Motorcyles and Machu Picchu

Everyone has heard of the classic Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu but have you heard of the other ways to get Machu Picchu? A few hours in Cuzco and you will know almost all of them, you don't even need to step foot into one of the 100s of travel agencies to know the basics of the Salkantay 5 day trek or the multi-adventure option Jungle Trek or of the different 2 day 1 night options-by car, by train, via the Sacred Valley etc... Despite being the most famous and the ''classic'' approach to Machu Picchu the Inca Trail isn't how most tourists arrive. This is because the Inca Trail is highly regulated, only 500 permits per day are issued, 300 of which go to guides and porters. There are heavy fees and taxes associated with the trail as well. All of this means that you have to book the Inca Trail weeks, if not months, in advance and it is, by far, the most expensive way to approach Machu Picchu, thus the many other options being hocked at tourists in Cusco [along with massages, you can't go three feet down the street without someone shoving a flier in your face and saying 'Lady massage!'].

So, which of these alternative options did I take to Machu Picchu? None of them! I broke, slightly, away from the well worn tourist trail and, with two guys I met in Copacabana, and crazily rented a motorcycle to drive to Machu Picchu. Now I haven't driven an actual motorcycle since my parents still owned the farm they sold when I was 14. At that point in time I wasn't actually big enough to hold the motorcycle up on my own, so one of my brothers was aways on the back with me. I did own my 35cc Honda Metropolitan scooter for a few of years, but that is a slightly different beast than a 250cc motorcycle that weighs more than I do. And the road isn't exactly the easiest in the world. Nonetheless, after 20 minutes of practicing in a back yard and on a dirt road in a Cuzco suburb I decided that I could do it. It was more expensive than taking a tour to Machu Picchu [note to anyone planning on going to Machu Picchu, its fecking expensive] but it was SO worth it.

The first day was the easiest as far as driving was concerned. After a little while in Cusco suburb traffic [where I stalled once] we were on smooth asphalt that went through smaller and smaller towns. We missed the turn to Pisac and ended up climbing up the mountain for about 20 minutes in the wrong direction, which was fine cause it gave me some practice on curves. After turning around we hit the Sacred Valley, which was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous. There was the red of quinua crops to one side, lush green hills rising up on either side of us, a roaring river to the right lined with green trees. The road curved just enough to make riding fun but not so much that we had to slow down. After about 45 minutes we hit the small town of Pisac and climbed up to the ruins of Pisac. I'm not gonna lie, you pull into a parking lot crowded with tourist buses on a motorcycle and you just feel cool, whether you look it or not. Things took an unexpected turn after our visit to the ruins because Dylan's bike wasn't functioning properly. It kept dying on him, luckily it was downhill to the town of Pisac. There we asked about a mechanic and were sent to a mechanic that only worked on cars. Then we were told that there was a mechanic a 10 minute ride down the road, but not in the direction we were headed. There was no way Dylan's bike could make it in 10 minutes. We spent at least 20 minutes calling the rental agency, a challenge for my spanish, to see if they could talk us through fixing the bike. [they couldn't]. Finally we put everything on hold to eat, as we hadn't since having bread for breakfast at 7am and, as it was nearly 2pm, were a little grouchy.

During and after lunch I asked a few more people about a motorcycle mechanic and got directions to one in town, which was a little challenging to find. We finally found it but it was closed, as it was Sunday, so I had to go back to the call center, put my Spanish to the test again and call the mechanic [note, new word learned areglar, which means to fix, not be confused with alquilar, which is to rent. These words sound very similar over a phone and can cause confusion]. The mechanic and I finally established that he would meet us at his shop. At this point I'd gotten separated from the boys and after searching for them in the town I just rode to the mechanic, afraid he would leave if I didn't show up. To my great relief the boys were there and the mechanic was working on the bike. The problem, a dirty spark plug. 15 minutes later we were on the road so that we could get to the next town before sundown.

Day 2 we headed off early. We had to try and make it to the town of Aguas Calientes that night if we were going to stick to the 4 day rental plan, and our wallets desired that greatly. We stopped in the impossibly adorable Incan town of Ollantaytambo to expore the incredible Incan ruins there. I cannot understand how the Spanish thought that the Incans were stupid, un-cultured, and infidels. One look at the ruins of their cities and citadels and that seems impossible. I can't imagine what it would have been like to have seen the living, breathing, functioning cities. Only a few minutes outside of town Dylan got a flat tire. Thankfully he got the flat tire about 2 minutes away from a tire repair shop. Half an hour and 15 soles later we were back on the road. The drive was AMAZING. It wound up a mountain pass, with hair pin turns and incredible scenery. We kept stopping to soak it up, though my camera was hard to get out of my bag so I took few pictures. It got cold as we climbed. There were farms and tiny houses and adorable children that let us take their picture and then crowded around us shouting ''Propina! Propina [tip]" There were snowcapped peaks in the distance. It was so incredible! Then the ride took us down. The landscape turned lusher, greener, more jungley. After a rapid descent [minus a stop for the most amazing trout I've eaten on this trip in a tiny, side of the road, truck stop esque restaurant] we hit a dirt road for the last 75-100km. There was road construction and a lot of stopping. The last 30 or 40 km were on a twisting, essentially one lane road with a gorge plummeting down to the river on one side. The boys kept stopping to take pictures, but I was exhausted and just wanted to get to Santa Theresa so I didn't really appreciate this landscape until we drove back to Cusco two days later.

We finally arrived in Santa Theresa, near the bottom of the gorge we had just ridden down. We couldn't find the hotel the agency had told us to store our bikes in, but we found another hostel. In the process of searching I stupidly stopped on a hill and, when trying to start and turn around on it, I ended up dropping the bike on myself. After righting it it didn't want to start. We didn't have time to worry about that though, so we stashed the bikes and grabbed a taxi to the train station. There are no roads that go to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu. You can only arrive by train, foot, or horseback. We didn't think we had time to walk to the town [it was 20km supposedly] and we had arrived just in time to take the last train of the day. Now, its common knowledge that where there are tourists there is money but Machu Picchu is taking this to an extreme. Our train ride lasted just over half an hour and cost us abut 18 US dollars. If you don't pay in US dollars you get screwed on the exchange rate into soles. Nonetheless, we took the train, gritting our teeth at the cost. We got to Aguas Calientes, bought our tickets to Machu Picchu, checked into a hotel, ate dinner, and crashed into bed.

The next morning we woke up before 4am. The first 400 people into Machu Picchu can hike up to WayanaPicchu [That would be the mountain you see right at the end of the ruins in all of the photos] and we were intent on being one of those 400 and NOT paying for the $8 bus from the town to the ruins. There is a bridge 2km from the town that doesn't open until 5am [the ruins open at 6am and it, supposedly, is an hour hike from the bridge. The buses leave town at 530 and take about 30 min to get to the ruins]. A small bribe, this is South America after all, got us across the bridge at 430. We hiked up the road in silence, staring at the stars and the black shapes of the mountains and trees. It was incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and worth the bribe. The road itself switchbacks up the mountain but there is steep hiking trail of steps that cuts up, we missed the steps and walked for about half an hour, then saw the lights of the people who had waited for the bridge to open and joined them on the steep climb. Our early entrance cut off probably half the steep climb, which I was glad for. We were probably one of the first 50 people into the ruins. Machu Picchu is amazing. Its beautiful. Its incredible. Its interesting. It lives up to all the hype. Thats all I have to say about it. The hike up WayanaPicchu was steep and hard and exhausting and totally worth the views. We spent about 6 hours in the ruins before heading back to Santa Theresa to fix my bike [an easy fix, electrical chord just not making a connection] and spend the evening in hot springs, soaking our aching muscles.

Day 4 we got up at 6am and drove all the way back to Cusco. The drive was so beautiful. The first 30km scared me much more than they had in the other direction, as this time I was on the outside of the road, closer to the cliff edge. I came to understand why Peruvians are so horn honking happy - its lets people know you are passing them and its a great way to let people know you are approaching on all of the blind corners that exist here. It was early morning so the sun hitting the hills just made everything more stunning. The last section of our dirt roadness was some of the most stunning. I was surrounded by lush, jungle vegetation but right in front of me was a snowy peak, over 5600 meters high, gleaming in the sunshine. For over an hour I rode towards that mountain, climbing all the way. Hitting tarmac again was GREAT, riding was suddenly so much easier. About halfway through the ride my bike started making a funny sound, the boys had gone ahead of me and I was a little panicked, meaning that I took the twisty curves down the mountain slower than I would've liked. It was just dirt causing my chain to stick and a little lube fixed it, the only bike probem we fixed ourselves. We took a different road into Cusco, going through a beautiful patchwork of farms with the snowy peaks of the mountains in the distance. The drive into the city was a little difficult, but I didn't kill the engine once. After returning the bike and showering off the layers of dust I went ahead and took someone up on that ''Lady massage?'' offer.

My next trip...it just might be by motorcycle...