2/29/2012- Leap Year...Machu Piccu day 1

We woke up early and met Ronnie, our guide, at 7:40 out front of the Wild Rover Hostel.  With our main packs left behind and the day packs in the collectivo, we headed north to Malaga 4,350 meters.  After 3 hours stuffed in the van, we arrived at the highest point of the Inca Jungle, basically just cloud forest and tundra.  It was raining and misting as we broke through the clouds.  It didn´t seem like we could ride bikes through this...but we did!  We set out on bikes for a 3 hour ride down hill on a two lane windy road.  We descended to 1,430 meters dodging dogs, trucks, rivers, boulders, and other bicyclists on the way!  W were soaking wet, the ponchos only delayed the inevitable.  It was really quite cold at the top, though after about a half hour we would hit these random hot spots in the mist and rain that felt amazing.  It wasn´t till 2/3 the way down that we got out of the cloud forest and were greeted with rays of sunshine.  Janelle getting sprayed by a passing car as they both crossed the river at the same time was a classic highlight that seemed only suitable in movies!  The lush green mountains, banana trees, and oxen plowed farmlands were breath-taking.  I personally enjoyed the hum of the road as we speed by on our bikes.  I twas a peaceful and solitary time that prompted deep thought and recapitulations of my journey...quite soothing! 

After the bike ride, we headed to our tiny hostel in Santa Maria, about 1,200 meters.  It was dry and cozy with a pool table and fuseball table. A porage lunch with some meat and veggies was just enough food to keep me going for the local football game.  IN a town of no more than 200, a quarter must have been present for the daily afternoon soccer matches.  In teams of 4 on 4, we took turns defend the cement field no larger than a basketball court.  I played in flip flops, which was my justification for such a poor showing haha.  Though I wasn´t on my game, we managed to win both matches and were forced off the field because we took so long to play...I say we were evenly matched teams.  At only 1,200 meters elevation, I was still really winded.

After a Lomo Saltado dinner, Berk and I had a go at fuseball...under candle light bacause tehre was no electricity at the time.  It got pretty heated as I was constantly getting beat by Berko...my competitive nature was getting the best of me...and eventually I got up by 4 and needed only one more to win...Berk starting with a fierce comeback and as we were playing for the last point...we rocked the table so hard that the lit candle on the table fell into the soccer goal of the fuseball game...we paniced and starting blowing with all our might...hahahahaha....we finally got the flame out and though we didn´t catch the entire fuseball table on fire, it was still a scare....I´ve never laughed so hard in my life...Berk and I were dying!!!!!  Needless to say, our mark had been left for there is still an unburned candle inside the fuseball table at Santa Maria :)  Day 1 of our Inca Jungle Trek to Machu Piccu was a success!