Last night Annette struggled to sleep initially so decided to pop a Zopiclone which resulted in an excellent and much needed night sleep for her. We were treated to pancakes for breakfast ... mmmmm!
We started our walk not far from the camp at 3,800m, in a village of about 40 families, called Huacawasi. Here they mainly grow potatoes, keep alpaca, sheep and llamas, and make their own bricks to build their homes. We could see piles of bricks piled to dry in the sun.
We met children on their way to school who were all very inquisitive. Naomi gave them the basketball she had bought at the market and Annette gave out some marbles.
During our walk we saw Mountain Cara Cara birds, Andean Ibis, Andean Geese as well as the usual four-legged woolly llamas and alpacas.
At 11:00 we stopped at 4,185m for snacks with a stunning view of mountains and one of our mules drinking and eating from a stream.
We reached the highest point of our trek, 4,450m, at 12:30. It was SO hard but we both did it, and without any medication. We had been so worried before our trip about how we would cope with altitude so we were so relieved to make it to the highest point of the trip. We did it!!
At the top today, Naomi was 89 oxygen and 101 heartbeat, and Annette was 83 oxygen and 127 heartbeat. So Annette was roughly the same as yesterday but Naomi was faring much better.
From here it was all downhill.
We were regularly greeted by locals of the four-legged variety!
We walked for about half an hour to reach our temporary camp for lunch. On the way Mike told us about the difference between llamas and alpacas, as he had a job that involved looking after them!
What a fantastic place to stop for lunch, but then haven't they all been! At every camp, two small loo tents were provided and when Annette popped out to visit one at lunchtime there was a big gust of wind and she thought the tent around her was going to blow away!
What a fantastic place to stop for lunch, but then haven't they all been! At every camp, two small loo tents were provided and when Annette popped out to visit one at lunchtime there was a big gust of wind and she thought the tent around her was going to blow away!
On our way down there were lots of local women selling hand knitted hats, gloves, bags and blankets.
We ended our trek at the village of Patacancha at about 17:30, after walking for 8.5 hours in all. On the approach to the village we were greeted by lots of local children. This was our last chance to give away the things we had bought at the market. It was great! We asked the children their names, gave them a gift and took a photo of them. The children loved to see photos of themselves. One little girl was called Susie, so our Susie met Peru Susie and they had their photo taken together.
When everyone was down in the village we grouped together by the two minibuses and said goodbye to two of the guides who were leaving us. The custom is for two of the trekkers from the group to give the departing porters their money and today Naomi volunteered to do this. Behind where we were standing, there was a group of ladies and girls dying wool in a variety of colours.
We piled in the minibuses and drove for about half an hour to our camp for the night at Ollantaytambo, at 3,000m. The sun was setting and many locals were returning to their villages with their sheep and cattle and, as a result, we encountered lots of traffic on the road, almost all with feet/hoofs and not tyres!
Once at the camp, we sorted out our tents and met up in the mess tent for dinner of chicken soup, spaghetti bolognese and chocolate sponge and sauce. Delicious as usual.
When we had finished eating it was time to say our official goodbyes to the camp porters as it was our last night sleeping out under the stars. We left the mess tent and all stood in a big circle, including the porters. Dean had previously identified volunteers from our group to be the people to hand over the money to the porters. José introduced each porter in turn, explaining their role, then they were invited into the circle and the pre-chosen one of our group presented them with their money, a hand-shake and a hug. The porters then walked around the circle giving each of our team a hand-shake and hug. It was the perfect way to bid them farewell.
When this was finished we all returned to our tents for much needed sleep. Machu Picchu tomorrow!!!!
When we had finished eating it was time to say our official goodbyes to the camp porters as it was our last night sleeping out under the stars. We left the mess tent and all stood in a big circle, including the porters. Dean had previously identified volunteers from our group to be the people to hand over the money to the porters. José introduced each porter in turn, explaining their role, then they were invited into the circle and the pre-chosen one of our group presented them with their money, a hand-shake and a hug. The porters then walked around the circle giving each of our team a hand-shake and hug. It was the perfect way to bid them farewell.
When this was finished we all returned to our tents for much needed sleep. Machu Picchu tomorrow!!!!
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