Off The Deep End

It would be a long time from the "end" of our travel until we were truly settled back at home. Just to get from Lima to Raleigh it took us two days. This video details our triumphant return to the US.

At 8 AM we left our hostel in Cusco to begin our journey back to the United States. We would fly from Cusco to Lima, kill the better part of 12 hours in Lima then return to the airport to fly to Miami, then to Raleigh.

Watch as we zoom and rush through the hills above Cusco. Deftly maneuvering our bikes through twisting trails, racing the deadly flats and plowing through crippling mud. Finally we go airborne on the sick jumps on the trail.

Outside of Cusco there are numerous Incan sites that hardly anyone visits. Luis told us that Machu Picchu attracts most of the tourists and therefore most of the government funding for access and development. In the afternoon after visiting the pre Incan ruins we drove far up into the mountains to Tipon which is the site of the Water Temple.

On our last day in Cusco we had planned to go mountain biking with our friend Luis. We decided to rent the bikes after meeting him in the square. This turned out to be a good idea, because Luis soon appeared limping badly. We rushed to his side asking him what the matter was. He explained that he had started coming down with an illness and went to the pharmacist to get an injection. This turned out to be a "mal injecion" and had hurt him so badly that he could barely walk. I suspect the pharmacist hit a bone with the needle causing a bad bone bruise.

Our second to last night in Cusco we headed out to a touristy meal and folk dance exposition at The Inka Wall. This place was just down the street from our hostel and featured a huge buffet dinner and dancing exemplifying the cultures of Peru. All the eras were represented from the Incan styles to Spanish and European styles. Even the pseudo futuristic space bugs versus the ice princess made an appearance complete with Yeti monster.

We had talked about renting some motorcycles and heading off into the hills, but when it came time for action it turned out that I was the only one who had even driven a motorcycle. After much discussion we settled on a guided trip on four wheelers. We apparently requested two automatics and one Blaster, a manual transmission. The trip was all arranged for the next day and we set off into the sunset.

The day after we got back from our Machu Picchu trip Jammie woke up with a bad fever. Fearing the worst we called our new friend Luis to find out where we should go. He recommended the Pardo Clinic, a small private clinic that had English speaking doctors. Adrial and I got Jammie to the clinic and Luis met us there. We ended up with a German doctor name Hanna Menke who encouraged us through the process of waiting for lab results.

We spent three days in Cusco before our trip to Machu Picchu. Not knowing what to expect we were wide open to the possibilities of the area. Our cab driver into town from the airport, Percy, recommended a hostel and even came inside with us to discuss possible adventures. We all agreed that the horse riding in the mountains sounded like a great idea for our second day and arranged to meet Percy at 2 PM. We spent our first afternoon exploring the area around our hostel, the Plaza and some of the small shops and restaurants in the neighborhood.

Watch as we speed down the high mountain passes of Peru. Dazzle at our ability to maneuver the twists and turns of the Incan roads. This awesome display of biking ability took us down over 8,000 feet through 25 miles of roadway, both pavement and dirt.