Today was our first day out of four on the Macchu Pichu tour. Each day is designed to be different and exciting. We were picked up at the very reasonable time of 7.45am. However, after this we seemed to spend near on an hour not really doing much other than driving around in circles in Cuzco without picking anyone up or achieving anything. Nevertheless something must have clicked and they then suddenly sprung into action; picking up a large group of Chileans and fixing all of our bikes to the top of the van (yes that was today's activity).
After several hours of driving through mountains we made it to our drop off point. At around 5000m above sea level we could see plenty of snow capped peaks leading into dense forest. We were briefed on our bikes and given all of the equipment supposedly necessary. It felt like we were about to enter a gladiator fight minus a weapon. We were informed that we had to cycle down to 1200m above sea level over around 40km. Not too bad considering it was all asphalt surface, just a bit better than the sand and rocks of the volcano side in Ecuador.
After a picturesque photo opportunity looking down across the valley we were back to resume our travels. We were then told to go through the streams. This was initially confusing but soon became clear. They were very light streams of water just going across from one side of the road to the other. There were maybe 10 of them. All of them were good and easy apart from one; an idiot of a driver decided to overtake me whilst I was crossing one of the streams. This drenched me in water. Not ideal for cycling. I was understanding fuming - he only had to not accelerate past me for like 5 seconds longer. How difficult is that? At the end of the bike journey was our lift to our hostel. We were now in full on mosquito territory and Emma was paying the price - 30 bites on her legs from the biking and the short time of waiting around for others to finish. Bug repellent was swiftly applied following this but it was already too late really. Best not itch them.
After a short break including lunch we were off for our second activity of the day; white water rafting. This was actually a different experience to the last time. The river was a lot wider and deeper. The rapids were more in the form of waves. Overall it was slightly easier, probably due to the familiarity we now possessed. Just before the end of the journey along the river we were told we could jump off one of the low bridges into the deep and not fast flowing parts of the river. Naturally I took up this opportunity and Emma was right behind me, keen to make up for the in hindsight, mistake of not jumping in the last time. I could tell from the look on her face as she clambered out of the river that she had thoroughly enjoyed throwing herself from the bridge - and rightly so.
That mostly brought an end to our first day of adventures with many more to come. The hostel for the night is pretty comfortable, the only downsides being it's lack of hot water and the abscence of wifi to send this blog (will send at the next available opportunity however). Might even have the next blog ready by the time this is sent too.
