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| Jungle Trail to Machu Picchu slide show |
There were 16 of us in the van, plus the guides and driver, heading out for a four days Inca Jungle Trail to Machupicchu. We had the bikes on top of the van and traveled for almost four hours to the top of the mountain, at San Luis, after a quick stop at Ollantaytambo.
San Luis is at 10,240 feet, and 50 miles, five hours bike ride down to Santa Maria, at 4,500 feet where we spent the night. Most of the road was asphalted with only the last hour on bad gravel road full of large rocks, that left my butt sore for a few days. The views were fantastic as we changed from Andean cold weather to jungle, sticky, lush and mosquito land at the lower altitude. The last time I was in this low in altitude, was at the Pantanal, Brazil, and it was a reminder that my days around the Andes are almost over. I will miss the mountains, but not the freezing nights and trouble breathing in a few places.
The bike ride reminded me of the way from La Paz to Coroico. By the way, a similar bike ride was offered there which I considered, but did not do. It was nice that I had another chance at experiencing a 6,000 feet drop in altitude, among majestic mountains, while witnessing it all on top of the bike saddle.
The next morning we split up in two groups of eight people each, and walked from Santa Maria to Santa Teresa,meeting up with the other group for breaks, lunch and sometimes along the road. We went up and down steep hills, walked through banana, mangoes, and coca plantations. The hammock break after lunch at Qellomayo was all we needed for a snooze before heading out again along Rio Vilcanota (same as Urubamba – the river changes its name along the way) towards Colcamayo hot springs. Ahhh, these relaxing hot springs are heavenly, specially after so much walking.
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