By Luke Miller, Truth Theory
The last few days have been memorable to say the least- I have walked nearly 90 kilometres, pushed my body to its limits and visited the deepest depths of my soul. In this article I will be talking about some of the soul work I have done on top of Machu Picchu mountain, with a cactus named Wachuma (also known as San Pedro).
I had been informed of a Shaman who works in the mountains by multiple people over a short period so I decided to reach out and contact him.
He made me aware of a ceremony he had taking place one week from the time I contacted him, so instead of jumping on a train from Cusco Peru, I decided to walk the Salkantay trek, which would land me in Aguas Calientes (the town right next to Machu Picchu) the day before the ceremony.
The trek was a lot of fun, and was not as physically exhausting as I expected. There was a lot of walking that took place and the second day (22 Kilometres) was the hardest due to having to summit Salkantay Mountain which sits at 4600 metres (15090 feet) above sea level. The coca leaves (the active ingredient in cocaine) helped with the altitude and energy needed, and I am pretty sensitive to stimulants, so the coca had me up the mountain a lot faster than if I had gone without.