We took the local bus, van, what- ever you want to call it....leaving the bicycles in our little Hostal Estrellita. Good choice as I realized we are climbing a long, high 4300m pass to the little village of Santa Maria. (A five hour drive) We hopped the bus at a reasonable hour in the morning in Cusco- I felt all excited and spunky- placing myself in the very back seat next to two adorable two to three year old kids and their momma eating a plate full of rice and chicken. James sat further in the front (it being his birthday) and Indre in front of me. Another German couple we met at the hostal sat in the very front.....I wasn't up for judging the drivers ability to drive from that angle...I have my experience and I choose to look the other way...little did I know that I had the one and only "royal seat" in the whole bus.
As we climbed the big mountain I considered myself very lucky watching our beautiful world fly by so fast, heading to a truly famous and magical place.....feeling the anticipation in every cell of my body and mind....dreaming. The kids had fallen asleep and I marveled at their long, long eyelashes, their perfect skin...
Our driver had some kind of commitment to god. He stopped at every little sanctuary and said his prayers...one on the very top of the pass in the clouds and rain as well. I was wondering how life would be with such devotion ........
Maybe he had a fight with god or he deemed himself invincible -the downhill drive was clear "out of his mind" meaning he drove fast and crazy, straightening the curves and corners - like a freaking maniac!!!
It took only a few of those curves until the little girl next to me started letting go of the contend she had devoured a few hours earlier by the handful and from the top, crying, announcing she had to go "kaka" (she wore a diaper). Mom had a plastic bag ready, but the curves came fast and frequent with not much time to recover in between and we all jumbled around.....until the boy started up as well. The mother looked over at me glassy eyed - she wasn't doing too well and I started to feel queazy also......Looking around in the van, I could tell NOBODY was well. It had gotten quiet - only the gurgling, slushing noises from the puking kids...and then the smell. ......This all went on for quite a while....maybe hours I couldn't tell - even when the road kind of leveled off the curves kept coming and the driver kept his speed. It was nuts! The rain had stopped and we came to a halt at a little baño. Mom changed the diaper outside, I peed in a little whole toilette full of warm pee, dropping my barrette into the very pee hole - I could hardly stand up, feeling sick and dizzy, but I would not let go of that barrette, so I fished it out with my own bare hands, reaching into the warm pee....I could have emptied my stomach right then and there, but no, I was holding on to it, focusing on something else, trying not to smell, hear and realize what I just did - reaching for my hair tie....Well, I wasn't ready to let go of anything, seems like..
I got to rinse my hands under a spout outside and taking a few fresh breaths of air- I climbed back into my royal seat in the back to continue this torture....
Yes, the kids kept puking and when mom started up as well all hell broke loose - the plastic bags were not in the right spots anymore and half digested chicken and rice started covering the seats, the ground, my bag....everything! A little puky hand reached out to me and I didn't know what to do...I was NO HELP at all.....too sick to think or do ANYTHING. Nobody told this maniac of a driver to take it easy...not even god.
When we got to Santa Maria I was in a hurry to get out - left my yogurt and the puking poor family behind.
Here we are sitting at the curb - slowly recovering from the roller coaster ride. The german couple were clear on the fact that they would take the very expensive train ride back to Cusco after visiting M.P.
We still had to catch another ride for an hour and a half to Santa Teresa on dirt roads and then walk along the train tracks for two and a half hours....- I couldn't imagine climbing into another moving vehicle, but after 30 minutes of rest on the side of the road, I did and it was OK......
We reached the touristy village of Aqua Calientes at the end of the hike on the rail road tracks in the dark (which can only be reached by train - there are no roads). Found a reasonable hostel, ate pizza (and got ripped of with 35% tax) and called it "a day"
