Cusco Trip POST #2

If you didn't see post 1, please check out the first few days in Cusco in my previous post!

And now, the 3 day trek to get to Machu Picchu:

DAY 1: Bike it out.

Esya, Sophia, and I woke up bright and shiny early to join our group: 1 woman and 2 men from England, 2 (very attractive) Israeli men, 1 man living in CA originally from France, and 1 man from Australia.

After a nice bus ride up to our 4,350 meter starting point at the top of a mountain in Abra Malaga, we were welcomed by fog so thick you could barely see a meter in front of you. (Oh god. I actually just used "meter" instead of "3 feet". Someone get me back to the States. Now.) After the guides checked to make sure the tires had air and that the brakes "sort of" worked, we jumped on our bikes and began down the mountain. I was blessed with a bike whose brakes "sort of" worked, which meant death grip on them the entire way down. We got to stop numerous times on the paved road section to take snaps of the valley below. After the relaxing paved road ended we were greeted by a rock road. No, not little gravel, ROCKS. Rocks that if you hit the wrong way, you and your bike tumbled to the ground, which although I managed not to fall, numerous people in groups did fall down. This includes someone from another group that fell off the edge of the mountain. When I finished that day, they still hadn't found him. Yeah. I'm not kidding either. (sorry mom, don't freak out, it wasn't me!).

We took a bus to Santa Maria, where the girls and I sadly had to leave our amazing group and guide to join our next group who was also only doing a 3 day trek. The 3 of us jumped into a cab (driven by what looked like a 14 year old boy) and took a terrifying hour long ride down the side of the mountain to Santa Teresa. The girls and I are now fondly calling that experience "Death Cab".

Arriving in Sta. Teresa we met our new group: 1 man from Belgium, 1 man from Germany, 2 guys from the Netherlands, 1 man and also a couple from France, and 2 boys from California.

After dinner we all went to a local club for drinks to numb the pain from 6 hours going over rocks on a bike. In hindsight, this may not have been the best idea since we had to get up early for a long hike the next day, but man, we all sure slept well.

Here's a few photos from the day, another post from Day 2 soon!:

Gloomy in Abra Malaga
The guide made me tuck my pants into my socks. Sooooo attractive.
"checking" the air in the bikes...
This picture isn't saturated. It's ACTUALLY that gorgeous here. Gah.
Sun finally out!!