Pachamama ...

Lake Titicaca 

Today I climbed to Pachamama. The hardest part by far was making my way through the twisting and turning paths of the pueblo. You are basically snaking around everyone's homes and gardens but there are many turns and they all look the same. 

Needless to say, I was super proud of my navigational skills when I literally walked straight to town. From the Plaza, a stone path goes up and up and up through several stone "arcos" and eventually up to a point where you turn left to go to Pachatata or to the right to Pachamama. 

It took me about an hour to get up here and the early hour is totally worth it. I have the whole place to myself. From several viewpoints up here you cannot see any signs of mankind. On one side is the village and I see terraces for farming in several directions. But mostly I see miles and miles of the highest elevation lake in the world, uninhabited islands, and mountains. Mountains everywhere in the distance, 360 degrees. Some are in Peru, some belong to Bolivia. Some are roundish and smooth looking, many are jagged and pointy. Then, there are the Apus. The mountain spirits... The highest snow covered peaks are the Apus, and they are just as sacred and majestic as you would think them to be. 

This place is a vortex of energy. People have been coming up here for ceremony for eons. I see why. 

I can feel it.