Peru: Machu Picchu Trek for Sudan
The Machu Picchu Inca Jungle Trek was absolutely a trip of a lifetime! This was my first time joining an Islamic Relief USA global challenge fundraiser. Each participant is required to fundraise for a cause before embarking on a challenging adventure. Our goal was to raise much-needed funds for the people of Sudan, who have been suffering under the weight of over two years of war. But we achieved so much more than that!
A group of 40 strangers became friends.
We fell in love with and adopted a small local Muslim community.
We learned from each other powerful lessons about faith, resilience, and gratitude.
And a lost suitcase taught me a masterclass in humility and generosity.
A Lesson in Patience and Reliance on Allah
After months of physical preparation and anticipation, I was thrilled to join a global team of nearly 40 people from five countries to do the Inca Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu. But despite my preparation, I stumbled right out of the gate:
Medication Mix-up: My pharmacy had an error and couldn't provide the altitude sickness medication I was prescribed to take before arriving in Cusco.
Travel Chaos: My flight from Lima to Cusco was canceled; I was rebooked on a flight that turned out to be overbooked, and then rebooked yet again.
Lost Luggage: Amidst the flight changes, the airline lost my suitcase.
No Buffer Time: Because of the delays, I arrived in Cusco just hours before the group set off—and without a single item of clean clothing!
Physical Toll: With no time to acclimate to the altitude, I began to feel weak, light-headed, and developed a headache almost immediately.
Still, Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), I arrived safely in Cusco after midnight and ready to tackle the four-day challenge after a few hours of sleep. Though I must say, the silver lining of the canceled flight is that I was able to visit the mosque in Lima and meet a few sisters there!
Lima Mosque: Outside
Lima Mosque: Inside
Trek Day 1: Biking and Rafting
Since we departed from Cusco so early in the morning that no shops were open for me to buy emergency clothes. I had no choice but to wash what I was wearing and dry it with a hair dryer in the hotel room! While I was making do with the clothes on my back, the other participants were carefully packing their required gear—clothes, shoes, and medicine—into their single allocated duffle bags.
The trek began with a three-hour bike ride through some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen. However, given my altitude sickness, I opted to follow the group on the bus with the luggage.
A Cloud Forest. The drive up to the start of the biking path was breathtaking.
Gearing Up to Bike: My roommate - who fortunately is a nurse - brought a whole pharmacy and made sure I had Tylenol for my early altitude sickness symptoms. She is one of many who helped me when I arrived with no suitcase.
Gearing up for Biking: Shoutout to our guide Johan from Lorenzo Expeditions. He and his team take safety VERY seriously.
Prayer Time: After the 3 hour bike ride, we checked into our 1st lodge along the trek, ate, prayed, and headed out for rafting.
After arriving at our first overnight stop, we geared up for rafting. Since I still had no gear, I asked the organizer if I could go into town after rafting to buy clothes. He said yes, so I joined the rafting and had an amazing time! MashaAllah, it was so much fun, though I was drenched by the time we finished.
Then, the organizer approached me with a worried look. “I forgot it’s Sunday,” he said. “I don’t think anything is going to be open.” Sure enough, the town’s clothing stores were closed. There I was: soaking wet, without dry clothes, in a humid climate and with no hair dryer in our bare bones accommodations. Tawakkul!
When the ladies in the group realized my situation, they immediately began pulling clothes from their own duffle bags. Remember, they had only packed exactly what they needed for the four days; they were giving me items they didn't really have to spare. I was immediately reminded of the verse in the Quran:
وَٱلَّذِينَ تَبَوَّءُو ٱلدَّارَ وَٱلْإِيمَـٰنَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ يُحِبُّونَ مَنْ هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَا يَجِدُونَ فِى صُدُورِهِمْ حَاجَةًۭ مِّمَّآ أُوتُوا۟ وَيُؤْثِرُونَ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَلَوْ كَانَ بِهِمْ خَصَاصَةٌۭ ۚ وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِۦ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ ٩
“...They give [the emigrants] preference over themselves even though they may be in need. And whoever is saved from the selfishness of their own souls, it is they who are [truly] successful.” (59:9)
The Holy Quran | Chapter 59, Verse 9
Rafting: The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. SubhanAllah!
Rafting: The water wasn’t too rapid. But there were some bumpy spots. We did have one person fall out the raft.
Rafting: I can still hear our instructor saying “Get Down!” just before the big splashes.
Trek Day 2: Hiking
The first day of hiking was the hardest - 11.2 miles. Along the way, we stopped to learn about Peruvian flora and fauna. Along the route, we passed the homes of locals that live in the mountains. Some of these families use their homes as rest stops for hikers where they show various aspects of Peruvian culture.
My Favorite Picture: I took many beautiful pictures, but this one is my favorite. I think I look ridiculous—but I love it because my outfit was assembled out of selfless love. My clothing and gear are from five different sisters.
Hiking one of the steeper parts of the trek. The cliff was a little scary, but the path was plenty wide enough… I think. And yes, I tucked my pants in my socks. No insects crawling up my legs. No thank you!
Native Plants: Along the hike, our guides taught us about the native plants. This is the coca leaf plant.
Kittens! There were a few cute kittens along the hike at our rest stops.
The Hike: The first hiking day was the hardest.
The Generous Ones: By the end of this day, I was reunited (temporarily) with my suitcase and my clothes. Janette and Firdaws were the first to open up their bags and give me clothes. I call them Jannat-ul-Firdaus and pray they enter it. *I didn’t know it at the time, but I would wind up locking my purse in my suitcase and needing to borrow money from Maryam (sipping coffee behind us).
Trek Day 3: Ziplining and More Hiking
This was the day many of us conquered our fears. I was nervous about ziplining, but it turned out to be just an unusual way to see the sky (or the ground). I wasn’t even a little bit scared! Sometimes we build up a fear in our heads that is simply not necessary.
Ziplining: I was one of the last to go across. It took a while to build up the guts. But honestly it was fine. This was a first for most of us.
Questionable Bridge: Now this was a little scary. I’m not sure why they spaced the planks so far apart. The shorter participants really struggled. But it was safe.
More Bridges: This was a lot less questionable.
Train: As we approached Aguas Calientes (the town below Machu Picchu), we hiked along some train tracks. I thought it was hilarious that everyone pulled out phones like we’d never seen a train before.
Break Time: We took a brief rest near the train station. This dog wanted to take a picture. That’s Dr. Shiraz beside us. Again, little did I know I would need a doctor in 2 days.
Trek Day 4: Reaching Machu Picchu
After four days of hiking, rafting, biking, ziplining, and crossing some questionable bridges, we made it! We challenged ourselves and learned so much together. Alhamdulillah, our global team raised $100,000 for the people of Sudan.
The Entire Group: Representing Canada, South Africa, Switzerland, UK and USA!
Roommates: At this point, I knew my purse -with the key to my suitcase - was locked in my suitcase. But I did not know that she had an identical key.
Exploring the Deserted City
Machu Picchu: It’s hard to believe this city is only about 600 hundred years old and yet there is so much we don’t know about it.
Machu Picchu: SubhanAllah! A mysterious city surrounded by cloud forest mountains.
Rainbow Mountain
After an exhilarating (and exhausting) trek to Machu Picchu, we returned to Cusco by train. The next morning we got up at 4am to head out to Rainbow Mountain. It was too early for breakfast at the hotel – but little did we know that our guides intentionally planned for us not to eat for our own good. (You can’t vomit what’s not in your stomach!)
As I stepped out of the bus though, I could immediately feel something wasn’t right. Altitude sickness had come back with a vengeance! Fortunately, we had three doctors among the participants and they actually came prepared to help. Since I was too weak to climb the mountain, I and few other participants took a motorcycle ride up 90% of the way.
The view at the top was stunning. Peru has some of the world’s most beautiful mountains. It’s beautiful colors reminded me of these verses in the Quran:
أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ أَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءًۭ فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِۦ ثَمَرَٰتٍۢ مُّخْتَلِفًا أَلْوَٰنُهَا ۚ وَمِنَ ٱلْجِبَالِ جُدَدٌۢ بِيضٌۭ وَحُمْرٌۭ مُّخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَٰنُهَا وَغَرَابِيبُ سُودٌۭ ٢٧ وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ وَٱلدَّوَآبِّ وَٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَٰنُهُۥ كَذَٰلِكَ ۗ إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى ٱللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ ٱلْعُلَمَـٰٓؤُا۟ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ غَفُورٌ ٢٨
Have you not considered how God sends water down from the sky and that We produce with it fruits of varied colors; that there are in the mountains layers of white and red of various hues, and jet black; (27)
The Holy Quran | Chapter 35, Verse 27
At the summit, I took a few selfies with the adorable llamas, then took some time to sit and reflect on the trip with one of the group leaders. But not for long – I was starting to feel the altitude and so I made my way down on foot. About halfway, I couldn’t take it anymore and rode the rest of the way down on horse. I have a lot of respect for the folks that actually were able to make it up and down the mountain on foot.
Though eventually the effects were bad enough for so many people that we had to load up all the sick people on one of the two busses and rush down to lower elevation. Alhamdulilah, I wasn’t one of the ones vomiting on the way down. But one of the guides said to me, “This is why we don’t do breakfast first.” I’ll admit, I was a little annoyed about not having breakfast earlier in the day. But in that moment, I was grateful.
The Drive Up to Rainbow Mountain
The Motorcycle Ride Further Up the Mountain
Hiking Up the Last 10% on Foot. At this point, you have to walk.
Selfies! A very patient (and adorable) llama.
Tourist Trap: This is certainly a tourist trap, but one I was happy to get tangled in. Johan, our guide, called them the coolest llamas we’d ever meet. I think he was right.
Rainbow Mountain: SubhanAllah. These mountains are among the many signs of Allah.
The Strong Ones: One the way down, I met some folks in our group who were just making it up to the top. These were the strong ones. Altitude Schmaltitude!
The Very Strong Ones: I also ran into people who had not only walked up but were also passing me on the way down! Good God! How?
The Smart One: Even though I was going downhill, eventually, I had to get a ride on a horse. Ultimately, I beat the very strong ones to the end.
Final Day: Cusco Masjid
Our departure day was on a Friday, and for the lucky ones who had late night departures, we were able to go pray salat-ul-Jumuah at the Cusco masjid. This 387 sqft mosque is the only one in the entire city. It was established by a local convert, Ismael. It was absolute pleasure getting to know him and his plans for growing the community. Our group fell in love with the Cusco Mosque and Muslim community. Later, we set up a fundraiser to help the community move into a larger space to better accommodate their growth.
Cusco Masjid: Waiting for Salat-ul-Jumuah
Cusco Masjid: Lunch generously provided by Br. Ismael
Upon returning home from this trip, I reflected on how Allah had brought 40 people from 5 different countries together. While we thought we were only in Peru to help Sudan, Allah intended us to be there to support the Cusco Mosque as well. Once again, I was reminded of the verse:
وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ ۚ وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بَـٰلِغُ أَمْرِهِۦ ۚ قَدْ جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدْرًۭا ٣
And he will provide for them from an unexpected source; God will be enough for those who put their trust in Him. God achieves His purpose; God has set a due measure for everything.
The Holy Quran | Chapter 65, Verse 3
I am truly grateful for the opportunity to participate and for the generosity of everyone who supported my fundraiser. While this hike is complete, the crisis in Sudan is not. So we continue to keep those suffering in our prayers.
Wait, there’s more! That suitcase the airline lost has more story to tell. Check out, “The Suitcase.”
