Day one of the trek: I was told to be ready by 7 am just in case the guide stopped by a little early to collect me… I was not “collected” until 8:30.. We walked to the plaza where the vans and other persons were waiting. After another 45 minutes of waiting, switching vans 2 or 3 times, we were finally on our way: 3 hour van ride out of Cuzco and to up to the beginning point of the bike ride.
We biked down a very winding, curvaceous, paved road leading down a mountain and into a very small village. We biked for approximately 2 hours, arriving at the village, where we ate a bagged lunch which consisted of a cheese sandwich, an apple, a peach juice box, an energy bar and a few chocolate bars and cookies.
We hopped in the van and drove another hour and a half, arriving at the village of Santa Maria where we would be staying the night in a hostel.
Santa Maria, and the surrounding villages had not had any running water for 3 or more days due to road construction and burst pipes… What water the villagers did have was brought from another village… Needless to say, we were unable to shower unless we used bottles of water.
Not allowing the lack of running water to damper our adventures, a few Brits and I decided to explore the village (2 blocks, about 10 very small buildings, a few corner shops for beer and snacks, and a few restaurants). We found about 10 little boys aged between 5 and 8 playing fútbol (soccer), I – being the only one who spoke Spanish- asked if we could join in and play a game. After 2 hours of playing, I counted 10 “big people” and 10 “little people”.. We tried to evenly split the teams, but there were 2 “little people” who dominated the field when they had the ball. It was a great end to the day.
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