Manu Biosphere

"Of all the peoples whom I have studied, from city dwellers to cliff dwellers, I always find that at least 50 percent would prefer to have at least one jungle between themselves and their mothers-in-law."
~Margaret Mead

Wednesday, October 22th to Wednesday, October 29th 2008

Along the eastern base of the Andes is a great red and winding river named Manu - the life blood and main highway for the Manu Biosphere Reserve. Cascading down from the dry, grassy plateaus at four thousand meters, and falling dramatically into a tangled cloud forest of dwarf trees, giant begonias, orchids and fern, Manu emerges into a spectacular land replete with howler monkeys, skimmers, egrets and macaws. To be honest though, I was not very enthusiastic about this trip. It was very expensive and sounded too touristic for my taste - something that suites old European bird watcher rather than a real jungle adventure. But the choice was between staying in Cuzco for eight days, continuing to Bolivia on my own or going to Manu, so I went to Manu - especially after hearing that this is one of the only places on earth where you can see the mighty Jaguar in its natural habitat.

Although I booked the tour in Cuzco, the park is actually quite far to the north, past the Andes and the rain forest so the journey started with a 10 hour bus ride to our first lodge. On our way we made two stops: one to see the century old "Tombs of Ninamarca", commonly know as Chullpas or burial chambers, of the Pre-Inca Lupaca people. Those are small round stone building about a meter in diameter and 1 and a half meter high overlooking the fertile valley below them from a high ridge. The next stop was for lunch at Acjanacu pass from which we had a superb view of the cloud forest engulfing the slopes below us and the jungle plains far below. After the pass we drove for about 3 more hours on a narrow dirt road on the edge of a few hundred meters drop, crossing waterfalls and descending deeper and deeper into the cloud forest and getting further and further away from civilization. Finally we arrived to our first station: the Cock of the Rock Lek. The Lek is the place where those weird red headed birds come to mate so we watched from a short distance away, standing on a wooden platform, about a dozen males showing off their feathers in this "birds pickup bar". Afterwards we continued on foot to our lodge enjoying the view of the dense cloud forest vegetation, the waterfalls on the way and the multitude of colorful butterflies. We were even lucky enough to spot a couple of monkeys on our way. We got to our lodge shortly before sunset, put our thing down in the comfortable rooms, took a flash light and went searching for some nightly action near the lodge. Our search brought up some frogs and water spiders.

On the next day we woke up for another short walk in the cloud forest enjoying the views and butterflies again until we boarded our bus again and headed down to the town of Pilcopata, stopping in a Coca plantation on our way to see how this controversial plant is grown. In Pilcopata we exchanged our bus for a rafting boat for a short (50 minutes) ride to Atalya port. The river, who is usually calm, was fast flowing with brown waters after recent rains, the level of guidance and equipment was very far from the professional expedition I had on the Apurimac river, but luckily the river didn´t have rapids higher than level 2 so we made it to the port safely although a little wet. After changing clothes and unloading the equipment it was time to meet our boat team and start our journey up the Alta Rio Madre de Dios river. Our boat was a 10 meter long canoe about a meter and a half wide with mattresses covered wooden benches and a plastic sheet stretched over a wooden frame as roof. In the back holding the controls of a speedboat engine sat our boat driver next to our food and water while in the front, covered in plastic sheets, lay our equipment and the driver assistant. It took us four hours of sailing down the river to reach our first jungle lodge called Erica. The Lodges we stayed in where a cluster of wooden huts with straw roofs and nets for windows. Some lodges offered bathrooms inside the rooms and in others those facilities where shared but in all of them we stayed two in a room with comfortable beds covered with mosquito nets. In the center of every lodge stood a central big room which housed the kitchen and dining room and each lodge had nice niches with sofas overlooking the jungle mere meters away or the river bank that the lodge stood on. The jungle proximity also meant that we had some visitors in the lodge rooms, bathrooms and paths in the form of giant insects, reptiles and birds - it was not a good idea to walk around barefoot...

As we settled into Erica lodge the sky got darker and darker and a than a tropical storm broke in such an intensity that it looks like someone is pouring buckets of water from the sky. From the safety of the river observation deck the storm looked quite impressive and although it continued while we ate our lunch, it was over shortly after and the sky cleared - it was time to taste the jungle for the first time. The next thing on the menu after lunch was a canopy zip line - sailing on steel cable between platforms installed high above ground just below the rain forest canopy. We met by the dining room and our guide handed us the equipment for the ride, a small bag with pulley, harness and gloves. It was recommend to wear rubber boots for this activity but I choose to wear my waterproof hiking shoes. As I entered the jungle for the first time and started walking on the narrow path, I quickly found out that I made a mistake, the tropical storm has passed, but the trail were flooded after the heavy rain and in more than one place the water was higher than my shoes... at first I let Oded carry me through the deep parts, but after we almost fell in one of the crossings, I changed tactic and simply took off my shoes and socks and crossed barefoot. The 40 minutes walk to the first platform took us almost an hour and a half due to the high water, at some point we had to cross a half meter deep stream. When we finally climb up the hill to the starting point it was starting to get dark and by the time we reached the 5th and last platform, night has descended on the jungle around us. The ride itself was fun offering 4 cables, the longest one more than 100m long and over 40m high, but due to the time visibility was limited. From the last platform we rappelled 20m down to solid ground and walked back with flashlights through the flooded rain forest with me walking barefoot most of the way.

On the next day we woke up very early before sunrise and sailed 15 minutes to an observation post on the river bank opposite a clay lick - a place where parrots and macaws come to feed on minerals from the clay walls. We watched the colorful birds for almost two hours using telescopes and binoculars and returned to the lodge for breakfast. After breakfast I had a chance to do the zip lines again, walking the now dry trails and not believing that I traversed them barefoot just few hours ago. From the first Platform I got a rare view of an eagle and two macaw who flow almost at eye level near the trees canopy. We returned to the lodge and boarded our canoe again and ventured deeper into the park going up the Manu river and into the reserved zone - an untouched wild jungle. We saw many birds on our way and impressive jungle landscapes, but no jaguars. We settled into another great lodge and again toured the jungle at dusk finding a giant ficus tree, a giant stick like insect and a giant spider among other insects. The next days were more of the same with boat rides and jungle walks, seeing more of the jungle from the canoe and paths and seeing more birds (including a king vulture) a caiman or two and monkeys. The fifth day was the best in that regards we saw a lot monkey including an angry territorial woolly monkeys who throw branches as us from the tree tops and a group of red howler monkeys who attacked another group of white fronted capuchins while making the unique howling sounds just over our heads! All in all I saw 6 different types monkeys most of them more than once. There was also a small lake near our camp on the 5th and 6th days that we paddles on primitive catamaran to see caimans at night and giant otters at day time. Somehow I managed to fall into the river in one of the mornings when I tried to enter the canoe while it was too far from the river bank

On the 6th day we started to head back, sailing up the Manu river, stopping at an observation tower and searching for a Jaguar and failing to find one. The rain which left us alone since the storm in our first lodge came back for a short but forceful visit while we were on the boat. The lodge at that night was one of the best with rocking chairs in the dining room and good shower inside the rooms. The 7th day we sailed back to Erica lodge against a strong river current which doubled the time we spent on the boat compared to trip down river. In Erica we went for a short walk to meet a local shaman but unfortunately he was drunk and not really impressive. On the 8th and last day we returned to Atalya port after an hour and a half boat ride, said goodbye to our boatmen and boarded the bus for a long and tiring 12 hours bus ride back to Cuzco. While going up the narrow path up the cloud forest, our bus lost two wheel studs and the hammering on the wheel hub induced landslides form the steep walls around us. We backed through the pass again and the Andes mountains and found ourselves in Cuzco at around 20:00 - tired, satisfied and without seeing a single Jaguar...

Machu Picchu

"Machu Picchu is a trip to the serenity of the soul, to eternal fusion with the cosmos, there we feel our own fragility. It is one of the greatest marvels of South America. A resting place of butterflies at the epicenter of the great circle of life. Another miracle."
~Pablo Neruda

Sunday, October 19th 2008

There are two ways to get to Machu Picchu from the town of Aqua Caliente, to take a 20 minutes bus or climb the steep Inca steps. As I already walked 4 days just to get here, there was no way I was going to take a bus for the final climb and miss the feeling of entering the city on foot. But there was a catch, our guide set the meeting time for the group at 6:00am and estimated the climb time in about 90 minutes - meaning that I will have to set out at 4:30am ! as they say, no pain, no gain... I got up at 4:00am and met the rest of the climbers at 4:30 in the small plaza. Other than myself only two other Israelis (Tzippy and Beni) and the three Portuguese elected to walk and the rest of our group preferred the take the bus. As we started walking in the dark on the dirt road that led to the bridge over the Urubamba river, we saw the flashlights of other groups who got up before us and had a head start. After we crossed the bridge the dirt road ended and we stood and the base of the steep stone trail. The trail itself was made from big rock stones zigzagging through the dense forest with short sections of dirt road when the hiking trail crosses the bus road. When we started climbing it was still dark and the mountain was shrouded in thick fog. The climb was not easy due to the size of steps and the uneven spaces in which they were set but I felt good in the cold wet morning and stuck with the Portuguese who were in great shape and set a challenging speed. As the rest of the group started falling behind, we started to overtake the groups we saw earlier in the mist. It felt great running up the steps and the morning mists coupled with the dense vegetation and the first rays of sun added to the sense of coming discovery. However, after about 35 minutes I started to get tired, and not knowing how much longer I have to climb, I started falling behind the Portuguese who finally disappeared in the fog. I rested for a minute or so, cought my breath and started again with renewed strength. I got the site entrance at about 6:45 after about 50 minutes of climbing. The mountain was still shrouded in mists.

When the rest of the group and our guide got to the site gate I already cooled down and started to feel the cold morning wind who swirled the heavy fog who covered the site as a thick blanket. We all entered the city and immediately walked to the other side to register for the entrance to Waynapicchu which is limited to 400 people per day. After the registration we walked with our guide through the ruins as the fog cleared a bit, and heard about the site itself and some of the prominent buildings. The mysterious Inca citadel hidden deep in the green Urubamba Valley's jungle, high on a mountain top is the most well preserved city of the great Inca Empire. Around 200 stone structures have been erected on the plateau where except houses and temples with sacral objects, ancient Inca aqueducts/irrigation systems for the agricultural terraces, doorways with locking systems and a rock quarry can also be found. Interestingly, the Incas used no mortar at all when putting together large blocks of perfectly cut hard & heavy stones. Even today, fountains and aqueducts still function, most of the buildings are in very good condition and the rocks used for construction are so tightly put together that in many places one can't even push a razor blade between them! After the guided tour we said goodbye to our guide and started to explore the site on our own. The "Old Peak" guarding the skyline above the Sacred Valley is not just an archaeological site. It's much more. We enjoyed the spectacular unique views of the beautiful Andes and the Urubamba Jungle below. The nearby mountains still "swimming" in clouds, partially covered by mist, added more to the mystery and the beauty of the ancient Inca city. The place is special indeed, only those who have wandered on top of the mountain can experience the unique feelings generated by the beautiful view. Setting your foot into Machu Picchu can be a dreamlike trip back into the past...

There's also a less known part of Machu Picchu, located about 400 meters higher than the part that lies on the plateau. That part of the city is known as Waynapicchu, meaning "Young Peak" and it was built on the steep mountain arising right behind the main sectors of Machu Picchu, visible on most photographs about the ruins. We registered to climb the site at 10:00 hoping that the fog will disperse by than and luckily as we ended our independent tour the sky were almost clear. We approached the gate to Waynapicchu at 10:05 and our heart sank as we saw the line in the entrance - we had tickets for the 2 o'clock train and in thus had to leave the site by 12:00 so we were already on a tight schedule. The gate guards ignored our predicament and slowly slowly allowed people in, finally at 10:35 we signed the entry notebook and started again to climb a trail of steep Inca steps... Since we had so little time we again practically run up stopping briefly at the ruins below the summit to enjoy the view and take some pictures. We than climb with our hands the last 20m that led to summit itself, which was no more than a big rock about the size of a small room, where we rested for 10 minutes and enjoyed the magnificent view of the city and the surrounding region. Since time was of an assent, we quickly gathered ourselves and run down the steep steps again making the entire round trip in 80 minutes - about the time it takes to a visitor in reasonable shape just to get to the top...

I was tired from the climb but still elected, together with part of the group who walked with me in the morning, to use the steps down instead of taking the bus. The steps where not much easier to walk down perhaps due to my fatigue and the hot afternoon sun. I got back to Agua Caliente at around 13:20, drank a cold coke in the plaza and went to train station where I met the rest of the group who already brought my belonging from the hotel we slept in. The train ride to Ollyantaytambo took less than 2 hours and offered some nice views although admittingly, I was too tired to enjoy them. When we got to the small town of Ollyantaytambo we hit a bump in the road: the taxi driver who was supposed to meat us was no where in sight. We waited for almost two hours trying to catch the agency using the local phones until we gave up on the original ride and after we were promised a refund we finally organised a transport who landed us back near our hotel at Cuzco at around 20:00. This was definitely a day to remember...

Salkantay - the alternative Inca Trail

"The name Salkantay is from salka, a quechua word meaning wild, uncivilized, savage, or invincible, and was recorded as early as 1583. The name is thus often translated as "Savage Mountain"."
~Wikipedia

Wednesday, October 15th to Sunday, October 18th 2008

Thinking about Trekking Machu Picchu?
The first thing that came to mind was probably the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
But there is a catch: because of excessive crowds the Peruvian government decided not only to limit daily access but also to impose strict Inca Trail regulations. It is impossible to get a permit unless you book at least 4 months in advance. But luckily there is an alternative to get to Machu Picchu on foot (which is how I felt it should be done) - The famous Salkantay Trek, recently named among the 25 best Treks in the World, by National Geographic Adventure Travel Magazine is a trek open to everybody, with no limitation on spaces or permits (at least for now). Connecting the city of Cuzco with Machu Picchu, The Salkantay Trek is an ancient and remote footpath located in the same region as the Inca Trail where massive snow capped mountains collide with lush tropical rain forests.

We departed from Cuzco at about 06:00 and traveled by bus to the start of the trail at Mollepata. We stopped for breakfast at a typical restaurant and met our guide Darwin and the rest of the group which consisted other than the 7 of us of 3 Portuguese and 2 brothers and a sister from England. We trekked for about 3 hours on an unpaved truck road passing through small Andean communities until we stopped for lunch at a cluster of 2-3 small straw covered huts above the canyon of Rio Blanco. On the way to our lunch we stopped at a small store. It turned out the the trek is popular enough that you can find those stores in intervals of 1 hour walking almost all through the path. Since your heavy equipment in on the donkeys - you can do this trek with just your wallet if you want to... At the first store we also had to say goodbye to Ilan who recently came from Israel and could not cope with hiking in those altitudes. After lunch we continued to hike on the truck road for another 4 hours through the green mountain side catching glimpses of the Huamantay and Salkantay snowy peaks through the clouds to our campsite at Soraypampa . We had a good hot meal and retired to our tents for a good night sleep despite the biting cold night outside.

On the second day we woke up early and after one hour of hiking on a moderate trail we started climbing up a steep series of switchbacks known as the 7 Culebras (7 snakes) to El Paso or Salkantay Pass which at 4600m is the highest point of the trek. The mountain pass was shrouded in clouds and visibility was limited to about 100 meters adding to the atmosphere of the climb and pass itself with its ceremonial stone piles. When we got to the pass it started to snow and we offered some coca leaves to the Inca gods, took a group photo and hurried down the steep muddy path. The light snow turned into a snow storm and than torrential rain as we got lower and lower and we were completely wet when we got to our designated lunch spot: a small village of 4 houses at the edge of the cloud forest named Huaracmachay. Because of the rain we ate our lunch inside one of locals huts which was smoky and dark but also relatively warm and dry. After lunch and a well deserved rest we got out and found out that the sky has cleared so we enjoyed sun warmth and the view of the dramatic cloud forest and the many waterfalls who flowed down the lush vegetation of the steep canyon walls. We descended into the forest on a muddy narrow trail along the Salkantay river and passed small lakes and moraines along the route. From now on the scenery started to change from high mountain terrain to a more tropical climate. It took us another 3 and hours of walking downhill to get to Colpapampa where we camped for the night.

The third day was an easy day, walking mainly downhill for about 3 hours through the sense forest to Lluscamayo where we boarded a van and rode for 30 minutes to eat our lunch at La Playa. We noticed the climate becoming much warmer as we entered a zone of high-jungle known locally as Ceja de Selva (or the eyebrow of the jungle). We saw many small plantations in this area growing coffee, coca and several types of fruit such as bananas. From La Playa we boarded the van again for a hour and a half ride to the town of Santa Teresa where we met a friendly domesticated monkey, locked our belongings and got on the van again for a ride to the local hot springs. While not bas eing hot as the previous springs I experienced in Peru, it was still very nice to take a shower and soak in the hot water for a couple of hours. The only downside was that the local mosquitoes turned out to be of a particularly vicious kind.. refreshed from the shower we got back to our campsite, ate dinner and played poker into the night.

We started our last day with a hike on a dirt road along the Santa Teresa river to the old hydro electric station. I felt a need for good exercise and practically run the first section which ended in an amazing view of the water from the station gushing into the river through a natural tunnel in an incredibly strong stream. I waited almost an hour watching the water current until the rest of the group joined me. After another short walk with a nice mountain side waterfall and a bridge crossing we got to the station itself where we ate lunch at the local train station to Machu Picchu. The last part of the day took us along the train rails to the town of Agua Caliente which is the base camp for lost city of the Inca. While walking on the rails offered nice views it was an extremely irritating walk and I was happy when it ended. We checked into a hotel which was arranged as part of the trek, had a hot shower met in one of the local restaurants for our final dinner. After dinner and some explanations from our guide about the next day we cruised the town for some beers and pancakes, bought some supplies and got ready for our final accent to the ruins themselves - a story that will be told in my next post...

Apurimac River Rafting

"We'd go down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride."
~Bruce Springsteen - The River

Friday, October 10th to Sunday, October 12th 2008

This time I went deep into the heart of the 3000-meter deep Apurimac Canyon to challenge the rapids of the mighty Apurimac, once known as "The Great Speaker" by the Incas. The river, arguably one of the world's top ten rafting rivers is also considered a dangerous one claiming on average two lives per year. For that reason I didn´t save my funds and choose the biggest, safest and most expensive company for this activity - Mayuc. After 3 days on the river I can confidentially say that it´s not the river who is responsible for those deaths but the stupidity humans. As long as you set out with good equipment and good guide and you and all the passengers on the boat obey the instructions of that guide - your safer on the river than on the Andes narrow roads.

The river expedition set out early morning from Cuzco to what was supposed to be 4 hours ride to the take-in point. When I boarded the private bus I found that my partners for this adventure are the same group who I met on the way back from the Ausagate and didn´t like the way they behaved, needless to say I was not thrilled to see them. Fortunately we were already 4 and we added 2 Scottish girls to our group making the necessary crew of 6 to fill a boat. Half way through the Andes we met an unexpected delay: the road was closed for repairs and we had to sit and wait for almost two hours. Fortunately the spot we got stuck in had nice view and we ate our lunch at that place to save some time later. Fashionably late we arrived to the take-in point at Huallpachaca bridge where we were handed our gear: wetsuit, spray jacket, life jacket and helmet. We organized into boats, 7 people per boat: 6 passengers and one guide. The expedition also included a cargo boat expertly guided by a huge Bolivian and 2 rescue kayaks. After we loaded up the equipment we started with an instruction in security and how to paddle and follow the commands we are given. It's really important that everyone do exactly what the guide say, or we could end up in the river all of us... After a bit of theory, we jumped in the boat, and practiced the different techniques, including capsizing the boat and rescuing each other. We than continue down stream practicing our rowing and experienced our first class II and class III rapids. After 2-3 hours on the river we arrived to our campsite a narrow gorge with impressive walls, sandy beach and a huge avocado tree. It was already getting dark and we were wet from the practice we had on the river so we built a small campfire and warmed up beside it as our crew made an excellent dinner. After dinner we had a chance to sit down, talk and know each other better - this is when I discovered that the noisy group were not as bad as the impression they made after all... We retired to our tents where I had a great sleep on the soft sands in the warm night, finally sleeping with an open sleeping bag after so many cold nights in the mountains.

After a healthy breakfast we got back into the river. Our rowing and work team improved as we went through several level III and IV rapids which was a good thing since we had a level V rapid waiting for us up ahead. In the calm stretches between the rapids we swam in the river and had water fights with the other boats using our oars to splash water on each other. Since safety was a primary concern, we had to leave the boat on 3 rapids deemed too dangerous by our guides who guided the boat alone as we walked around by foot with all our equipment. At noon we stopped for lunch on a rocky beach in the searing sun after which we got back to the boats for more of the same. We continued like that for few more hours until we reached our first level V rapid. After a short stop in which our guide prepared us for things to come and gave us some specific instructions we started rowing strongly down stream and into a narrow canyon with roaring white waters. It was over so fast we hardly had the chance to mess up and flip the boat.. after the rapid we continued floating filling our water bottles from a natural spring that flowed from the rock walls of the canyon, stopped for a natural shower under a wide waterfall, passed below a bridge that was used in the famous last scene from "Indiana Johns and the temple of doom" and enjoyed a couple more rapids. After 8 hours of rafting we made our camp on a wide sandy beach where we had the opportunity to jump into the river from a 12m cliff and swim in the slow current. As the sun set we lay on the warm white rocks and enjoyed a quiet rest while tea and cookies were being served. We had another great dinner and another great night sleep, this time is was warm enough to sleep outside the sleeping bag...
We started our 3rd day with a level III rapid called "the wake up" since it splashed water all over boat getting us ready for our last hours of rafting. The day was similar to the second day but shorter and with 2 level V rapids. We also had another opportunity to jump into the river this time from a lower 7m ledge and experience body rafting (floating without the boat) on two level II rapids which made it clear to us why it is better to stay on the boat... The day ended at noon as we reached the take-out point where we helped take out the boats, organized our equipment and enjoyed a barbecue for lunch. After lunch we had an easy 1 and half hours ride to Cuzco on a wide paved road which marked the end of this wet adventure. Since I enjoyed it so much I wrote down the locations of two more rafting rivers in Chile who came recommended by our Israeli safety Kayaker...

Quad bikes near Cuzco

"Ozzy won't be on a quad bike again. He learnt the hard way that he can't ride a bike."
~Kelly Osbourne

Thursday, October 9th 2008

I looked for something easy and fun to do in my spare time and the choice fell on quad bikes. It was a half day activity in which we toured the area around Cuzco and run wild with our bikes on muddy trails, jumping a small ramp and getting a nice views of the lower Andes along the way. In mid morning it started to rain and at one point I took a turn too fast and ended up in a ditch. It was a few hours of pure fun and mud. Enjoy the photos...

The Ausangate Trek

"It´s a good thing that you don´t get used to this kind of beauty."
~Tzippy Shamir

Thursday, October 2nd to Monday, October 6th 2008

After a few days in Cuzco I was starting to feel I´m beginning to rot. Don´t get me wrong I could use the rest after all the trekking in Huaraz and the hectic run through coastal Peru, but somehow I felt that if I won´t do something I will get stuck in the city itself like many others I met at my hotel - and I shuddered at the thought. Fortunately I got an offer from Benjamin, Tzippy and Arishai who I met at Ica and again at Cuzco to join them for the Ausangate circuit. The plan was to rest on Saturday making the circuit 6 days long instead of the usual 5 which was fine by me. Another couple - Alon and Tamar joined us setting our final number to 6. Looking back the whole experience looks a little surreal: I came with very low expectations after the views of the more famous previous treks, we went on a 6 days trek instead of 5 and ended up doing it in 5, a 10 years boy led us most of the way, we walked most of the trail although it was suppose to be a horseback trek and the actual route we followed was not the one we originally planed... but we had a good guide, a good group, amazing views and great weather making the Ausangate trek one of the best so far.

On Thursday morning we got up early and took a bus ride with a guy from the agency who arranged the trek for us to the small town of Tinqui. The town itself was very colorful with a small market on the main street. We were introduced to our guide Enrica who invited us to sit in a small courtyard and went to get organized. We walked the streets of Tinqui for a short while until it started to rain and we hurried to the safety of the courtyard. Enrica came back, gave us an avocado sandwich lunch and told us that we will go to first destination, a village called Pachanta, by a small van rather than by horseback. Although we were a little surprised the heavy rain that kept falling made us agree with this decision. We arrived to Pachanta at around 16:00 and settled into a small stone house with a table on the first floor and a ladder that led to a second floor with mattresses on a wooden floor - this was our accommodations for the night. We sat around the small table and played cards to a candle light while the rain kept falling outside. At some point Enrica got in and started to cook our dinner on a portable stove heating up the small stone room. We ate our dinner and kept on playing cards until we decided it´s time to call it a day and retired to our beds.

We woke to a cold but clear morning and as we got out we saw the steam rising from the local hot springs. The small stream near our house was actually partially fed by the hot water so we could wash our faces in warm water. After breakfast we wanted to set out as early as possible since we had a long day, but Enrica was not ready with the horses yet. At some point he got tired with us bothering him and he send us with his 10 years old boy Romario to start walking saying he will catch us up with the horses in 20 minutes. In the coming days this will be the norm we walked with Romario when we were on foot and with Enrica when we mounted the horses. We walked for 20 minutes and stopped but Enrica and the horses were still not anywhere in sight. I used the time practice climbing on a big rock while we waited. When Enrica finally arrived we questioned him a little about the route since it didn´t look like what the agency explained and found out that we are going to do the trek from the opposite direction since Enrica wanted us to rest at a warmer campsite on Saturday. The horses also looked more like mules than horses and we started to have doubts... We mounted our horses and started walking up a moderately steep path that led to the 5000m Q`ampa pass. After about 1 hour we started to enjoy the view of the snowy mountains on both our side and started to get glimpses of the Qomerqocha lake up ahead and our fears melted in the warm morning sun. We continued for another 2-3 hours on horseback until we stopped for lunch at a beautiful spot before the pass. Since we felt sorry for the horses and our asses were soar from the long ride we continued by foot crossing the pass after about one hour of walking enjoying the great view around us. We kept descending by foot under the guidance of Romario into the green Rio Q'ampa valley for 2-3 more hours and decided to setup camp near the river and not risk walking in the dark for the stone house where we planned to stay on Saturday.

We woke up late to a beautiful Saturday morning and found that local Alpaca and Llama herds moved to the meadows around us. We spend the morning resting and reading on blankets by the river on the soft grass until we decided to move to the stone house some hour and half of walking away to find better shelter in the coming cold night. We arrived to our lodging around 16:30 finding another simple mud brick house with a single floor divided into sleeping and eating areas. The sleeping area was made from one big bed with straw filled mattress and two other smaller beds. The biting cold made us decide that we better share the big bed and our body heat. As we waited for dinner it got colder and colder and I was happy when I went to sleep in the warm sleeping bag.

We started the morning climbing the twisty path to the 5200m Palomoni pass - the highest so far I climbed in Peru. When Enrica caught up with us with the horses about 40 minutes later we decided to complete the pass on foot. At one point we stopped on a small rocky ledge and sat down to enjoy the view of the impressive Ausanagate mountain. Shortly after we sat we heard a loud thundering noise and a huge snow avalanche just manifested itself before us. We felt tiny as the huge mountain slope just collapsed down creating an amazing snow cloud in the valley below us. The Pass itself was also amazing. The Huayhuash veterans amongst us agreed that it was one of the best even when compared to that legendary trek. The snowy mountains and the 360 degrees panorama of the colorful Cordillera Vilcanota with a turquoise lagoon below us made us stay at the windy cold pass for almost an hour. As we descended on foot to the lagoon below us and got a better view of the glacier and waterfall who fed it, the comparison to the views of Huaraz came up - we decided that you can´t compare the beauty but we are lucky that we got to see them both. Near the small lagoon Enrica insisted that we will mount the horses for the climb to the 4900m Apuchata pass. The trail to the pass was an unimpressive simple rocky path but from the top we had good view of 3 lagoons, one turquoise, one green and one red. We ate our lunch next to the red lagoon and continued by food along the shores of the turquoise one where the trail left the valley and started climbing the shoulder of the Ausangate were we made our camp on a small ridge near a small black lagoon at roughly 4500m.

We woke up to a white morning. It snowed during the night and the entire region was covered with a thin white blanket. We played around in the snow who melted fast in the morning sun and set out on foot to cross the Arapa pass. On the way Benjamin convinced Enrica, who by now proved himself to be a great guide together with his son Romario who we started to called "the little man", to catch fresh fishes for dinner. we crossed the pass and descended on foot through a green valley to the village of Upis where Enrica asked us to mount to horses again since he feared that rain is coming. We rode for 3 hours through the green low hills until we arrived back to Pachanta again. We moved into a better lodge with real beds and set out immediately for the hot springs. The water were hot and welcoming and it was great to feel the warmth and clean ourselves after 4 and half days in the cold mountains. The water was so hot that we didn´t care that it started to rain again. As we walked back to the lodge, clean and with fresh clothes, we heard a disturbing rummer: the road from Tinqui to Cuzco is going to closed for 3 days starting from tomorrow. The news made us change our plans and we canceled our fish dinner, ate a quick lunch, said goodbye to Enrica´s family and particularly Romario and set out on horseback to catch the last bus to Cuzco. We rode for 1 and a half hours through the rain until we boarded a bus with another group who was in Pachanta with us. The 4 hours ride to Cuzco was tiring and I´m still ashamed by the behaviour of the group who shared the bus with us but we got to Cuzco late at night before the road closed after a very enjoyable 5 days trek.