May 12 2025
So I’ve made it to Santa Teresa…
The bus from Ollantaytambo heading to Hydroelectrica actually stops on the side of the road outside Ollantaytambo at 8:45AM, so I woke up, got my shit together, checked out of my hotel, and made my way down there.
This wasn’t some random local bus or colectivo, it was an actual tourist bus that takes Machu Picchu bound tourists from Cusco to Hydroelectrica so that they can either walk up the train tracks to Machu Picchu or hop the Peru Rail train. I had worked out with the company in advance to pick me up in Ollantaytambo and drop me off in Santa Teresa, so I figured things would go off without any of the craziness that I’ve had with buses and colectivos that tourists don’t take.
So, waiting on the side of the road. 8:45 comes, and then goes. And I’m still waiting on the side of the road. Start getting worried around 9, but a bus pulled up. Guy in the passenger seat opens the window and says “Nombre?”
I thought that means “number”, not “name”, so, I’m instantly confused, and respond “Que Nombre?!”
Insert confused 3 minute back and fourth Spanish abbot and costello routine, until I finally just handed him my passport and he checked my name against his list, then got out to put my pack in the luggage compartment.
At that point I reminded him “Parada en Santa Teresa, por favor”, since I didn’t want to end up going all the way to Hydroelectrica. His response was “Uno”, which still makes no sense to me. So I kinda just assumed I’d end up in Hydroelectrica.
Unlike all the other busses I’ve taken in this country, this one made multiple stops where all the passengers got out to stretch their legs. My favorate was at the 14,000+ foot Malaga Pass.
We made a couple more stops on the way down the other side of the pass, presumably to give the buses brakes a chance to cool down, but it also gave the passengers an opportunity to get off. Nearly everyone bought bananas, every time. I didn’t, but I almost wish I had.
Eventually we get to Santa Maria, drop off a few locals, and turn off on the road towards Santa Teresa and Hydroelectrica.
The road is. . . interesting. They’re doing road construction to put in a proper highway, so the traffic that’s here now is routed down temporary one lane dirt bypasses, often times carved into cliff faces.
10 minutes away from Santa Teresa we get stopped here:
End up waiting there for a touch over an hour. I was actually starting to get worried that the bus would end up getting turned around and sent back, so I asked the driver if I could get my pack out of the luggage compartment and I was fully intending to hoof it the rest of the way. The people blocking the road wouldn’t let me pass, and I don’t have enough Spanish knowledge to understand why. Eventually a trilingual French girl (there are a metric shit ton of French people down here) explained to me that we were waiting because they were dynamiting a section of the road. Once that was all clear we were loaded back into the bus and on the move again.
Driver did remember to stop! Hurray!
This town is not like any of the others I’ve visited. It’s technically the end point for the second most popular trek in Peru (the Salkantay Trek), but, you wouldn’t know it by looking at it. Not really geared for tourists, and so far I’m the only non local I’ve seen. But, I have a nice hotel room, with a view!
It’s significantly cheaper to stay here than in Aguas Calientes, so I don’t regret deciding to stay two nights here before moving up. But, Machu Picchu is just a 5-6 hour hike up this canyon:
I did wonder around a bit when I got here, but it started raining. As of right now I have no idea what I’m going to do tomorrow. I had thought of visiting the hot springs, but I realized I don’t have a bathing suit and I sure as hell have no idea where to get one here. As far as I know there aren’t any day-hikable Incan ruins to see around here. I dunno. I’ll think of something…
