aguas calientes

12/01/31

I left Hotel Kangourou this morning. (I will miss the comfortable bed.) Gary, the Aussie owner, had given me detailed instructions on how to get to the waterfall and then on to the canyon. The colectivo dropped me at the entrance and I walked in. A man met met and I paid the entrance fee then I walked along the path. A young couple who had come over on the boat from the hotel with me were just coming back. He had tried to climb up the muddy cliff and had lost a rubber thong to the current below. He was now walking barefoot.

The guide, an Indian who told me with great pride that he is 60, took me down to the water´s edge. Across the way - a beautiful waterfall. I showed him how to use my camera and asked him to take a few photos of me in the water. He showed me where I could climb to get to the "sauna" but it looked too slippery to do alone. I made my way over the rocks into the water. Cold. I swam over to the wateralls. Pockets of warm water as I approached. Treading water under the falls - it was definitely hot water cascading over me.

When I came out, I looked at the pictures he had taken. There I am - a tiny figure in the water. I asked him to turn away while I changed. A few minutes later, more tourists started coming. Time to go.

The canyon was further down the main road. I did not have long to wait for the bus. Again, I got dropped off on the side of the road. Some boys were waiting on bicycles. They brought me down to the river and we negotiated a price. A young boy, aged 13 he said, paddled me thru a beautiful canyon with trees and rocks towering above us, the water a muddy brown. We got to a series of boulders. He said it was too dangerous to go further. There were rapids ahead. It started to rain and we retraced our steps.