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