To MP: Day 3 Part 2: Hike to Aguas Calientes

This is a continuation of the last post, taking place just after zip lining.

"We got on a bus and endured some more cliff driving (although not as bad as the previous day), the got off at a hydroelectric plant to begin a three hour hike. Our destination was Aguas Calientes, the town at the bottom of the hill from Machu Picchu.

I would like to say that the hike was not so bad, but there were some steep places where I was ready to be carried, ha. We mostly followed some train tracks and a river, so the walk was mostly flat with great views and all kinds of jungle-y plants.

Some ancient agricultural terraces across the river

About halfway there we stopped for lunch at a restaurant. [I forgot to mention, we were carrying our packs on this three hour hike, so I was well ready for a break!] The restaurant looked pretty shabby with outdoor seating in the middle of jungle plants with a tin roof. The food spoke otherwise. The chef used to work at a 5-star restaurant in Lima, so all the food was incredible. Salad, semolina soup, beef cordon bleu in red wine sauce with rice and vegetables, and lemony cake for dessert. Even the tea was notable.

Our five star meal in the middle of the jungle.

The restaurant has hammocks for resting after lunch. Typically people lay for 30-45 minutes before hiking. We got in them, and after two minutes Travis got up and said he was leaving, so everyone else followed suit. *sigh*

This is nothing compared to the jungle we would see the next week!

We hiked another (what felt like) two hours and got to Aguas Calientes ("water hot"- they have hot springs here), dropped off out bags at the hotel and rested for a few hours.

I tried to capture the height and girth of this giant cliff face, but mostly just captured my sweaty face instead.

I think that's Aguas Calientes in the distance...

Aguas Calientes is a very touristy place, designed to cater to visitors of Machu Picchu. People are able to ride the train in from Cuzco in the morning, hike/ride the bus to Machu Picchu, then take the train back to Cuzco that very night if it is their pleasure. We took the long (4-day) way.

We got dinner at a place that serves pizza and spaghetti, which shows just how un-Peruvian the town is. We then went to bed early, up at 4:30 am the next day to see Machu Picchu.

To MP: D2P5/D3P1: Zip Lining

Monday, May 28 9:22 pm PT

Writing about the events of Friday night at Saturday morning

"I am falling so far behind in my entries! Ack! Also, I am so tired all the time here.

So, we went to the hot springs Friday night. We took a ten minute cab ride out of town, down steep gravel roads in the pitch (and I mean pitch) black, and drove along the river. The hot springs consisted of three pools, one 'hot' and two 'warm'. We had to take an 'Inca Shower,' as Wilian puts it, of freezing cold water first, then hot in.

It was GRINGO CITY, and there were people from all over the world enjoying the Peruvian thermodynamics. The 'hot' pool was very busy, so after being in a few minutes we switched to a 'warm' one and floated around. It was a nice time. There were guards at-the-ready to kick out obnoxious drunks, which happened with relative frequency since they serve beer on the premises.

The ride back to town was very Peruvian. We were in a van built for 12-14 people, but were about six people over capacity. Packed! I guess it made our ride back much cheaper, however.

The next morning, the view in our bathroom (particularly in the shower) was amazing. The sun was rising, the houses behind our building just waking up, and the mountains behind them calling to us.

The view from our shower/bathroom

We had breakfast and then got in a van filled with a bunch of other tourists headed to a zip line course. It was a fifteen minute trip that left us in the middle of a jungle forest. 

The zip line guys were very professional and got us in our gear quickly. We then got a crash course in zip lining, and hiked. Uphill. Up very steep hills. For twenty minutes. (It must be noted here that I had not yet acclimated to the altitude, and my breathing was ragged while trying to walk quickly on flat ground, let alone up a steep hill!) I was almost the last person to reach the top, and the guides were holding my hand to encourage me up the slopes.

We made it to the top!

There were six lines that zig zagged back down the mountains. The first, highest, went over the forest and to an adjacent mountain across a small valley. The second did the same, only in reverse and slightly lower on the hill. The third through sixth, however, led us across a vast valley at breakneck speeds. The views were amazing from all the lines, with mountains in all directions. The third line, being very fast, almost did me in. I saw the guide at the other end put up his hands, but I thought he was signaling the guy across the way. He wasn't. He was telling me to brake, which I didn't. Instead, I nearly slammed into the side of the mountain, but the harness yanked hard on my pelvis and stopped me. Sad.

Katie and Derek getting ready to go

There she goes!

Who is that coming at us?

Oh, it's Travis!

The rest of the way was relatively uneventful, I even went 'no hands' a few times. At the last one, we were nearly last in line, so one of the guides and I went at the same time and then walked down to base camp together. We spoke in broken Spanish/English, but it was fun and I felt comfortable using my haphazard Spanish since he was slightly worse with English.

Can you spot me?

At base camp, we regrouped, and got ready for another bus ride...

To MP: D2 P4: Road to Santa Theresa

Sunday, May  27th  7:24 pm

We went to Machu Picchu this day, but I am still writing about Friday.

"Just got back to Cuzco after our long trip! I'm exhausted and need a bit of solitude. Also, I wish I could write about today's events, but I haven't caught up yet!

So, we were in Santa Maria having lunch on Friday, after visiting Vilcabamba in the early morning and just after our rafting trip. Our appetizer was a sort of guacamole served with tiny bread strips, and was AMAZING! Also, the avocados here are HUGE. We saw some growing and they are almost as big as a pineapple.

After lunch, we got into two small, white Toyota cabs and headed for the most seat-clenching ride of our lives. Taxi drivers everywhere seem to drive fast and crazy, but here in Peru, the terrain is much different and leads for an exhilarating trip. As I have said before, many roads are not paved and they often scale mountains. The trip to Santa Theresa was an experience I can never forget, so I hope I am able to tell this story well.

We began the trip at a hearty speed, through several of those "don't fight" non-bridges that were quite deep, and I worried the car would shut down since we were so close to the ground. Our driver is friends with Wilian, so they were chatting away in Spanish up front while Travis, Chrissy and I watched the mountains and countryside whiz by. We began our ascent, and the roads were similar to others we had driven along mountains, but soon it became apparent that the roads were very different...

The pictures on this entry are all blurry because of how fast we were driving...

Suddenly, we were on the edge of a sheer cliff! Just like in movies or video games! There is no rail, only one lane with traffic traveling both ways, and a 2000+ foot drop. Our driver was going along like a maniac, often skidding around the sharp, blind curves in the road while honking madly at possible oncoming cars to make our presence known. The road curves on and on, and while the views were SPECTACULAR, I kept finding my eyes following the edge of the road (where the tires came to close all too often), and sitting very tensely. It didn't help that I was in the seat furthest from the mountain, or that our driver has a habit of driving on the left side of the lane (which was my side and closest to the edge).

We were listening to a 90s/80s/70s jam station and at one point "Stayin' Alive" came on, haha! Our driver began to fiddle with the knobs on the stereo and I nearly yelled at him to keep his eyes on the road. His phone was also in his hand at one point, but I don't know if he was using it because I decided it was a good time to watch the mountains on the other side of the river (now 3000+ feet below us as we climbed higher!)

The trip went like this for over an hour, and at one point Travis gripped my hand an we held tight to one another until we got to Santa Theresa. I was almost thankful when another car would be coming from the other direction because it meant we slowed down a bit, but then two cars were trying to navigate a one-lane cliffside dirt road!

Santa Theresa is a nice town, but very touristy. It was the first place we visited that felt "normal" in terms of having paved roads, building structures more similar to what we are used to, and signs on businesses (which, in Cuzco, are often not displayed). We checked into our hotel, and had 8 minutes to change before we had to leave. We got into another cab and headed for the hot springs...

The headboard on our bed at the hotel

To MP: D2 P3: Back to Santa Maria

After leaving Vilcabamba on Friday, we drove back to Santa Monica:

Leaving Vilcabamba

Many mountainsides had these nearly vertical fields worked into them. They often held crops such as corn, and I can only imagine the farmers have to wear some kind of rope system when tending their crops of the steep hillside.

Tropical-looking leaves tell us we are in the "high jungle"

My camera had a difficult time trying to capture the vastness of the mountains. Can you see the road we are traveling, on the left side of the image?

These were taken while driving along, so these darn trees kept ruining my shots!

Here's a closer image of the road carved into the mountain. We are taking a similar turn while I'm taking this picture, our van hugging the curves of the mountain.

More mountains!

Here is a small town nestled into the mountainside across the valley. 

"The drive back was quicker, I think because it was early in the day  and Fernando wanted to get back to Cuzco. We got to Santa Maria and immediately got out of the van along the Urubamba river. We were going whitewater rafting! (Keep in mind, this is a few hours after we explored Vilcabamba!)

Our boat came about 15 minutes later, strapped to the roof of our van with our rafting guide. We had a crash course in rafting, and suddenly got into the water. Basically, we were sitting on the very edge of the raft sides, practically hanging out in order to row properly. Our guide gave us simple directions in English to follow (such as "stop" and "forward") Our feet were smashed underneath the big yellow cushions in the center of the raft that I originally thought we were to sit on, and this was how we were to stay aboard. I was sitting behind Derek, in front of Katie, and we had to try to follow Derek's pace and the instructions from our guide. Derek and Travis, in front, had to paddle in unison as well. When the water got really rough, our guide would yell "down!" and we'd have to hold onto the side of the raft and duck our bodies low to avoid falling overboard.

The water was relatively high since we were still at the beginning of the dry season. The water was murky brown from mud and mudslides up steam (I wish I had pictures from this part of the trip, but my explanations will have to do!) Some parts of the river were quite calm, some very rough, but it was a good mixture of both. We were tossed around and then had a few minutes to recuperate before being rocked around by the waves again. We all got soaked after a few good waves crashed into the raft. We were floating down the river in the valley of some grand mountains, so the views were stunning from all angles and there was something new around every river bend. Our trip lasted about 45 minutes downstream, and we all wanted to keep going.

When we got out, we met up with the van and quickly changed out of our suits. We dropped off the raft guy so he could get ready for his next tour, and went into Santa Maria for lunch. Fernando left us here, after lunch, and headed back to Cuzco."

To MP: D2 P2: Vilcabamba (part two)

Saturday 9:56 pm

still writing about Friday

"Just got out of the shower- the building has an actual water heater! None of the showers we have used here in Peru so far have had a tank, just an attachment on the head so it has been necessary for the water to run slowly with little pressure. But, not here at our Machu Picchu hotel!

(To clarify for my readers: we left for MP on Thursday, explored Vilcabamba on Friday, had some more adventures on Saturday, and then climbed up to Machu Picchu on Sunday morning. So I am writing this after a long day of exploring and hiking, but it is about the previous day's events. Hope that helps!)

Back to Vilcabamba-

We crossed a small field that a stream runs through (this is after the "fertility" space) and has bunches of Calla Lilies growing wild. It was once used as a farming field (during Inca times, 400-500 years ago) and the ground was terraced downhill about 12 times in the direction we would eventually walk. We crossed over and saw a circle carved outward from a piece of stone- an ancient sundial! 

We then came to a temple of sorts, a place full of stone altars. There was an ancient fountain where a stream once ran, but today it sits dry. On top of a large stone slab is a carved path for the water, and two slabs stand adjacent to this, making a three sided box. The side stones have been cut into to form two shelves of equal size and at equal height, and would have held some sort of stone or gold idol. In the middle of these would have been a pool of water. (Here we can only speculate what the purpose was. Perhaps it was a small shrine to a water god, or another tribute to the sun and moon. I don't think our guide had any specifics on this space, and since the site is still being studied, it may be unknown.)

The obsolete fountain I described above.

The mountains were very important to the Inca, and this is expressed in some stones carved in this area. One had been shaped to look like two mountains and a valley, perhaps representing the valley we stood in. An altar was formed on one end of this, and items such as corn or beans may have been ritually sacrificed here, as it was an agricultural space. Another stone is placed and shaped like one of the mountains behind it. 

Sunday May 27 1:45 pm

We continued our hike across more garden and agricultural terraces and climb up, up up! I almost died, as I did on the initial climb, because I couldn't breathe and had to walk very slowly.

Eventually, we could see a huge stone encampment atop a hill. It was a military base, used by the last Inca "king" Manco Inca. The views from the top were amazing, but I was not feeling well. Our guide gave us a short history of Manco Inca's last stand against the Spanish (Vilcabamba was the last stronghold of the Inca), and then we hiked back down and headed back to Santa Maria.

We are the only visitors! Incredible.