Cuzco to Santa Teresa (Sunday 2 October)

Today is the start of a 3-day bike/hike to Matchupicchu and back. It starts with a bike laden bus ride to a place called Abraham Malaga. The bus is a van and there are 13 of us with all our luggage packed in. I’m easily the oldest in the group by at least 20 years and clearly the only mono linguist amongst us. Even the American girl can speak Spanish. The chat is of the big night they have had and it’s not long before the whole bus is asleep, except for the driver, guides and me. Streaming past the windows is extraordinary scenery, clearly wasted on the most of us. Just over there are ice-covered mountains and way down in the deep valleys is the Rio Urubamba river and the city of Urubamba. It is a spectacular site because included in the picture is the road zig-zagging it’s way down from atop of the ridge we are on into the city.

We continue on to climb again on other snaking roads before we finally get to the top of a huge pass. It’s raining now and as we start our descent I swear I see out of the corner of my eye one of the guides crossing himself. You know, that thing Catholics do when they prey. Hmmm… Anyway he’s preys were either answered or were un-necessay because we arrive at the bike stage without problems.

It’s still raining so the riding on muddy roads is messy. This section is all downhill and the results are quite comical on some of the riders as they’re covered in completely in mud. We get to a village and we can decide to continue riding to Santa Maria or just get back into the bus. Most of the ‘kids’ take the easy option and it is just me and the American girl continuing the ride. The rain has stopped and the mud has dried so it’s easy to do the road now at speed. It’s fun. There is some up hill. The American girl’s bike breaks down so it is just me now. Somehow I seem to get lost. The road becomes a track and forks appear with signs that don’t make sense to me. I have to ask villagers for directions with my limited Spanish. I eventually get to Santa Maria behind the bus but I don’t recall it ever passing me! We obviously went different ways. The ride was great, passing through village life and running creeks.

Apart from the American, there is another Australian from Melbourne and the rest are from Israel. Israelies love to travel South America because it is cheap. They tend to do their compulsory time with the military then work for a year before traveling.

From Santa Maria it is a slow bus ride to the village of Santa Teresa where we stay the night in a hostel. The road is rough and is carved out of a steep ridge. Fortunately it is dark so the sheer drop at the edge of the narrow bumpy road is only briefly visible when exposed by the headlights. I’m glad we did that in the dark!

We arrive into Santa Teresa about 7.30. Already it appeals to me. There is live music coming from a place just down from our hostel. There is plenty of life here, even in a Sunday night. I could spend months in Peru alone. It appeals greatly to all my senses.