Blogpost: Machu Picchu!
BY TEAM KAPEN
Featured on the KapenWrites blog
Robert Kapen demos the AdvenChair all-terrain wheelchair in Bend, Oregon
Fresh off my trip to Bend, Oregon, where I test drove a manual mountain bike wheelchair #AdvenChair and with my recent fundraiser that granted me the opportunity to buy it. Which I feel so blessed, grateful, and loved that the people I call my community stepped up and faithfully gave money. The only way I know to truly thank them and God for the awesome providence they bestowed on me is use the chair continually and spread God’s message of love, peace, and grace everywhere I travel. Such trips include the redwoods, Australia, Banff, Yellowstone, Sedona, and the Amazon (not the warehouse the jungle haha). Hopefully I go so often I can quickly broaden my horizon and tour more east then California and then on to Europe. I’m going to try to take over the world. (in my best pinky and the brain accent)
Robert Kapen at the airport with his wife Nelly and the AdvenChair
But in the meantime, my sights and emotions were fixed on Machu Picchu. Now the challenge was figuring out how to get the chair, all its parts, and clothes there. Luckily, we had Nelly’s sister and her family. Also, when we got to the LATAM (Latin America airlines) counter we found out the duffle bag we shoved the third wheel, clothes, and some miscellaneous items could be considered my one medical bag so it was free! The flight is about 9 hours. We took the red eye so I watched one movie and slept the rest of the way. With the AdvenChair I only needed one chair. When it is quick movement on flat ground, I can just use the standard wheelchair, but if it is bumpy, uneven, and long trips I can but out and use the third wheel.
When we got to Peru, I was anxious to see how the chair fared the airplane. Not that I had any doubt but when they first brought it out after we landed, there wasn’t even a scratch on it. It was now time for the first couple of walls we had to figure out how to get around. The first wall was finding a rental vehicle that would be able to carry everything. Well, we did but when we got to the Airbnb unfortunately the nice house was not accessible. There were stairs everywhere, stairs into the house, into the living room, the kitchen, and the bedroom. The chair did amazingly, we were able to figure out the terrain. A few days stuffing our faces with Peruvian food, then we were off to Cuzco.
Nelly and Robert Kapen on their Machu Picchu adventure with the AdvenChair
Once again transferring in and out of the chair and flying to Cuzco was a breeze. What wasn’t a breeze was the taxi we had to take to the hotel. Once again by God’s grace we figured it out. Once at the hotel we were able to secure a taxi truck with a driver. That’s what I recommend, because he was always there when we needed a car, he knew where he was going, and he had great recommendations. While we were settling in altitude sickness hit Nelly hard, but for me it was gradual because by the end of the trip I couldn’t sleep or breathe. The hotel had oxygen tanks and coca leaf tea which helped. Yes, that coca but these are leaves before they add all the poisons, its very natural.
In the following days we went to the Sacred Valley, natural salt pools, old Incan fortress and cliff pods (you spend the night in a clear pod hanging on the side of a mountain.) we had a lot of practice with the wheelchair on the trails. Oh! Not to mention more food. I had an alpaca burger! That’s where we did most of our shopping because the dollar is four times stronger. We either bought the best quality of a item or 100 of something because we could. My favorite was when we walked up to a stand and asked the lady, if we could buy all of her llama key chains?” her face lit up. It was nice to help her out with a big payday, just because that is their livelihood.
It is the night before the big trip and I was nervous. I was praying so hard because I had no clue what to expect. The variety of ways to get freaked out were endless. We had to go to bed early and wake up at 4AM to catch a train and make the most of the day. That being understandably way too hard for Nelly’s sister. She has three kids, well 4 if you count her husband lol (shout out to Yeiz) they left a day early to the city under Machu Picchu. Which was a blessing, because like so many times before they were able to scope scope the area for me.
Robert Kapen contemplates his Peruvian adventure in the AdvenChair
It is 5AM at the train station because it was an away from the hotel. Bobbies (stray dogs) and mishis (stray cats) everywhere. When it was the time to board, we hit a wall. The train had steep stairs, no aisle seat, and we had narrow space to work with. Perurail I recommend investing in an aisle chair, making it more accessible to more people and essentially more money. Please make the investment. Don’t you want more money? What had happened was, my team had to carry me in, then I had to penguin waddle to my seat. The shinning light in all of this was God’s grace, mercy, and providence not with just this situation but the whole trip. We had so many issues come up and somehow, we were always able to overcome. Looking back, we totally saw God’s hands in everything.
The second winner was the AdvenChair because it held up to everything, we threw at it. From taking it apart and putting it together, transferring in and out, and storing the chair and its parts. It was very intuitive. My team of family members picked it up and quickly to over for Nelly. While we were hiking during our many excursions, if we needed help people knew where to grab. If we brought my other chair people would jump in and start accidentally ripping off parts, “oops hope you don’t need that.” Again having just this one chair made everything easier as far as space, durability, and safety. I felt safer in this chair with all the belts, shocks, and handle bars I could hold to.
We have arrived at the town at the bottom of Machu Picchu. BAM! The next wall. Similar to the train I had to be carried in the bus. Once aboard we started our ascent and I started praying. Then it hit me, “I’m praying for trust in God but what does that mean? What does that look like?” the increasing heights and winding turns didn’t help. the road was one lane, but when two buses come together what happens? One bus gets as close to the edge as they can and the other gets as close to the hill as possible and then they try to squeeze by. At the top of the mountain trees block the steep steep drop off. Not knowing anything we went through the front entrance and quickly realized the Incas didn’t think about wheelchairs because mine wasn’t going to fit.
Robert Kapen going along the treacherous steep path up Machu Picchu in the AdvenChair.
Robert Kapen at Machu Picchu in the AdvenChair
Round two, one of the guides saw us struggling so he offered to take us through the exit. It was the same views but the path is wider. He took us to a roped off patch of grass and told us, “you can stay as long as you want just don’t move.” It was between a rock ledge and a hut that block the view to infinity. Then Nelly said, “you can open your eyes now.” Yes because my eyes were jammed closed and my knuckles were whiter than snow. We took pictures and videos. Praised God for not dying, and thanked Him for sunglasses so you couldn’t see my eyes closed the whole time. Then it hit me again. This is what I prayed for, God delivered. My fear wasn’t washed away but by trusting Him, He brought me to an area of some comfort. Where we were between a wall and hut, I was able to open my eyes, talk, and release my grip so my hands got some color back. And during that moment there was an inner peace like I knew God was helping me. That continued as we finished and drove back down the mountain and watched the sunset on the train ride home.
Robert Kapen on the AdvenChair with Nelly’s extended family
A beaming Robert Kapen and wife Nelly at Machu Picchu in the the AdvenChair