Inka- Jungle- Trek: Ziplining
Trip Start
Jul 14, 2011
1
25
34
Trip End
Dec 01, 2011
Aguas Calientes, Sacred Valley, Peru
Sunday, August 28, 2011
My dear parents know, how unthinkable it is. I climb on every mountain but bungee jumping and sky diving = not for me. Actually I hate every kind of stairs, where you can look through: made of mesh, with gaps between the steps etc. Once, I was maybe 10 or 11, for whatever reasons I had climbed on one of those deer stands for hunters. Finally on the top, I froze in terror by the view down and didn't know how to get down the 5 m ladder. My dad had to come and get me down. The memory is only a blurr, as it happens when you experience pure horror...
And there I was... prepared to be hooked up on a steel cable 250m up in the air- above the Rio Sacsara.
I felt the climb to the first platform to be a period of grace. When we finally reached the first cable I wasn't the only one being nervous. There were about 40 other people with us. We were shortly told what to/ what not to do and asked who wants to be first. To my horror Jens said yes and it was a matter of seconds and with a "zurrrrrrr", he flew over the valley.
Dominique was next and one by one the first handful of people were gliding over to the other side. And then I saw Jens flying along the next zip line. Simon and I (with sweaty hands) were still disbelievingly observing the scene... And then I heard myself saying "I am next" and Simon asked "Really?"
It was amazing... Shaking hands, shaking legs, but with a big grin in my face I arrived on the other side. Adrenaline rushing through my veins!
There were 6 zip lines ... 2,5 km in total! Different lengths, different hights, different speed... 60km/h max. ! There was a strong wind, which blew us from side to side. It was so much fun. From now on, I climb every deer stand... Up and down!!!
After the morning excercise the bus took us to the train tracks leading to Machu Picchu, 3 hours walk to Machu Picchu town (formerly known as Aguas Calientes) Before we started the scenic hike through a valley, we had nice peruvian lunch. We crossed a river and surrounded a mountain. Carlo pointed to two mountain peaks high above us and said that one is Wayna Picchu and the other one is Machu Picchu mountain. Somewhere between the two peaks are the world famous ruins. We were told that the bridge we just had crossed, was the point from which, H. Bingham approached Machu Picchu, when he rediscovered the Inca ruins in 1913. Later it came to a dispute between Carlo and our spanish friends, when Carlo made up a new version of the discovery of "the americas". Wrong dates, wrong names, wrong, places... Juan was apalled and everyone else was just wondering why he is telling such stories, if he has no clue.
The group split up in to the former two halves and we continued our way along the train track. When the sun sunk between the mountains, we reached the gate to machu picchu national park, the point where our ascend would start at 4:30 am. We waited for the rest of the group and Carlo led his caravan into Machu Picchu town, which serves as base camp for the thousands of machu picchu pilgrams. Basically a mass of hostales, guest houses, cafes and restaurants, every day of the year flooded with tourists.
Again we were distributed to our hotel rooms and dinner at a local restaurant. Then we waited to be introduced to our guide for the next day. Meanwhile we were given white paper and asked to write a feedback for Carlo. It wasn't easy to find polite but honest words... Finally our guide arrived and gave instruction on tomorrows meeting point. Everyone retired early. It would be another short night.
