Salkantay DAY 3

We woke up perfectly and had some omlettes before starting to hike again. On Day 3 we hiked from the high jungle down to the jungle. Along the way we saw some flowers that are used to make hallucenagens.

We were really tired from the previous day and we walked realllllllly slow, haha. At one point we had to cross the river and use a little cable car that the people from the other side had to pull. We finally got down to the campsite

SALKANTAY Trek Day 2

DAY 2

We slept like shit. It was freezing cold and I couldn't get comfy. However, we woke to a beautiful view of the sun shining on the SALKANTAY glacier. "We know we are complaining but it will be worth it". Breakfast was pancakes and bread and hot chocolate. Oh and they gave us "tent service" which was where they brought us tea/coffee into our tents at 5:30am. It was really sweet and the staff was extremely nice. They also gave us boiled water to hike with.

On this day, we hiked through the Salkantay Pass where we climbed from 3,900-> 4,600masl (12,800->15,000feet) then back down to 3,900 again. It was going to be really really cold up there. I was wearing leggings, tall socks, pants, long-sleeve underarmour shirt, thermal, D's sweatshirt, jacket, gloves, two beanies...and i was still cold.

"Our tits are about to fall off...but we're excited"

On this day we hiked from Soraypampa through Salkantaypampa up to a peak that was 4600 meters. It was mostly switchbacks but they were very steep and it took about 4 hours. When we got to the top there were amazing views of the glacier and of the valleys below. David told us about the offerings to Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) of 3 coca leaves that represent the Condor, the Puma, and the Snake, the tiers of life in the andean religion. You are supposed to build a little monument out of rocks and put the coca leaves under them. I made my offering for Punnett girl (Kendra Fallon). She was on her way to Mt. Everest and I have been thinking about her alot on this trip, especially this hike because I know that she would have enjoyed so much. RIP Babygirl <3

We sat down and had some snacks on the mountain and chilled for a bit before starting to walk again. With another 4 hours ahead of us, Arielle and I filled up the time by talking about random things and telling each other stories. I told her about my great Aunt Margaret and different math things, like the RSA algorithm (used for encryption especially with credit cards). Finally we got to the lunch place, where we had Lomo Saltado (peruvian dish) and jello. I think we were at Huayrapampa=Wind Place...

We took a power nap on the tarps and then kept walking. Within 40 minutes we were in the "High Jungle" and the scenery changed drastically and the tempurature was alot warmer. However the hike lasted FOR-EV-ER. At this point our knees, ankles, and feet were hurting really bad. At one point we thought we were alone so we were peeing on the side of the trail and I thought I heard voices so i stopped suddenly and stood up and like 10 horses when came stampeding through the path from the opposite dirrection, haha close call. But after 3.25 horas mas we made it to the campsite called Chaullay. I really like this campsite because there was a beautiful view of the jungle and river and there was a little town. When we got there our feet were disgusting...we rested for a little bit and then had some tea and hot chocolate and had wontons with cheese inside. I cant remember what we had for dinner but later we had to poop outside bccause there was no bathroom...jajajaja.

Salkantay Trek DAY 1

DAY 1

Woke up at 6:00am because we were getting picked up at 6:30 by David, our guide. Arielle overslept and was having...problems. We eventually got on the road and drove a couple of hours to MollePata (2,900 masl= 9,514 feet) to have breakfast a little cafe.

• Molle= small tree that can be used for Mosquito repellent or Chicha
• Pata= place

We drove for another hour on a bumpy ass road to the trail head. We met our guides/cooks/horseman.

• Tourguide: David
• Horseman: Alberto
• Chef: Ruben
• Ass. Chef: Estamilado (next to me in spanish)

Arielle and I were actually really unprepared for the trek compared to the other people in the group who had daypacks, walking poles, zipoff pants, etc, etc. We basicallly just brought our purses to hike with. But we were ready regardless.

We walked a few hours on an old bus road before having lunch in a little community. We had asparagas soup, chicken in peanut sauce, rice and a peace that David told us was condor egg. Mate de coca. We talked about Peruvian politics and sacrificing people. Our lunch place overlooked a beautiful valley and it was really peaceful up there.

After lunch we hiked for two more hours to the campsite. We hiked A LOT slower than everyone else and just talked a lot about our lives in Cusco and the crazy stuff that has been happening to us here.

Our campsite was called SORAYPAMPA (3,900 masl= 12, 800 feet). We had some tea and cookies and changed into our warm clothes because it was already FREEZING and it was supposed to get to -6 or -10 celcius which is like 15 degrees fahrenheit. We had dinner around 7 which was Trout, rice, and veggies. After dinner they gave a little surprise in the form of a Pisco Sour :) Arielle went into our tent and ate our SODA cookies for dessert and tried to sleep.

CHIFA

Yesterday we decided to go out for lunch and we asked Bryan and Adan (the guys at PATAS downstairs) where a good place to go was. They told us to walk down and go to get CHIFA (follow the link). It a cross between Peruvian and Chinese food. We all got the "Combinado".

This included a noodle soup thing
For second we had chicken fried rice and a dish that had chicken, vegetables, and noodles.