Day 20 - Salkantay Trek - Aguas Calientes (71km in)
Woke up feeling good at a sensible time, which is just as well, as we didn't get an alarm call and tea this morning. I suspect Edwin had a few too many Pisco Cokes.
Breakfast featured avocados, which was good, and there was cake!
I packed everything I could in my main rucksack, which left the reserve holding a coat or two and some camera stuff.
We got the bus to the zipline place, dumped our gear and picked up a harness and helmet. Then we got taken to the bottom of a path and had a climb up the side of the valley.
The ziplining was fun: the hardest bit is the departure. Fortunately it wasn't the only line. We had a number of lines to go across so the thrill of the launch was fresh each time. The last line was a little unusual: we zipped down the line to a really unstable platform, then rapelled down to the ground from the platform. So it was good fun and a nice social experience of terror.
Of course, one of the main draws was the avoidance of walking along the road for a couple of hours. Once we'd finished, we caught a taxi to the hydroelectric plant, passing our group on the road. There were a whole load of outlets and waterfalls from the cliffs, so i ditched my stuff and wandered back around the industrial site to get a decent view of one of the nearest ones.
By the time I got back it felt like lunchtime, but it was only just after 10. We then made our way along the train tracks that lead to Aguas Calientes. Apparently no trains were running, though, because there had been a landslide across the railway. This boded ill for the people that had sent their kit with the cooks.
Anyway, walking along the train tracks had its own challenges, particularly those bits where the railway was the only bridge, so we had to walk on the sleepers. Not so easy when you can't see your feet. ObStandByMe.
From the valley there were a couple of places where you could see Machu Picchu, or one of the buildings and some of the terraces, in any case. We were walking below it, along the river that almost encircles it, the Urubamba.
After too long, and with some assistance, we finally made it.
Breakfast featured avocados, which was good, and there was cake!
I packed everything I could in my main rucksack, which left the reserve holding a coat or two and some camera stuff.
We got the bus to the zipline place, dumped our gear and picked up a harness and helmet. Then we got taken to the bottom of a path and had a climb up the side of the valley.
The ziplining was fun: the hardest bit is the departure. Fortunately it wasn't the only line. We had a number of lines to go across so the thrill of the launch was fresh each time. The last line was a little unusual: we zipped down the line to a really unstable platform, then rapelled down to the ground from the platform. So it was good fun and a nice social experience of terror.
Of course, one of the main draws was the avoidance of walking along the road for a couple of hours. Once we'd finished, we caught a taxi to the hydroelectric plant, passing our group on the road. There were a whole load of outlets and waterfalls from the cliffs, so i ditched my stuff and wandered back around the industrial site to get a decent view of one of the nearest ones.
By the time I got back it felt like lunchtime, but it was only just after 10. We then made our way along the train tracks that lead to Aguas Calientes. Apparently no trains were running, though, because there had been a landslide across the railway. This boded ill for the people that had sent their kit with the cooks.
Anyway, walking along the train tracks had its own challenges, particularly those bits where the railway was the only bridge, so we had to walk on the sleepers. Not so easy when you can't see your feet. ObStandByMe.
From the valley there were a couple of places where you could see Machu Picchu, or one of the buildings and some of the terraces, in any case. We were walking below it, along the river that almost encircles it, the Urubamba.
After too long, and with some assistance, we finally made it.