Day of Weirdness
Trip Start
Aug 02, 2007
1
18
22
Trip End
Aug 22, 2007
Yucay,
Peru
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Our hotel arranged for a taxi to take us to the horse-back riding place. Since everything was arranged for us, we didn't think to ask exactly where we were going, how far it was, or the name of the place...unfortunately. We thought it was a little odd when our driver stopped to ask some kids a question about the road. It seemed like they were saying something about the road that we needed to take being closed, but it was hard to hear and understand. So, we went the scenic route through a village in the hills. It was a mix of weird, disturbing, and quaint. There were poor peasant people who were seemingly happy yet some nasty shanty-town-looking places. We got a lot of stares and our driver asked for directions twice...not reassuring. I felt a mix of being adventurous and also wanting to tell him to just turn around and take us back to the hotel. We had no idea where we were going and the driver didn't seem happy to be there and I could hardly understand his accent. I was about to tell him to just turn around when we went through a gate that opened up to a beautiful hacienda-style building. There was a big courtyard, a huge tree, and three horses, so it all looked right.
The guide didn't speak English and was a pretty quiet guy, so there wasn't much talking. He told our taxi driver to be back to pick us up in 2 ½ hours. The horses were bigger than the horses we rode in Baños. We weren't too pleased when we saw that we were heading through that same town we had driven through but at least the people seemed pleasant and were saying hello to us. We were almost out of the little town when we saw these two guys who were walking towards us; one guy was leaning on another guy who was sort of holding the first guy up. From a distance, it looked like two drunk guys going home after a really long night out. They were sort of swerving as they walked towards us. As they got closer, we saw that the first guy was hysterically crying. Very odd. My horse did not like them. Then, as we got to the road, we passed some farmers working...that seemed nice and interesting, until we saw a guy lying face down on the grass in a ditch on the side of the road. Mike and I looked at each other, unsure whether the guy was dead or alive, but the guide kept riding. I was now wondering whether that crying guy was crying because of the seemingly dead guy in the ditch. We will never know... After that, the ride got much better. We continued to ride through different towns and fields but there were no drunken, crying, or dead people, so it was much more peaceful. At one point, Mike led the group because we got to a spot where there was a sort of waterfall falling onto our path and our guide's horse did not like it, so he had to work with his horse to get him passed the waterfall. So, he told Mike to lead us. As I passed the guide, he said something about it being the first time his horse had seen a waterfall. That was Mike's great moment as lead horseman. The rest of the ride continued through the towns, across bridges, and through fields. We thought it was really interesting seeing the people work the fields; some had tractors, while many of them were still using 2 cattle with a yoke and wooden plow. The ride lasted about 2 ½ hours and we pretty much just walked. We weren't sure whether the guide didn't have us run because he thought we were beginners or if the ride is just a walking ride. We never really got to feel the smooth ride of the Paso horse, but it was a really nice ride and the weather was perfect. I liked the Baños ride better because the guide was more relaxed and friendly and I got to run whenever I wanted to; Mike liked this ride better because it was more peaceful. We both agreed it was really interesting riding through the towns and the farms (although sometimes I thought it was a little scary).
Our taxi driver was waiting for us when we got back from our ride. The drive back to our hotel was quicker, he said because that road that was closed earlier was now open. So, we got to the hotel and he told us it would be 60 soles roundrip...that's over $20! It was a quick drive and that's almost how much we paid to drive the hour from Cusco to Yucay and that drive was through curvy mountain roads! This drive was basically straight down the street (except for the jaunt through the town on the way there). Normally when we got into a cab, we'd ask how much it was...that's what the guidebook said to do because they don't have meters. We didn't this time because the hotel had arranged it and we figured there was a standard price. Well...apparently this driver figured he'd try to take advantage, but it wouldn't work on us! We were not happy with him. We told him it was too much and he went down to 40 soles...quite a change in price...It still seemed like too much so Mike stayed in the taxi while I went and got a woman who works at the front desk of the hotel. She spoke to him and he said it was 40 soles because that road had been closed on the way there so it took longer than usual. So, where did that 60 soles price come from? He never mentioned that to her...She told us the typical fare was 30 soles roundtrip, so that's what we paid. We probably would've paid him 40 soles in the first place if he hadn't tried to trick us with the 60 soles...and we would've given him a tip. His loss for being a lying jerk.
We went to lunch at the hotel, a decent buffet, and then relaxed outside, reading and me napping. Then, we got massages, which we had been pretty desperate for throughout the trip. (My backpack is heavier than Mike's!) It was very nice. That evening we relaxed by the bar - reading, drinking, and we had a small dinner there. There was a live Andean band, so we listened to them play an odd mix of Andean music and modern music (think Wyclef's Guantanamero) on their pan-flutes...quite entertaining.
