Cusco & Machu picchu

So sad leaving the Galápagos and then arriving in Lima, where it was a bit chilly and rainy. Since I arrived late, I straight took a taxi to my hostel in San Miguel. Took an early sleep in my private room. Next day my flight to Cusco was in the afternoon...time to do a free walking tour, but still rainy and the timing would have been tight. I rather worked on my website and went to the shopping mall close by for some food and coffee. A Claro SIM Card for $7 was also easy to get at a shop there.

One hour flight and Cusco welcomed me with sunshine and a cute old city of what I could see from the taxi. I arrived at The Point hostel and met my friend Julia, who I met in South Africa and had already volunteered at the hostel since two weeks. We celebrated her birthday after midnight and had lots of fun with dancing and beer pong! A true party hostel I could handle for two nights ;)

The day in Cusco began of course hangovered and slow. Breakfast on the sunny balcony got the day started right and we shortly after walked around the city for some coffee and snacks. One hour massage for about $12 and it was soon time for the briefing. We were about to know what was going to happen the next 4 days on our Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu, but details will follow.

Anyway equipped with information and packing list we wanted to have early dinner at a fancy place called “Green Point”, a bit up the hill and promised to have great vegan food. Already ordering took ages, drinks same and when the food for Julia arrived, it was not only the weong dish, it was also cold. She complained and had to wait for another half an hour for the new but still wrong and now warmed up food to arrive. They apologized and offered us free dinner next week. It was a nice gesture, but we simply had fun with the waiter, that had messed it all up. 

The evening passed and we managed to get back around 9pm to start packing. We left most of the luggage in the hostel and only packed a small backpack for 4 days. Still a challenge to repack everything.

Around 7.30am the bus came to pick us up with a guide on board that didn’t really talk or explain much. Loooong drive to our first stop for to buy some snacks and coffee before we took the roads up the mountain until we reached 4.300 meters. We got off, put on protection and helmet, grabbed our bikes and down we drove the serpentine asphalt roads all the way to 1.800 meters. Crossing bridges and little rivers, getting soaking wet. Fun ride of 2 hours before we headed on to lunch at our Eco Lodge close to Santa Maria. But not enough for the day, at 4 pm rafting was on the schedule. Damn I was nervous since my last experience in Sambia was a bit scary, when I was drowned by currents and whirlpools. This was the Urubamba river in the Machu Picchu valley, supposed to be a 3 out of 9 compared to a 5 from the Zambezi river. 5 girls and one guide and during the next two hours I became more and more comfortable although I sat in front, best view on what was ahead but also splashes of waves all the time. Besides one scary moment when we almost crashed into a wall, we were totally fine, nobody fell into the water or badly injured. Exhausted but happy we drove back to the lodge, where we were served dinner and very soon to bed.

6.30 am breakfast for everyone, but only the four of us had the 4-day trip and had to hike 7 hours to Santa Teresa whilst the other 5 took a taxi straight to the town for activities. 

Spending 7 hours with this speechless guide sounded really fun to us. But surprisingly short after we started our path, he stopped and explained a few plants and fruits like the achuete, that gives natural red/orange colour and can be used to paint the face, which inkas used to do. Along the steep way up we stopped at places to try 100% chocolate, inka power shots and freshly brewed coffee. Also we discovered some of the 2.000 different types of potatoes and 200 different maiz sorts. 

A part of the trail was the original Inka Trail and as we reached the top of a mountain overlooking the valley and the river, we were happy to have some lunch soon. 

The final walk took us down and along the river, crossing it with a manual cable that was operated by a local family, we had to pay S10 (~2,5€). After two hours we reached the hot springs, which for us more looked like a tourist swimming pool. We simply wanted a shower and relax instead of laying in a hot pool, so walked to our hostel and completed our 18km walking day with shower and dinner.

Early start again, but worth getting up and flying across the Urubamba river with 4 zip lines with up to 700 meters length and pretty high. After that busses dropped us off at the starting point of the rail track towards Aguas Calientes. Early lunch and the path along the train tracks, which by the way came passing us twice, took us another 3 hours until we reached the town. Very touristy since it was THE town the start the Machu Picchu tour from. 

We walked through markets and shops, bought some souvenirs and had dinner while the guide explained us tomorrow’s procedure. 5am start and up the 1.800 steps to the Machu Picchu sight.