Inka Jungle Trail Day 1: Bicicletas!

The famous Lorenzo of Lorenzo Expeditions met us at our hotel at 7:40 AM to begin our four day trek to Machu Picchu. He informed that the family of four who was to join us on the trek had bailed, due to "stomach issues" from which the mother was suffering. I guess some of us (Jeremy) are pretty strong, as no dysentery could prevent us from making it to Machu Picchu.

Lorenzo brought is to meet our guide for the trek, Juan Pablo, who discussed with us logistics for the trip. We'd be by ourselves with Juan Pablo. Yep, that's right - a romantic four day trek alone. We were both pretty nervous about this turn of events, since we already to pretty much everything together; secretly and not so secretly, we were both seeking some variety in this excursion.

Well, that variety showed up 15 minutes later, in the form of an Australian and two South Africans. A bit more after that, an Argentine who now lives in Hawaii also joined the mix. After a rather confusing shuffling of guides, bikes, and souvenir T-shirts, We were whisked away from Cusco in a van.

While listening to a mix of Bob Marley and 80s one hit wonders ("In the back seat of my Cadillac...") we traveled through the towns of Chinchero, Urubamba, and Ollantaytambo. (Note: Ollantaytambo is the scene of Misadventure #4, on which we will elaborate further at a later time.)

After four hours of driving, and upon reaching the summib of the mountain Abra Malagra, 4350 meters above sea level, Juan Pablo yelled, "Vamos, chicos!" we hopped out of the van and into the chilly high altitude air. We were literally in the clouds.

We donned our cycling gear, which we lovingly referred to as body armor: knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, helmet, and neon yellow reflective vests. We hopped on our bikes and began our descent to the town of Santa Maria, a distance of 60 km and an elevation drop of over 3000 meters. The riding was both on and off road, and really fun.

Exhausted from the day's activities as well as the general excitement of being on the road, we fell asleep that night before 8 PM. Our trek Machu Picchu had begun!

-- Posted from my iPhone