The next day I was up and ready at 8 am when my new found Q’ero friend and hopefully teacher had said he would arrive. Nobody appeared. I waited for the next hour and still nobody came, so I went to a phone box and phoned him a few times, but got only the answering machine. I felt sad and disillusioned. Why had he not come? I went out for a walk, lay on a rock in the sun and cried. I had been so excited and sure about my intuitions and the strange way in which we had met, but now I wasn’t sure about anything. I had found a Q’ero and apparently lost him again. Was the Universe playing tricks on me?   But I was still determined to do ceremony with at least one Q’ero, so I went back to my room and was looking on the Internet to see how I could find them, when I heard someone saying “Nicola”, and there he was at my door at 4pm. He told me that  as he was leaving Cusco at seven in the morning to catch the bus,  he was mugged by four men. They stole his bag, his money and his telephone. He said he was crying. I told him that I also had been crying. How many times has it happened to me that when you most want something, in the moment that you have given up and let go, it comes to you.

So then he told me that he would prepare me for my imminent visit to Machupichu. Together we did the most beautiful ceremony or despacho for Pachamama and for all my friends and family, followed by a special healing and cleansing for me. He sprayed me with herbal mixtures and perfumes, he blew and sang sweet songs that sounded so familiar, and rang a little bell which I now own. Then he gave me a crystal healing using stones from Machupichu and Ausangate. He told me that next time we met, together we would make my very own healing bundle or mesa of sacred stones and crystals, and he would show me how to use them so that I in turn can help others. I felt so blessed and complete, and above all grateful.

Two days later I was in a taxi on my way to Ollyantantambo where I got on the train which was packed with a very noisy group of Japanese. Coffee and chocolate croissants were served as the little train wound its way through incredible mountains, along the fast flowing river which passes through the Sacred Valley and ends up as part of the Amazon. When we arrived at Aquas Calientes it was pouring with rain and I thought ” Oh no, what if it rains tomorrow when I go to Machupichu.”

I had a rather restless night with many dreams and the feeling that I had been there before, and the sound of the rain and the fast flowing river outside my window. At 5.15 I got up, had breakfast and met Ruth, my guide. It was still raining. We took the bus up the hair-raising bends through the forest to Machupichu. I had prayed to the Apus, the spirits of the high mountains for sunshine. We arrived and there was a light rain, the clouds were swirling upwards from the river valley. It was the most amazing sight and I was spellbound. The energy there was surprisingly soft and feminine, not like the other Inca ruins that I had visited. The steps were even and and much easier to move around. It was also easier to breathe as the altitude is about 2.400 meters as compared to 3.500 in Cusco. It is cloud forest, so the trees are always green and it felt so different to the a Sacred Valley.

Ruth was very sweet and we visited the Sun Temple, the Observatory and a few other places before she left me to explore on my own. By this time the clouds had opened up and the sky was blue and the sun was hot. You could see all the mountains surrounding this magical place. I wanted to find somewhere quiet where I could sit and meditate and also make a little offering to Pachamama. But by that time the groups had arrived and there seemed to be nowhere to get away from them and also out of the sun, which was starting to get hot. I sat on a rock and one of the guards appeared, so I started chatting to him. I told him that I had asked the Apus for sun, and that’s what we had. He said it had been raining for four days until today, and that he had asked the Apus for rain because it was too hot, and I told him it could rain after I left! So we were joking together and I told him I wanted to make an offering. He said “I will take you to a place where there is special energy and you can touch the stones.” I said “I thought that wasn’t allowed” and he said “It is, because I am one of the guards and I say you can!”

So he took me to a place where one of the other guards was filling his water bottle slowly with water that was dripping down the rock. It was like a cave made of sheer rock. I am not sure if was naturally formed or had been made by the Incas. There was a little carved seat in the rocks where I sat down. I looked closely at the slanting rock which was like a roof, and noticed that it was made of little quartz crystals. I meditated for a while and then opened my eyes and saw that the guard had placed his forehead on the crystal roof. He washed his face and head with the water, said ” Cuídate, take care of yourself” and left. He was a very special and beautiful young man, very tuned into the energy of the place. I realized I had some coca leaves with me, so I made a little offering and then put my head against the crystals. I could feel the energy pulsating through me and could have stayed there for ever, but eventually I pulled myself away and left the beautiful crystal cave which faced out towards the green mountains,  and headed back towards the exit. I felt a tremendous sense of peace and happiness. Machupichu is not like any of the other places I have been to. It is really a mystical city in the clouds, so beautiful. I hope the feeling and the images of this magical place will stay with me for ever. Despite the crowds of people it still remains a most amazing place. What a place to have lived in!

I took the bus back to Aquas Calientes where it was raining again. It was so strange to be down in the valley after being on top of the world in the sky and clouds. I took the train back, tea was served to noisy groups of tourists. I felt I had been away for days and that I was changed for ever after visiting the city in the sky!  Someone had said to me as I left Brazil “When you come back you will be a different person.” Being in Machupichu had been like visiting another dimension. I was sad at the thought of leaving the Sacred Valley, but starting to get excited about my next encounter with my Q’ero friend in Cusco the following Sunday.