Day 178 – Aguas Calientes, PE to Cusco, PE
February 18, 2011 10 Comments
Day 178 – Aguas Calientes, PE to Cusco, PE 02/15/11 Mileage: 137
I decided to hike out all the way from Aguas Calientes back to Santa Teresa instead of taking the train to the hydroelectric station. So at 8:30 I started walking down the railroad tracks which parallels the now raging Urubamba River. It was a great morning free from yesterdays rain and the temperature was perfect.
The main square in Aguas Calientes
The raging Rio Urubamba
Looking up at Machu Picchu from the valley below…
Hiking along the tracks back to Santa Teresa
It took 2 hours to get back to the hydroelectric station. I had to use an alternate pedestrian bridge as the one I crossed 2 days prior had been washed out last night.
Repairing the bridge after it was washed out the night before…
That doesn’t bode well for the streams and dirt road I had to traverse on the bike to get out of here. Farther down the road had been washed out were I had stopped to take a picture the other day…I thought the road was a bit close to the river, and apparently it was.
The road was there 2 days ago…
I was on foot anyway, so I just climbed up the bank onto some boulders and hopped across. Back in Santa Teresa I collected the KLR and left town heading back to Santa Maria and the road back to Cusco. Shortly out of town I was stopped at the point were I had crossed the land slide 2 days ago. A bulldozer was still in the process of clearing it, but the road opened with in half an hour….great!
The rest of the road out was muddy in spots and there was some fallen rock and slide debris here and there, but it was all passable.
Clearing another fresh land slide…
This rock slide took up most of the road and it was a little dicey sneaking by it with the cliff on the right!
After topping up the tank in Santa Maria, it was back up and over the pass back into the Sacred Valley.
Another stream crossing….whitewater motorcycling?
Passing through Ollabtaytambo I saw another KLR sitting in the town square. I pulled over and the owner, Alex, came up and we started swapping stories.
He started from his home in Texas a few months ago and was heading for Ushuaia too…that makes 4 riders in 2 days! We exchanged emails and I continued heading back to Cusco.
Night and rain caught up to me about 20 miles from Cusco so the last part of the ride home wasn’t too pleasant, but that certainly didn’t spoil another great day.
From Deadhorse Down 
You sure have been lucky with not being involved at the time of the landslidea. The roads are frightening. I bet you were the only one who walked the tracks back!!!!! Those bridges being washed away must be happening often……….what a way to live.
The photos are amazing, we feel as if we are right there with you. They really seem to open up those roads quickly. One day open and the next day blocked…….I guess they are used to it.
Thanks for the update. I wonder if you will hook up with the guy from Texas again??
Take care and be safe and well. Love ya, Mom
Lenny
WOW WOW
Pics out of this world!
Can you pplease try to visit Tinwanaku, Bolivia? It is supposed to be the most advanced stone cutting and ancient monuments ever created on earth even to modern times. The massive granite is perfectly cut even better than Inca stones. Check it out the next time you are online.
Amazing pics again dude thank you!
Pete
Hi Pete! Unfortunately I went a different way…via Copacabana…and honestly I’m ruined for ruins for a while after 2 weeks touring the Inca sites in and around Cusco….maybe next time!!
looks like heavy equipment operator is a good career choice!
For sure!! Those guys are always working this time of year!
Is your tracker working??? Has #1 as Cuzco for the past 6 days.
We have beautiful blue skies here today but the wind is bad. Hoping it is dry and good riding weather.
Hugs, Mom
Sunday evening, 7pm and it looks like I answered my own question. The tracker is working and you are in Bolivia. Now we wait to see how your border crossing went.
Everyone loved your Peru pictures…..all of them. Carla was here today to visit with Maya and Raquel and loves the blog just as Beth and Neal do. Their son-in-law lived in Peru until he was 12 and they really enjoyed it because Aimee and Luis went back there to visit and it brought back good memories..
We had a great time with Maya and Raquel……they are just so funny and were very good. L and A had a good time in Philly.
Stay well and safe. Love ya, Mom
Hi! Yep…made it to Bolivia…currently in La Paz…just booked a mountain bike trip for tomorrow down the famous “Road of Death”….should be fun! I’ll update the blog as soon as I can…
….LOL… Whitewater Motorcycling!!! Love it. Great, gorgeous, amazing photos….but, I am feeling your mama again….I’d be all worried about my boy after seeing those wash-outs…that is, if I hadn’t caught up with you already – via Facebook- in Bolivia… whew…you made it! deb
Ha… Thanks Deb!