Carlos woke us at 6pm for a coffee with the announcement that breakfast would be at 7. We were also presented with bowls of hot water to wash with which was a pleasant surprise and a nice touch.
I felt a little better after a fairly solid nights sleep, and with a hot water bottle to keep me warm.
I had a little bread with jam and a pancake with lots of tea for breakfast and felt better.
The valley was shrouded in fog and mist with poor visibility. If it hadnt been a scheduled trek, we would have postponed todays hike for another day.....
One of the local ladies from the village (Huacahusi) set up some of her handicrafts outside our tent whilst we were having breakfast. I bought some knitted finger puppets for Alexis.
With the entourage packing up tents, Carlos, Jack and I set off on the morning´s hike. We hiked up the valley and soon started the slow climb up into the mountains. Low clouds prevented any views, which may have been a blessing in disguise as sometimes its nice not to see where you might be heading when it involves peak climbing.
On the outskirts of town, there was another hiking group setting off on their hike, but they were taking a completely different route to ours. Different trekking companies use different routes and villages for their itineraries.
We headed into the clouds passing a small village, and then fields of potato crops which flourish in the cold mountain climate. As we ascended, there were many groups of alpacas grazing on the highland grasses. It was a steady ascent, but once again Carlos set a comfortable plodding pace. I felt surprisingly good given the events of yesterday. But as we ascended it got colder and colder. We stopped so I could put on my plastic overpants and an extra layer, but even with that it was cool. Luckily I like to walk¨"on the cool side", and as long as we kept moving, it didn´t seem too much of a problem. There was very little shelter. It began to drizzle and the wind picked up. We passed a lagoon which was meant to be a morning tea snack stop, but because of the poor weather conditions we continued on. The weather conditions and the altitude seemed to be against us and at one stage I had to stop as I became a little dizzy and breathlesss. I asked Carlos how much farther the high pass was, he replied about 30 mins. I was determined to do this without the oxygen and the horse, so we slowed our pace. Jack by now was also feeling the effects and was actually walking slower than me!
It seemed like it was only 15 mins when we reached the Ipsayccasa pass, 4500m!!! We were exhilarated!!!
We placed a rock on a cairn, had some quick photos, but without any view to savour and the weather not abating, we decided to move on.
Carlos thought that the temperature was around 0, with a wind chill factor of much less!!!
As soon as we started descending, the effort required was so much less. The paths were very wet and slippery, so caution was exercised. Not far along, we came across a small boy, about 3 or 4 years old standing with his dog on the side of the track. He was visibly shivering despite layers of clothing and all I wanted to do was pick him up for a hug. His mother and baby sister were sheltered under a large rock about 20 metres away. They were shepherding a flock of alpacas and sheep. I got two pieces of fruit out of my pack and gave them to him.
We continued down and soon another lake came into sight. Not far from here was our lunch campsite. The rain had now stopped. The entourage was surprised to see us so soon, having done the morning walk in just
over 3 hours, instead of the usual 4-5.
The chef said he needed 30 mins to get lunch ready, but we were happy to sit down and relax out of the weather.
A tent had been erected for the chef to cook in on one side and for us to eat at on the other side. They had also erected a camping toilet tent for us to use. What luxury! Lunch was served again on a tablecloth decked table and we even had hot towels beforehand for our face and hands! We had soup and then a chicken roulade with vegetables. All whipped up by the chef by scratch in 30 mins !
During lunch, we felt the temperature drop, and then it began to rain, followed bu hail and sleet. This continued unabated for about 1 hour. Carlos was relieved that we had finished the morning walk because if
we were still on the pass, it would have been snowing! We had another 8km or so to hike down the valley that afternoon to our second nights campsite at Patacancha. Luckily the sleet and hail abated and we started the walk with light rain falling.
Most of the afternoon´s walk was following animal tracks that contoured around the side of the mountains. It was reasonably flat with only a very slight descent for the first hour or so, with the last hour being a more
gradual decline. From the pass down to the village, we descended about 400 metres.
Along this track, we encountered several groups of children who were walking home from school. They were walking the 8km from Patacancha back to our lunch spot, so they walk 16 km every day to and from
school. They wore the traditional dress of the Quechua people and we all offered them some of our snacks to help them with their energy levels on their homeward trip. We also managed to get photos of some of
them. About 30 mins out of Patacancha, we were overtaken by the entourage with the horses carrying our gear.
We arrived in the village at 4pm, weary but hugely satisfied with our efforts of the day.
Dinner again was superb with soup, then a traditional peruvian beef dish with potatoes and rice, followed by chocolate mousse and flambe banana! Absolutely wonderful, but again, I could only manage to eat about half of what was served up.
Hot water bottle at the ready, we headed to bed at around 8.30.
