The hike down from Machu Picchu didn’t feel quite as long, but still made my knees ache with the constant pressure of jumping down that many steps. The sun was out this time though and I was not in as much of a rush as I had been when trying to beat the major crowds, so I soaked in the sunshine and enjoyed the hopping down.
I got stopped many times by people heading up, all looking like I must’ve looked on my way up, struggling to finish and wondering when it ends. With heavy breathing, hands on the knees, and constant questions like, “How much further do we have?” and “How much longer do you think it’ll be?”
I’ve always struggled with those questions as I can give them a distance if I have a GPS watch but how much longer is really up to how fast they are moving and their determination. I always overshoot a little because I personally prefer that when I ask others so that I’m pleasantly surprised when I reach the top, instead of hiking for double the time someone originally told me.
At the bottom I made my way back into town to figure out what to do next. I decided I was going to walk along the train tracks to get to an area where vans can take you back to Cusco. It would be a cheaper option than a train ride and seemed like a fun adventure. So I waited and watched by the tracks in towns until I saw a couple walking down them and assumed that would be the way.
I walked down the tracks for hours and was surprisingly not passed by a single train. The walk was nice and shaded by the forest, though it opened up a couple of times to the jade-colored towering mountains all around me. The walk was pretty easy as there was a dirt path to the side of the tracks leading the way. There were only a couple of places where I had to skip on the side of the wooden beams that stuck out from the metal tracks.
At one point a train passed by going extremely slow but it was only one cart in length. When I got to the end, there were people waiting near the vans. I watched and waited until I saw a group of three guys buy tickets to one van and went with that. I figured I would much prefer to be with other people than alone in one of the vans.
It was then that we found out about the transportation strike in Cusco. Apparently there was no transportation into or out of Cusco at the moment, so that was why there were no trains that passed by me on the hike. This meant we had to take a longer drive to loop around the strike and get into Cusco another way. All of the van drivers were sitting and discussing the different routes until ours decided on one and we loaded up.
The guys in the van were pretty funny and had met while hiking as well. They sounded like a bad joke, as one was German, one was Russian, and one was Italian. Luckily they all spoke fairly good English so we were able to joke around and talk a bit.
I fell asleep rather quickly, knowing it would be a long ride, and I really needed to catch up on some sleep after a crazy day of hiking. You see, I had booked a tour to Rainbow mountain the next day after someone told me it was a need-to-do in the area. So I was grateful the drivers were willing to bring us back or I would have missed it and lost my money. This was going to be another super early trip so I tried to sleep while I could.
I woke up at some point to it being pretty dark. I believe we had been driving now for over four hours and I looked out the window. That’s when I saw a ton of snow on the road side and what looked like very different mountains. I smacked the guy next to me awake and we all looked nervously at each other as we looked around. One of the guys had a GPS so we were able to use a map and figure out that we were riding the mountainside around Cusco to get to the backside, presumably away from the strike.
We calmed down a bit but our adrenaline was still up from waking so suddenly. So we all talked and joked about what we were going to do if we were being kidnapped. We came up with an elaborate plan to distract the driver and who was going to take out who. I was the only one with a knife so they said they would hide behind me but then said instead they’ll just tell the Russian that the driver has vodka and he would beat him down for us.
It was all in good fun as we made fun of our own country’s stereotypes and made plans to be saved but we continued watching the map and finally fell back asleep. As soon as we entered Cusco, about another four hours later, it was late and the streets were quiet. We hugged goodbye and were thankful we weren’t kidnapped before heading back to our hostels. I got back safely and crashed exhausted onto my bed.
The next morning I was awake and ready to go by 4:00am once again. I waited outside for the van to pop by and pick me up. This time was exciting as there was a mix of people and I got to sit next to another woman who was traveling solo. I got lucky again and she spoke English though she was from Japan. All the people I met so far were making me self conscious, they were fluent in so many languages, and here I struggled with learning basic Spanish.
We talked about our trips so far and how this strike had caused this van to also take a longer route to the mountain. She was really fun and awesome to speak with so we decided to stick this hike out together.
Something slightly extraordinary happened, though considering I had seen it out the car window the night before, but the road to and the entire rainbow mountain was snow covered. The van driver fearlessly still attempted to drive up the winding completely snow covered road to the parking area. Luckily there were two, so one was at a slightly lower elevation and would just make our walk a little longer, no problem.
About three quarters of the way up the road, we stopped. All we could hear was the back tire spinning ferociously as it couldn’t find any traction on the slick snow on the steep road.
We all piled out and they tried again but the tire had already dug itself in a rut so it was officially stuck. That was when we all quickly discussed and got behind the van. All of the able-bodied people who were in the van (there were some elderly we didn’t want getting hurt) got behind and found a place for their hands and feet. Together we pushed on the count of three. After three tries with the driver pressing that pedal fully down, we were able to get the spinning tire out and moving. We cheered as the driver rushed to get the van up to the parking space without another mishap.
We laughed and cheered together before walking up to the parking lot and getting our stuff out. I wasn’t fully prepared for this kind of cold but I was relieved I packed so many layers to keep me warm.
The woman and I began the hike out to the mountain, as everyone was allowed to hike at their own rate, we just needed to be back by around 1:00pm. I’ve heard that in places like Antarctica, when the air is a lot more clear of smog and air pollution, things will seem to be a bit closer than they actually are.
I think that may have happened here, or I just once again forgot my research and didn’t realize this would be a multi-hour hike again. We hiked a long time in the snow, which was fine as the trail was relatively flat at the beginning and then only at the end it steepened up to the viewing point for the mountain.
I stayed warm as the sun rose and my body kept moving. The last part took us the longest as the high altitude got to us and the snow made it a lot more slippery. We made do by sticking our feet in already formed footholes from the people in front of us. Luckily, when the sun had risen, it was on the other side of the mountain so we were at least able to view the rainbow colors on one side.
I found this contrast to be even cooler and loved that this turned into a real adventure with changing factors. The mountains surrounding us looked incredible with glistening snow and I felt like I was truly in the alpine zone.
Many people photoshop the colors of the mountain to make them vibrant and to stick out more, but I felt like even without that, it was a really cool sight to see the greens and reds all shaded into the mountain.
One major crazy thing I saw was one of the Andean women who was up selling some food at the viewpoint, and had hiked up there in the snow with sandals and bare feet. I wondered if this was normal for her so she didn’t feel it or if it was just brutal on her feet. Here I was freezing in sneakers that got wet but at least I had some protection.
As we made our way back down, the sun had melted much of the trail, making it slightly muddy but such a different view. I felt like I was on a different trail than when we had hiked up as the surrounding brown and red sides of the mountains were revealed with the melting snow.
Back at the van, we all warmed up and discussed the trip as we made our way down the slippery slope back to Cusco, where more adventures awaited us all.
