Hope the Rain Doesn´t Peru-in Our Trip

Mayhem. That word is the best description I can give for our trek to Machu Picchu. The morning of the 3rd we were up bright and early to wait for a bus that was going to take us to the bus station where we were to meet our trusty guide, Juan Carlos, and the rest of our group. Because of the lax attitude of South America, we were not too concerned when it was 8 AM and still no sign of a bus coming to get us. About that time a lady approached us and asked us to wait while she went and got another guest from a nearby hotel. She assured us that she would be right back, but when half an hour passed we were wondering if we had been scammed. She finally came back and explained to us that the other guest was too drunk from the night before and would not be joining us. Alright, no problem. We hop in a cab, end up at the choatic bus terminal of Cusco, and finally met up with Juan Carlos. We were finally off!
So we´re on our way, and several hours after we had been driving and end up on the top of some mountain, we are forced to stop. Everyone has to get off the bus and when we get outside we see about 5 different tour buses all emptied with a police baracade blocking our way. Juan Carlos causually explains there had been a landslide on the road. "If you wouldn´t mind walking down this muddy gorge for about twenty minutes that would be great. It´s no complicated" He´s our faithful guide, so what he says goes....we´re assuming. At the end there was a ladder across this ditch between the bank of the mountain and the road. Just to keep with the theme, I was the only one who missed the ladder completely and fell next to the ladder.
Alright so now we´re on to getting bikes. There are several bikes to choose from and Juan Carlos tells me to pick one. It is slightly discouraging when you are supposed to bike down a mountain, but the first three bikes you pick the chains have fallen off. We´re finally all geared and ready to go when J.C. tells us to go on ahead because he has to wait for another group. I ask myself "Is anyone else concerned that we are biking in the Andes without a guide?" Without fail Juan catches up to us. Mike also poses an interesting question. "Is anyone concerned with the fact that our guide´s helmet is on backwards?" In the end the bike ride was really great. The scenery was gorgeous, and it was really interesting to stop along various towns and see different parts of Peru.
The next day we began our first 15 mile hike. Everything was going peachy keen until we started our two hour ascent! I´m not even going to lie and tell you that the scenery made up for the fact that we were all climbing uphill for 120 minutes with our backpacks on. However, when we got to the top we realized what we had been hiking for really was worth it. We had an eagle´s eye view of the river below gaurded by a massive peak on either side. Also along the way we bonded with an Aussie couple who we are now going to Bolivia with, and for some comic relief Juan Carlos was impressing us with his knowledge of American pop culture. He apparently loves ´the 50 cent´and Michael Jackson. Even better he had the portrait on Johnny Bravo on his bicep. Classic. As the day went on we were all noticing that faithful ole J.C. and the Italian girl kept getting farther and farther behind the group. There were times when we couldn´t even see them. Hmmm....questionable activities were definitely taking place.
That night in the little town of Santa Teresa we went to celebrate at the ´discoteque´or a small room with a strobe light. J.C. and the Italian were having an awfully good time so we all decided to retire back to our hostel to join the cockroaches in our bed and listen to dying cat in the alleyway. The next morning we had decided to leave at 8 AM. Our jewel of a guide comes staggering in with same clothes on from the night before and pleads with us to take the bus to the next town so we wouldn´t have to walk. He even offers to buy our tickets but we say no because it was his own fault to be too hung over to walk. The Italian girl just gave up, and when she started throwing up on the trail decided to take the bus. Luckily we finally make it to Auguas Calientes, which is the town at the base of Machu Picchu.
The next morning at 530 AM we are on the bus to the world famous Inca ruins. We all were exhausted so we took the bus up, and were promised that we would be able to see Machu Picchu as the sun was rising. We get up there, get a trendy stamp in our passport,run up to the cliff and look out. Drum roll......dun dun na na.....symbols crash...and we see.......nothing. Apparently we got to Peru at the beginning of the rainy season and there is a daily morning rain that usually takes until about 10 AM to burn off. But it´s ok, Mike and I are no strangers to the rainy season. Even still we had a guide take us around the site and explain what we were going to see. As we stood at the top of the ruins our guide told us that the wall of white fog behind him was actually the standard postcard photo of Machu Picchu. Mike joked "Is that the back white side that you write on?" Slowly but surely the clouds did burn out and what we saw was so impressive. The ruins were so vast and massive. It was so fascinating to learn how these people conducted advanced water systems throughout Machu Picchu, the crops they grew, and how it is believed that the entire structure took 80 or 90 years to complete. Everything was worth it. Our crazy hike, our drunken guide, missing the sunrise.....Mike potentially giving himself a concussion when he walked face first into a rock wall...it didn´t matter. You really understand why this was ranked number one on the list.
Next stop.....La Paz, Bolivia.

---

---