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Day 53 - Friday 23rd April
Early start to our Inca Jungle trek but we were all packed up and raring to go. We had to take a long-ish bus ride to the start but we managed to get a good view from a lookout over the sacred valley. At the top of the pass we were given slightly sketchier bikes than in Bolivia and were told that they didn't want to hold us up, thus they'd meet us 20km down the road in a small village. We set off to spectacular views and some even more spectacular TDF-esque riding from Nick and myself to take the lead. We broke away and I rode hard down the mountain...that was until I came across a bunch of people gathered at the side of the road. It was after a bend and for no apparent reason one of the guides of a group in front had crashed over a barrier and of the cliff edge. It wasn't too far of a fall but it was a steep scree slope through a creek and he was some 50-60m down out of sight. We were there for a long time and people managed to reach him with ropes. Luckily he was alive but had broken his legs or back (he couldn't move his legs) and had hit his head pretty bad (wasn't wearing a helmet). As we left, extremely timidly, some police were returning with a stretcher to get him out. An extremely surreal experience, especially given how hard we were riding unsupervised before...
60km of riding done with, we had a minibus ride through the valley along the most precarious roads I have ever seen. We had to distract Rowley with mindless games and quizes but it pretty quickly got ridiculous and we all wanted it over. Really, really unpleasant (although these are the moments you relish...)!
Eventually at Santa Theresa we ate a hearty breakfast and for a tiny village we made the most of the two discoteques, both empty...cool village though, squashed into the mountains...
Day 54 - Saturday 24th April
Another 5am start but the night had brought rain. A lot of rain. We set off in the minibus to the start of a trek across a mountain pass that overlooks Machu Picchu but the conditions were awful. Twice the bus lurched across gaps causing everyone to hit the roof (and Rowley to knee herself in the chin...classy) and eventually the guide took the call to take the safer (and probably more fun) river route.
A short trek later and we reached a cable car across the raging rapids of the Urubamba River below. And by cable car I mean a cable, with a tiny metal cage suspended below it. Just big enough for two it slides out to the middle and you have to pull yourself into the other side. It was AMAZING!! All the while locals use it to cross in the other direction with their massive sacks of onions or glass bottles or anything else you can imagine...
We trekked through the picturesque valley until we found a suitable point to bathe in the ice-cold waterfalls, probably the manliest challenge you can come across. After lunch we trekked for 3 hours along the train track to the local hydroelectric station until we came to Aguas Calientes, the base of Machu Picchu. We parked up in a really friendly hotel and Jon and I shared a room with my first en-suite!!
Day 55 - Sunday 25th April
An even earlier 3.50 start and Jon and I set out to conquer the 1800 steps to Machu Picchu itself. Leaving our virtually torchless group behind we set a hard pace through the gloom and made it up in 35 minutes, obviously record time. While we couldn't really see sunrise, when you're let into the sight at 6am you get to view the site from above, completely empty, majestically built into the dramatic hillside. It was genuinely breathtaking and worth the climb. We made some friends with some llamas before Hugo gave us a tour of the site. After that it seemed appropriate to catch a baby llama bizarrely being born on the main grassy plaza...really strange! Next we climbed Huayna Picchu, the token mountain behind Machu Picchu that appears in all the photos. A tough climb on tired legs but spectacular views from the top. Plus we got to make a new friend Jeff!
We couldn't last much longer than 7 hours up there so early afternoon headed back into town to make friends with the hostel owner and their newborn baby before more pizza and poker. A long trip back to Cusco via a train and 2 buses (one of which crashed, the other I had to stand for 2 hours) and we could finally get some rest.
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