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Published: June 12th 2007
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At last! The day of our big ride....and I have been queasy off and on all night and into the morning. However, I was determined to make it, and after some pepto and tea, I felt well enough to give my best effort.
We got to the resort about 45 min early, relaxed and enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the scenery. Once we met Moesis, Stef explained that we were fine with the change in drivers, but that we were not sure what the problem with the payment was. Moesis said he would speak to Senovio and get back to us.
We got the same horsese (good for me, bad for Stef 😞....), but 2 of the ranch hands, Felix and Jesus, went with us. WOW, what a difference! Felix was the guide, and he was very attentive to both us and the horses. Jesus was our ¨tail.¨ We rode along the road for quiet a while, enduring the occasional bus, dog, bike, etc, before crossing a REALLY scary suspension bridge one at a time and heading up into the mountains. The ride was incredible and not for the faint of heart (or inexperienced rider). It
took about 4 hours of mostly up hill riding before reaching Moray, a pre-Inca site of agricultural experimentation (they think). We did have several rests, as much for the horses as for ourselves. Riding through these huge fields of wheat basically on TOP of a mountain, with the wind creating a sound that only wind in wheat can make was pure bliss. For lunch, we stopped at small mud brick building that is part of a hacienda (very large ranch) that belongs to Felix´s great uncle. It was so quiet and peaceful, with only the odd grunt from the hairy pig family that was on the other side of the rise from us. Felix was very friendly and happy I think that Stef speaks Spanish (most of the locals are), and peppered her with questions about our lives in the US. It turns out that he use to work at El Perol Chico (where we rode last visit), but Eddie (the owner) was too flaky and unreliable about Felix´s salary. (Eddie isn´t liked by anybody at Luna y Sol). After lunch, it was all downhill, literally, as we made our way down to the Salinas (salt baths) where the salt
is extracted from the water running down the mountain. About one hundred people work the salinas year round, walking between the water baths which are about 4 - 5 inches deep. As the sun evaporates the water, the workers sweep the salt into a pile in the center of the bath to continue to dry and then be collected and processed. The baths are arranged along the side of the mountain at a dizzying height.
Downhill was more difficult for me due to the heights, so I just looked at the trail at the worst parts and repeated the mantra ¨I am trusting the horse, I am trusting the horse.¨ And he got me safely down. Keep in mind that at NO time did the horses get water or food during this trip. They are operating a high altitudes and yet at the bottom, they were still willing and able to canter (or in my case canter) toward the river and another even scarier suspension bridge! I am really impressed with this breed. None of the horses back home could have gone a fourth of the distance even at normal altitudes.
The Peruvian style of riding is signifigantly
different than English. The saddle is actually more comfortable and your legs hang down with your knees turned out slightly. The only soreness we have after about 8 hours of riding is in our knees. The rest is just fine!
After our excellent ride, we were in great spirits, which were immediately dampened by Moesis, who seemed completely unphased by the way things happened with the taxi driver. He said Senovio had a death in the family (huh? we thought it was a birthday) and we had to understand he needed to send someone else and that there was just a communication error about the money, 100 soles was correct. He also seemed confused that we didn´t know who Senovio was.....turns out he was the man we met while leaving the Pisaq market.......so what was he doing there if he couldn´t drive us due to death/birthday in the family?? When Stef informed Moesis we needed a taxi in the morning to get to Ollantaytambo for the train to Machu Picchu, and asked if we should call Senovio or another taxi, he never really responded to the question. That left a bad taste as well as leaving us stranded since
our train was at 7am so we needed to leave very early in the am.
We headed back to the Plaza to internet and get food. Although by the time we were done with the computers, we were so tired we just went back to the hostel and had crackers and raisins again. On returning, we ran into the security guard and asked him about getting a taxi and also about paying for the room that night instead of in the morning. He said Chico aka houseboy, would be back at 10pm, but that he would try to reach him before then. So, we packed and repacked to get all of our purchases in, and waited and waited. We started trying to decide what to do if we couldn´t get a taxi....haul all of our stuff down to the main road?? We´d have a hell of a trek. At this point, I´m really feeling guilty, because I´m the one that wanted to catch the early train for Machu Picchu, not knowing how difficult it was going to be to get to the train station from our isolated spot. At ten on the dot, Chico shows up and asks ¨what do you want?¨ After, some prodding, he agrees to call a taxi for us, and guess who he calls but our old friend Senovio who will pick us up at 5:30am (we hope). Then, although he had been a fairly shy and rare part of our visit to the hostel, when it came to payment, he was not at all shy. Stef had hoped that she could just have the charge added on to the credit card with which she paid a deposit. But no, cash and cash only would do.
After a short restless night, we head out this morning with trepidation to meet the taxi driver, hoping he wouldn´t abandon us after the previous issues. But yeah! he made it, we made the train with time to spare and now have safely left Urubamba behind us!!!
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