Machu Picchu trek Days 1 & 2 - don't look down and don't look at your brakes...

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Despite protestations to various parties involved in the organisation of the trek to Machu Picchu it was deemed by the Peruvians easier to label all of us doing the trek from the Spanish school Norwegian. Thus the first day of team Norway's 4 day Inca Jungle trek to Machu Picchu began above the cloud base in the mountains above Santa Maria. Little did we know that below us awaited a cold and perilous descent with hail, rain, irrate llamas, water hazards and sheer drops. To make it even more 'exciting' the bikes were also somewhat in need of TLC, the brakes on my bike barely worked at 4350m let alone after navigating numerous descents and hairpins en route to our finish for the day at 1250m. Tonje's tyre had a 3 inch hole in the side wall revealing the inner tube, although whether this existed before or was due to her incredible speed is still being debated.



We arrived in Santa Maria late in the afternoon in time for a late lunch (more soup!), exchanging the wet and the cold for heat and glorious sunshine. We were then taken to 'the hostal', our resting point for the night. This can only be described as a mix of Homes under the Hammer and possibly Stalag Luft III. All of the boys were ushered past the unfinished walls, unfilled pipe trenches and exposed electrical cables into a large dormitory. Similarly the girls were placed in a slightly larger single room next door with possibly 12 or so beds, presumably to commence pillow fighting or something. The centrepiece of the garden was a shower and the mascot for this particular hostel was an amusing green parrot whose name I forget. In the evening after navigating our way past the scorpion who had decided to chill-out in the hallway we walked past several glow worms to the local football pitch for a friendly game of football against the locals. With a ramshackle squad featuring an Aussie rules guy in goal, an Argentinian full back, our Peruvian guides up front and myself all over the place we took on the local school children who were unfortunately quite good and also used to the altitude. After initially letting quite a few goals in we regained our composure to achieve a respectable defeat. Unfortunately I only had my wet hiking shoes to play with and so after running about like a headless chicken for an hour ended up with the biggest blister I've ever had on my foot. A great way to start 3 days of jungle and mountain treking! Fortunately this didnt prove to be too disastrous once wrapped up correctly....



Day 2 began with a trek along a jungle dirt road from Santa Maria to various stops in the jungle en route to Santa Teresa. The guides explained en route about how the El Nino phenomenon affects the powerful Rio Urubamba and has the potential to increase the already ferocious volume of water 2 or 3 fold from typical peaks during the rainy season. This really hit home when they showed us the old Santa Maria which sadly was washed away during a particular deluge several years ago. During this particular deluge the town not only lost many people and buildings but also the rail link that was vital for agricultural trade with nearby Cusco, changing the local economy forever.



Leaving the dirt road later after hiking through the original Santa Maria we moved through the jungle to our first resting point where a lady selling cold drinks lived with various animals including her small monkey named Hiero. This amusing little chap took great pleasure in humping his teddy bear before pulling the stuffing out of his neck. For those tourists unfortunate / stupid enough to get close Hiero would liberate their drinks bottles, cameras and other possessions. We all thought Hiero was hugely entertaining until we hiked to the next resting point and met Silo. This strange little creature puzzled everyone as to what he was, he was adept at climbing, as playful as an energetic dog but with a coat as clean as a cat. I suggested he might be a Peruvian Cat Monkey but apparently these don't exist. It turns out he was in fact a playful Weasel that had adopted the family as his new owners. Silo would climb the buildings, steal mangos from the table, play with visitors and climb into the hammocks to start swinging about and continue playing with people. He was awesome, definitely a more entertaining pet than a cat or a dog.



Departing the second resting stop we began to ascend more steeply and begin to use some of the old Inca mountain passes. These are narrow mountain passes carved into the rock featuring gusty winds and sheer drops. Quite frankly they scared the *&%$ out of me, and several others. It was also not that reassuring when I asked what the bright red flowers were that were poking out of gaps between the stones that made the paths. One of the guides explained that they were planted by the locals to help strengthen the paths....Despite thinking that plant growth surely did the exact opposite I certainly wasn't going to hang around for a prolonged debate up there....



Following another few hours of hiking we began to near our resting point for the night – the hot springs at Santa Teresa. One obstacle however stood in our way, the raging Rio Umbamba and a distinct lack of a bridge. Our guides reassured us however that this would not be a problem as the locals had constructed an alternative. This turned out to be a fairly sketchy looking cart and pulley system enabling someone on one side of the river to pull across 2 people at a time plus a bag or two (see photos). Approximately 10 hours after we left Santa Maria and for the bargain price of 1 soles we crossed the river to reach the hot springs for a 30 degrees dip and an ice cold beer. I don't think we could have asked for a better end to a hard day's treking.

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