What better way to start your day than biking 22 miles in the countryside of Peru around two gorgeous lakes? If your answer was nothing, you hit the jackpot!!
Biking the Countryside of Peru
At an elevation of 12,500 feet, the breathing was a tad difficult, but the scenery could not be beaten. The color of the lakes is that of an iridescent blue, made even better with reflections of the surrounding mountains. Towards the end of the ride, we started down a dirt path in the middle of the countryside, seeing cows and other grazing animals as we passed. There were workers, along with civilians waving as we passed.
While on the path around the lakes, I encountered a herd of sheep, with a tiny baby one in the back. Later I came to find out that the baby was a day old, and he was already walking with the herd!
As the bike ride continued, the hills only got harder, my legs became exhausted, and my breathing was close to nothing. When a hill began, I happily hopped off my bike to walk it up.
To give you perspective, a guy in my group was biking up the hill I decided to walk, yet was only biking next to me. He had no speed and couldn’t pedal fast enough to get ahead. I could walk his biking speed. I hope that gives you a little perspective on the difficulty of the bike ride!
The Salt Mines
Unfortunately, since I had forgotten to eat during the bike ride, I ended up getting sick at lunch (stupid stomach!!). It luckily only lasted for a few hours and I was right back at it! I only missed a two-mile hike down to the Salt Mines.
The salt mines are quite interesting. The owners put clay into the water where the salt resides until it hardens, where they are then able to extract the salt. Stepping on the squishy clay is extremely entertaining, too.
Tonight we were able to see a cooking demonstration, learning recipes to ceviche, quinoa soup, alpaca, and a side dish. We also learned how to create Pisco sours. After watching them prepare a plate, we would all sit down at the table and wait until our plate was brought out to enjoy! When cooking the alpaca, to obtain a smokey flavor, the chef had to create an extreme fire, which shot up far into the air, making most of us jump back.