Above the Clouds

Date: 19th April, 2025

Location: Machu Picchu, Peru

Dear Journal,

Today feels like a dream I somehow walked into. I’m sitting on a giant stone step, wind brushing past me, clouds slipping through the mountains like ghosts. Machu Picchu, the Machu Picchu is right here under my feet. And honestly? I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.

The journey up was no joke. The air is thin, and my legs feel like noodles. But every time I stopped to breathe, the view pulled me forward. Jagged green mountains everywhere. Valleys so deep they look fake. I kept thinking: How did the Inca even build this up here?

When I finally saw the city, I actually gasped. Not like “wow, cool,” but real goosebumps. The stone walls are so perfectly fit together, no cement or glue, just human hands and genius. And they’ve lasted hundreds of years! It’s not some small spot either. There are temples, houses, water channels and gardens.

One spot really stuck with me: the Temple of the Sun. It’s built in a way that sunlight shines through the window perfectly during the solstice. Like... how did they know that? They didn’t have GPS or computers. Just the sky and their brains. 

Some people think Machu Picchu was a royal retreat. Others say it had religious meaning. Nobody really knows why it was abandoned. Maybe disease, maybe war, maybe the Spanish invasion. But somehow, it stayed hidden in the jungle until 1911, when a guy named Hiram Bingham found it.

What hits me the hardest is how quiet it is here. No engines, no buzzing phones, just wind, birds, and the soft crunch of feet on stone. It feels like the mountain is still holding the memories of those who once lived here. Like their spirits are watching. Not in a creepy way, but in a peaceful, protective way.

I don’t know if I’ll ever come back. But I’ll carry this place with me forever. It’s not just a “wonder of the world.” It’s proof of what people can create when they work together, when they care about their land, their sky, and their story. 

Machu Picchu isn’t just ancient. It’s alive.

--- Ishaan Patil