Ruminations upon Sunday June 8, 2025 in transit from Cusco, Peru to Aguas Calientes, Machu Picchu
During our stay in Peru we went on a 3 day trip to Machu Picchu.
We left our house early on Sunday, June 8th at 5:30 AM. We went downstairs where our guide was waiting for us in a van. We packed our bags and drove for around an hour until we got to a cafe/restaurant where we were going to eat breakfast.
When we got out of our van a really cute dog ran up to us and started barking. The dog was golden and had short fur. It looked like a smaller version of a golden retriever. We all pet the dog and then walked inside. Inside, the building was cozy and smelled great, there was an eating area and a store with hiking gear, snacks, candy, and clothes. We sat down and saw a kitten just chilling on our table, it was really small and cute and it was super fluffy, it felt like the softest blanket ever. My brothers asked the waiters what the kitten's name was and they said it was Lulu. After we ordered our food, Lulu came over to me and sat on my lap. She was very warm and I was happy about that because I was freezing.
When our food came we all said “ Whoa” because the omelets were around 2 feet across. I'm not lying. They were also really salty, but they were super good. We also got fruit bowls with pineapple, mango, papaya, strawberries, and grapes. The mango was amazing. I think the fruit everywhere in the world except for the U.S is super good. We got hot chocolate so that we could warm up because it was freezing outside (Eitan got a pineapple smoothie that spilled all over the table but he got another one). While we ate, Lulu fell asleep on my lap. When we were done I sadly had to take her off of my lap so that I could get up. Then we bought some snacks for our trip and got back in the car so that we could go to our first activity of the day… Biking!
After driving for another hour or so we stopped in the middle of nowhere to get ready to bike. We were going to bike through the mountains for around 17 miles. We got out of the car and our guide gave us our biking gear. We were biking on a road with a lot of cars so we needed a lot of padding. We had to wear padded biking jackets, biking gloves, helmets, and leg pads. After we put everything on we figured out who was going to use which bike. We all figured out which bikes we were going to use but there were none small enough for Matanel so he didn't get to bike. At first he was sad but then he realized he would get to ride in the front seat of the van and he was psyched!
We got used to our bikes and then we started to ride. Our guide Jose told us to always stay on the right side of the road. The bike path was almost all downhill so it wasn't a very hard ride but it was still super fun. The ride was also very scenic with rolling mountains and waterfalls all around us. There was also a huge glacier that was really pretty. Jose told us that Paddington and Transformers Rise of the Beasts were filmed around there. There were a lot of butterflies flying around and they kept flying in front of me. I did my best not to hit them, but I think I hit a few. Also every so often we rode through some small stream and got super wet. We also stopped around every ten minutes to make sure everyone was with us.
After biking for around an hour we stopped at a viewpoint to take a break. We took a few pictures and everybody had water and a little food. Then we got back on our bikes and kept going. About forty five minutes later we stopped in a little town and took our biking gear off. While Jose packed up our stuff we went to the bathroom because we had another long car ride coming up.
After biking we took a 45 minute car ride to the place where we were going to eat lunch. When we got there we got out of the car and walked inside. In the eating area there was a buffet table that had bowls of South American food like pico de gallo, this really good soy meat dish with vegetables, and these South American chips. There was other food but I can't remember what. There was also another tour group there. We sat down and had some food, we also bought Tangerine Gatorades, they were pretty good.
After we finished eating we went to the bathroom so that we could change into our bathing suits and go to the bathroom. When I got into the bathroom I saw a huge spider in the door frame. It was like 3 inches long!!!
After we all changed we got into a van to go white water rafting. And when we got in the van the other group that had been eating was also in the van!!! After we drove to the rafting area we all got out of the van and the instructors gave us all helmets and rafting paddles. Next we had to walk through a small forest area to get to the river. When we got there we saw the instructors pulling the raft to the river. We were going to ride level 2 and 3 rapids which are in the middle. The highest is level 6 which only really experienced people do.
When everyone was ready they explained how to paddle and all of the safety instructions for rafting. There was also an instructor who was going to be kayaking down the river, so that he could help if anyone fell out.
Our family got into one of the rafts and the other group in the other. I sat in the middle row with Matanel And Eitan. After taking a few pictures we started down the river with me, my parents, and one of the instructors rowing. There were a lot of waves that pushed our raft around and the biggest ones completely swamped us, it was so fun!!! There were also a lot of rocks and sometimes we bounced off of them. Every time we were going to bounce off of a big boulder or there was a big rapid or wave, our instructor told us to get inside the raft. And we all had to curl up on the floor of the raft.
The water in the river was very blue so it looked like a drawing, there was also no trash in the river which was nice. We also saw some people on the bank of the river, I think they lived around there. There were some dogs too.
After Around an hour we stopped at a beach on the banks of the river, we were stopping to take a break. We got out of our rafts and walked to the beach. The other group was there too. After a few minutes, the instructors rounded everyone up and told us we were going to play a game.
The game went like this, everybody stood in a circle and held their paddle vertically in front of them. When the instructor blew his whistle one time, we had to let go and take the paddle of the person to the right of us before it fell. When he blew his whistle twice you did the same thing just with the person on your left. If he blew three times you would let go of your paddle spin around and then grab it with the same arm. If the paddle fell you were out. We played until there were only three people left.
The final three people had to do a special contest. The instructors put two paddles in the sand vertically, then they said that all three contestants had to spin around with their paddles 15 times. After they did that they had to run through the paddles that were up in the sand. It was sooooo funny they all started running around drunkenly and someone even fell in the river.
After that we got back into our rafts and rafted for around twenty more minutes. This time I got to sit in front. The front gets splashed the most so I was soaking. It was awesome!!! After we finished rafting we drove back to the place we ate lunch and changed back into our clothes.
Then we drove to the hotel where we were going to sleep that night. When we got there they were playing How to Train Your Dragon, so we watched for a little. Next we took some showers and had dinner. It was an amazing day. I had a great time!!!
