Friday morning (day 2 of the excursion) we started with breakfast at 6am. Today was our first day of hiking on the Inka trail. Luis had a taxi pick us up from breakfast to drive about 10 minutes down the road. This was the most rickety car I've ever been in and it's attempting roads that I wouldn't even want to take my Tahoe on...and on top of all that, the front windshield was entirely fogged over and I have not one clue how this guy was able to see to drive. Sara and I were a bit concerned, but it didn't last too long so we were good to go. It was quite the site to see us all shoved in this tiny little clown car with what seemed like 6-inch wheels. And the theme of the trip continues...I'm pretty sure we had no idea what we were truly getting ourselves into on this adventure.
We get out of the car at the unassuming trail head where we'd begin our first 2 hour uphill (or up mountain) trek to our first viewpoint. This is no joke people. I thought I was in shape...and then you throw me up on a mountain and ask me to hike straight uphill for two hours and somehow my legs turn into jello and my lungs can't handle 10 steps. It was a mental and physical challenge that was refreshing to face. My saving grace was our nature and history lessons along the way about the indigenous people and lands. I even brought down a little coffee of my own straight from the Andes Mountains.
That's Luis on the right. He was awesome and taught us so much along the way!
Did I forget to mention that this trek is straight up in the jungle and I felt like I was a character in an adventure book. It was awesome! Hiking through exotic flowers and plants, banana trees, coffee farms, and sounds of forest creatures. When we broke through the final brush of our 2 hours uphill we hit the first big lookout point of the day. We were standing on the tip of the side of a peak far overlooking the little town we stayed in the night before.
From that point on it was mostly downhill and we attempted a quick trek to our lunch point on the river. This adventure continues to surprise me every day we're here in South America. Before eating we had a very relaxing hour of swaying in the hammocks in the jungle by the restaurant. Did I mention there were wild chickens running and squawking all around our peaceful swing. But what an awesome moment to be perched here. With banana trees canopying above us and the sun peaking through the crevices, I was about as mellow as I've been all year.
After feasting we had another 2+ hour hike until we reached the hot springs called Aguas Calientes. This trek was probably the hottest part of the day, but the springs still sounded amazing as a relaxing agent to our muscles. Well needed! Along the way we hit some sturdy....and not so sturdy bridges. In fact, one was being rebuilt and we had to pull a shiesty maneuver over the river to cross the "bridge" to the other side. Another humorous part of the day.
Just before the hot springs we had to use another odd form of transportation to cross the river. This time much higher, and less controllable in my opinion, than the taxi and bridge...oh well, we didn't have a choice. We were basically pulled across the river on a pulley line with steel cables. It was so strange but at least Sara and I got to conquer it together.
Next stop was the wonderful sight of the hot springs to end the day. They were glorious! We hung out there for a bit and let our muscles relax from the day. To head to our hostel for the night in Santa Theresa we had to take a van up the mountain. We shared the ride with a few other travelers and jammed out to some American hits on the way home. It was kind of crazy, but pretty funny considering we're in Nowhere, South America.
We had another night of a filling dinner and then early bed time. It was clear to us by now how imperative our rest was for this excursion. We were creeping closer and closer to the final destination. One mountain at a time!
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