around a lot. So finally did 5 rounds of Wim's technique and after the 4th round starting noticing a change and felt much better afterwards. I kept doing it every morning after that and quick breathes described here (without holding it at the end like he does) whenever I became winded or out of breathe seeing the sights.
There is of course, extreme poverty in some of rural Peru, but crime didn't seem to be a major issue, although I did go with a tour company. At the same time, at least from what I could see, a lot of children seemed to be happy and engaged, some of them finding fun in the simplest of things. Walking around, you see there's a lot of warmth and affection between one another in Peru and in other Latin American countries that I've visited in the past that you don't see as much of in Western culture. That may also have to do with the temperate climate, more sunshine and less EMF's and the like. These are just my observations but I couldn't help but wonder how many people in Peru are actually on anti-depressants, anti-anxiety meds or the like which has become so prevalent in North America.
Anyways, here a some pictures and videos from the visit!
I especially liked the skulls (one of them was huge!), the new buildings on top of the old, and that circular 'specialized growing terrace'.
Glad you are back safe and sound.
