"It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe."
Muhammed Ali
As I headed to Dublin Airport, I was excited, anxious, nervous and oblivious to what lay ahead of me! I walked up to check in, and there in front of me, was a group of 30 strong strangers. I wasn’t sure, if these people, who I would be spending the next week with, were friendly or good humoured or if indeed I would ever see them again after this trip…I need not have been worried. This wonderful group of volunteers have become my closest friends, and none of us will ever forget our Trek in Peru. After the initial meet and greet, we hopped on a plane and flew to Peru, via Amsterdam, where lo and behold we met Keith Duffy and Mikey Graham from Boyzone and Darren Holden from The High Kings fame. If any of us were to be star struck, it didn’t last for long. These guys are the most down to earth lads, with no airs and graces and they joined in the buzz of getting to know each other, as we all did. We had plenty of time as your typical scenario of late flights, lost luggage and hanging around the airport for hours on end was certainly in full force on this trip. My own luggage was left behind in conveyor belt hell, but was eventually reunited with me, two days late! This 12 hour flight was the longest I’ve ever been on a plane, and boy was it a great time to get to know my fellow trekkers. Everyone was in great form, all eagerly wanting to know everything about each other. The buzz was contagious, despite the long haul. We were eager to get going and the atmosphere was electric, I’m surprised all that energy didn’t cause a malfunction with the control panel on board!
We landed in Peru and went straight to our hotel in Lima. That night we settled into getting to know each other more, over dinner, but no partying or anything like that, as we had an early start the following morning, where we headed to airport again then got a flight to Cusco. When we stepped off the plane here, the heat met us like a wall! Boy it was hot! We did a little sight-seeing in the few hours we had before heading onto the trek, around this beautiful city. There is a fabulous Cathedral here; you really have to see it to believe it! This Cathedral of Cusco is jam packed with gold and silver adorned alters, hand crafted wooden furniture, made from rich mahogany toned wood, the finest leather upholstery and art including canvasses and sculptures worth over 2,000,000 million dollars! It was fantastic. One of the cathedral’s paintings really reflected the Peruvian way of life after it was occupied by the Spanish. The Spanish, back in the day, were in conspiracy with the Roman Catholic Church and made every attempt to keep the native people in line by the use of religion. One attempt that is shown in the Cathedral is a painting of "The Last Supper" by Marcos Zapata. It shows Christ and the Apostles about to dine on guinea-pig, washed down with a glass of chicha! Also to note in this painting was Judas depicted with his back turned to Jesus, holding a bag of silver. Not sure what that meant, it was a very peculiar piece of art altogether! Over time the Peruvian’s rebelled in a way, and adapted a lot of their religious artefacts to incorporate their own beliefs, like carving Black Leather Jesus statues using the leather from the native alpaca animal. So now, a little history lesson, my goodness this place is steeped in history. And from the tour of the Cathedral that is obviously soaked in wealth to see then a short distance away shanty towns in the hills where the extreme poverty was quite evident. It was heart breaking to see parts of this beautiful country living in third world conditions. Not enough attention is brought to these peoples needs. When we think third world we immediately relate to Africa. It is so very sad, to see children from the age of 5 upwards selling chewing gum for a few coins. I would hate to see my kids who are the same age having to sell on the streets for food. It certainly is an eye opener to witness this way of life, we live in luxury compared to these people.
Day 1: Up at dawn to catch a bus! Today we begin our trek. We arrived to our first point, a small little village, and a school. That was it, no shops or restaurants, just a school. As poor as these people are, they value their kid’s education very much, I wasn’t expecting that. The children where playing football, and as knackered as we were still from the travelling and the heat adjustment!! The energy was on over drive, so we joined in. We had great craic with the kids, and when they were finished fleecing us at football, they tried to fleece us from our money by selling all sorts to us! They are quite the hagglers but in such a good humoured way. I’m a born salesman, so I know a good pitch when I hear one and can out bargain anyone, or so I thought! I bought loads of bubblegum and sweets I did not need that day, and every other day for that matter!
The whole group on day 1 were filled with enthusiasm and vigour. Our goal today was to climb a mere 3500 feet and 10 kilometres, easy peasy! Ya right! When I say this was like climbing the steepest set of stairs you could ever climb, the whole way, without a single flat piece of land to catch our breath, or to ease up on the legs, I’m not exaggerating. This was not what I was expecting. Sure, I knew we were climbing a mountain, but I just did not expect it to be this steep! We had to traverse all the way, the whole 3500 feet of it, and on each side of us there was thousands of feet - to fall! One slip and you were gone, honestly I’m not messin’. This was dangerous stuff. If that wasn’t bad enough for the first day, we had the ordeal of having to adjust to the altitude to contend with. I had heard of how thin the altitude gets, and this can lead to severe problems, in some cases life threatening problems, but I’m a tough man, sure I can handle anything, right? WRONG! My lungs did not like this thin air! But it was the first day, so the naivety kinda took over, and I pretended not to notice the sheer scale of what I had volunteered for! And me being the total alpha male dummy I am, I decided to go on the harder trek. Yes we had an option, and easier version or the thigh breaking, foot bruising version. And because I wanted to see the waterfall on the Iron-Man, 3 times Olympic champion trek, I went on that one! It was worth it though. This waterfall was breathtakingly beautiful, a magical scene where you would expect to see some goddess swimming in the crystal blue stream! Instead, my fellow trekkers gathered around, all sweating and panting and gasping for air as we took snapshot after snapshot. A great sense of achievement was felt by all of us, and this was only Day 1. However my sense of euphoria did not help, as we descended to base camp and at 17.30 that evening I collapsed from exhaustion into my tent. I was dehydrated and my appetite was gone. I passed on the dinner and slept more or less until the next morning, oblivious to the chronic drop in temperature. It got to minus 10 that night!
Day 2: 07.00 am, Brekkie first, then climb a mountain! Today our target would be 10500 feet above sea level! Easy peesie? No way, that attitude was firmly given the heave-ho! Day 2 is officially known as the hardest day. And if yesterday was a shock to the system, this day almost killed it! The ascent was even steeper, like that was even possible! And the air, well, what air?! You know the craziest thing of all, even though this trek, is by far one of the most gruelling experiences any of the group will ever face, the spirit of camaraderie, the support we gave each other, it’s like we’d known each other our entire lives, so great and quickly formed was our bond. And to think we were total strangers a couple of days ago, is something I will take with me to the grave. Grim thought as I traversed and climbed and scrambled my way upwards and upwards, always upwards!! No flat land AT ALL and a death fall on either side!! As I went higher and higher, and the heat seemed to enter my body and expand into every cell and suck the air out as it did, I thought my lungs would explode. I could not breathe and was in real trouble. I fell behind the rest of the group and the intensity of gasping for air, finally got too much. I gave up! I sat on a rock and desperately tried to get a signal on my mobile, so I could text my wife, and get some re-assurance, and support. I was knackered! Then, one of the gang, Ger and absolute Legend, turned to see the state I was in, and he, rescued me in a way. I told him I could not go on. I was only 30 meters from the top, and he took hold of me and said ‘Come on Alan, we’ll do it together one step at a time’. And that’s what we did, 5 steps then rest, another five then rest, then another 5, and so it continued all the way for the 30 meters and when I got to the top, the whole place erupted with clapping and cheers, with lots of hugs and slaps on the back to follow. It was probably the most humbling unique experience I will ever face and I cried as did the others. There was a monument made up of flat stones, on the path and I took two stones that were loose on the ground and placed them onto the monument. One for my daughter and one for my son. This trip, this trek I was on, was truly the most magical experience I have ever had and I urge anyone to give it a go. The world and its troubles seemed so insignificant on that mountain top that day. And I don’t mean that in a flippant way, it’s just when you accomplish a goal, like this, which you never thought in a million years you’d ever achieve, you get a sense of clarity and peace. I think everyone could do with a trek up that mountain! Some world leaders certainly could! Day Two was also the day part of our group broke the world record by 15 minutes for the quickest team to the top! Keith, Paul, Jenny-Lee, (not me) Annika, Rico, Chris, John and of course the Legend Ger are record breakers now and I am so incredibly proud of them! Even with their titles of fame, I have never met a more down to earth group, who would do anything for you. They roughed it like the rest of us! We arrived back to Base Camp by 12 noon. Yes we climbed 7000 feet to 10500 in 5 hours and back again, no wonder I practically passed out! So what do you do, in the middle of nowhere, for hours on end, while you’re waiting for dinner? Have a sing song around the camp, of course we weren’t allowed to light a fire of course, and it was icy cold, courtesy of the wonderful Darren Holden of The High Kings!! The atmosphere was relaxed, chilled and did I mention we were having a sing song with Darren!! He played to us as if he was performing in front of a sell out tour at the O2 Arena, it was priceless, never to be forgotten!! Anyone who wants to relive this, head to Youtube and you can see for yourselves!
Day 3: Oh for a long lie in, but no, up at 07.00am to begin another hike for 4500 feet, the goal today 14500ft, above sea level!! Now when you think of it, the highest point of the Eifel tower is roughly 1069 ft and if you don’t take the lift, that’s one hell of a climb. Well take that, quadruple it over and over, and then add a 14500 foot drop on each side, in the sweltering heat and ever decreasing air, sounds like a lazy day to me! Not! Today was by no means uneventful, not that any day on this trek was uneventful. Sarah, one of the girls in the group, really became very ill, very quickly. The altitude sickness took over at an alarming rate and suddenly it became very dangerous for her. Our brilliant guides, the Sherpa’s, took control of the situation immediately and literally grabbed her in their arms, and raced her back down the mountain, at almost warp speed. I have never seen anything like it, they almost appeared super-human. Now as difficult as it is, to climb this mountain, and as much pain as they must have been in, like the rest of us, they raced down that cliff side with huge skill and I was in awe of their bravery. As you know what goes up, must come down, and believe me, coming down is a hell of a lot harder than going up! My feet are still bruised and it’s 3 weeks after the trek. The mountain is so steep you have to sort of shuffle down sideways, and you experience a whole new set of muscle pain, ligament strain, dizziness, and you find a new found respect for gravity. If you get sick up one of these mountains, you’re pretty much on your own. We we’re so high that Helicopters can’t even fly. So without the bravery of our Sherpa’s, Sarah would not have made it. Thankfully she made a full recovery once she got to the nearest town and a doctor, and none of us can thank our Sherpa’s strongly enough. They fed us, watered us and truly looked out for us. Although I could not eat for the 3 days I was on the Trek. I just couldn’t do it, everything smelled, tasted, even looked like garlic. I’m a basic meat and 2 veg kinda guy, and I just could not handle the food. Don’t get me wrong, we got the best of what resources we had, but I couldn’t do it. And that sure didn’t help my altitude sickness or the fact that my stomach was totally empty! On the way down from Day 3, we came across a small graveyard, and out of nowhere a group of condors appeared, literally out of the blue. One minute the sky was empty, the next these birds swept over the graveyard. It was the eeriest sight, but not scary, it almost felt surreal, magical in a way. This whole trek was full of magical moments; flashes in time that make you reflect and appreciate your life. When we finally shuffled our way back to base camp, I had no choice, my boots we’re not made for walking mountains, so I gave them away, along with my pants! My feet we’re no longer Pasty Irish White, they we’re quite simply black, blue and purple with patches of green!
Day 4: Our last day, the day we visit Machu Picchu! We got a bus ride from base camp, and I’m not telling you a lie, it was like a scene from The Italian Job. This bus managed to stay in one piece as we literally struggled up the steepest incline on the planet, which may as well have been a sheer vertical wall. And on the way back down after our tour of The Lost City, it may have well been a rollercoaster ride in Alton Towers! We prayed for dear life that day, I almost expected someone on the bottom to be taking one of those pictures you get, with everyone’s arms up in the air! Bus driver obviously got lessons from The Michael Schumacher School of driving, however, and we made it safely to The Lost Village The city of Machu Picchu is Cusco’s most important tourist attraction. On official record the city was discovered in 1911 by the American explorer, Hiram Bingham, but it is widely believed and accepted by the locals of Peru that an ordinary farmer from the valley below actually discovered this fabulous place first, which is considered to be one of the most extraordinary examples of scenic architecture in the world. I have no idea why it’s not listed as one of The Wonders of the World. It’s absolutely breath-taking. The city of Machu Picchu was built at the top of a granite mountain. The Incas, using ingenious engineering techniques, were able to transport heavy stone blocks up the mountain side, and once there, they used their excellent masonry skills to produce amazingly polished stones that fit together perfectly. How on earth could an ancient civilisation manage to construct an entire city, on a cliff-face, 20,000 feet up a mountain and keep it hidden and a secret? The city only has one entrance, two stone pillars mark the only way in, or out, protecting the ancient Inca’s from attack. Although Peru was taken over by the Spanish, they never discovered this city. Machu Picchu really is an architectural diary of how the Inca’s lived. There are many places of worship in the city and indeed many of the relics discovered here, showed signs of how the Inca’s adapted their religious beliefs from the Spanish, but added new dimensions to that religion, defiantly making it their own and not just their occupying governments. They were a deeply spiritual society and who could deny them that, considering the majestic surroundings they built their home in. You need only look at my pictures folks; honestly my words could not do this place justice.
We did it. We climbed 14,500 feet and 35 kilometres in 3 days, that’s 26 miles for those that haven’t done the change over yet! And strangely enough, as we left Machu Picchu and its lush green mountainside, and as we said goodbye to our brave and humble Sherpa’s in Cusco and arrived back in the hotel, all I could think of was McDonalds!! Yes, I heard there was one here and as I hadn’t eaten for 3 days, I wanted a McChicken Burger and wanted it NOW! After we landed at our hotel we had about 10 minutes to make it to McFry Heaven before it closed down for the night, and there were no signs of bruised feet as I raced to the Big M! When I got to the counter they informed they opened all night!! At last…FOOD! Real Food!!! That night, all of us realized what we had just gone through as a group. The next day we headed back to Lima, we had a few beers, lots more food and a lovely concert was performed by Mikey and Darren! We sat and talked about what this trip meant to each one of us, and why we did it. More tears of course, but the bond we’ve all shared, is a bond that will never be broken. They’ve all become very dear friends of mine and I am so grateful to have met each and every one of them.
And, when I finally made it back home, the first thing I saw was a sign in the window of my house that said ‘Well Done Daddy’. And that was even more magical than standing on top of that mountain only a day and a half earlier (give or take)
I cannot rate this trek highly enough for anyone who wants to experience the ultimate mountain climb, or for anyone who wants to absorb nature at it’s most astounding or for anyone who wants to immerse themselves in an ancient civilisation! But there are a few things I’d like to pass on, words of wisdom if you like. Firstly, sun-cream won’t work! End of story! Wear sun hats and have walking sticks. Secondly you must must must get altitude training before you go. Climbing Croke Patrick a few times before you go to Peru would be an excellent way to prepare. Thirdly…Prepare! You need well fitted hiking boots that won’t kill you, clothing that will keep you cool and breathable! Fourthly you need to know the terrain. Seriously, we had no idea their where Puma’s only a few feet from us at any given time! These animals are extremely shy and will keep their distance, they feed on the local wildlife so you are pretty much safe from them, and still, if they decided to attack, you would have no chance! Our Sherpa’s told us that on the last night, not sure if I’d stayed had I known earlier! But they were looking out for us all the time, we were protected, if you go alone, know the terrain! There are lots of places to fall, and I mean fall thousands of feet, so again, know the terrain inside out! Know if you are allergic to anything, food, insects that sort of thing, and know what type of water supply you will be exposed to. Know what kind of foods you can tolerate or not tolerate in my case. All this is so important, because once you’re up that mountain, your up. There is no fast track back to the nearest town and your very life could depend on how well you have prepared. And also while your there, remember to respect where you walk. This place has been preserved for thousands of years, especially Machu Picchu and nobody will take kindly to you at all, if you drop even a tissue by accident. Besides once your there, you no doubt will bond with Mother Nature as I did, and you’ll feel an urge to protect it anyway, such is it’s power!!
I would like to thank my family and friends, who supported me throughout, from the beginning right to the end. Without them texting me and giving me words of support and many a joke to keep my spirits up, on the long haul up the trek, I don’t know what I would have done. It meant so much to me. Thank you too, to my sponsors and businesses that helped me raise money. Let me also give a very special mention to Lizzy and Jim Ellis who did most of my fundraising.
No thank you of course is as big as my thank you to Gemma, my wife, for holding the fort with the twins and for being by my side all the way. I really could not have done this at all without her or the kids. They’re the best!
I would personally like to praise everyone who I met on the trip. These amazing people took time out of their lives to raise money for Irish Autism Action and without people like them, much needed funds could not be raised. So thank you to the crew who came from Cork to London to Spain to Peru!
Kevin, Luke, Keith, Paul, Jenny Lee, Darren, Annika, The two Dave’s,Niall, Declan, Mark (Lambo), Vincent, Jenny, Fiona, Mary, Ger, Mervyn, John, Mickey, Fiona, Mary, Rico, Chris, Alvero. Emily, Fred, Nigel, Colette, Sarah Aiden and Peter.
