It’s been two weeks since I’m in Peru and one of the most beautiful things that I have done is 3- day trekking in Ausangate. It is a less- known trekking in Peru but as well this trek is placed in the top ten highly recommended treks in the World.
Why this trek is so amazing? For me, I loved the fact that there were mostly no tourists. During all trek we maybe just met about 10 tourists. Thus, I met more indigenous people on the road, beautiful Peruvian women with their traditional clothes and shepherds going from one place to another with their animals.
Ausangate is very near to Cuzco, only 3 hours drive. However, as we live in Arequipa it took us 10 hours drive to get to the desired place. The road that we took from Arequipa to Cuzco was the most unique roads I have ever taken. It’s called Panamericana Highway and it drives you through the different landscapes. It is the most important road in Peru as it goes from the north to the south through the whole length of te country.
We started out trekking in the village of Tinqui (3900 m) where we met our local guides and were I could take first photos of local people. The thing that I really don’t like here in Peru is that every time I ask somebody (usually ladies in their traditional clothes) if I can take the photo of them, they do not want or they want money. Thus, I decided not to ask. But still I find it bizzard, in Nepal I could take the photos of everybody and they were happy and here only Peruvian men are keen to be photographed. Ladies are unfortunately not that enthusiastic and curious about the foreigners but every local man that I met was very friendly and all time having a small talk with us 🙂
As we did this trekking within 4 days it was quite hard sometimes, especially the second day and the third day. Within these days we have been walking for 8 hours every day on the altitude all the time between 4500 and 5100m. We reached the highest point (5100- Palomina Pass) during the second day in the afternoon. I have to say that I didn’t have any problems with breathing and the altitude. Only sometimes I had a headache but not that strong. During the nights we have been sleeping in the refugee houses which were very very cold. Thus, during the night we couldn’t sleep well and we were tired because of the cold in the morning. Funny thing is that when I was shaking from the cold our guides were walking in the sandals, without any socks:)
The food that our guides were preparing was just awesome. I didn’t expect this but we had breakfast, dinner, lunch and supper! Even though we have been walking for so many hours every day I couldn’t eat everything what they were preparing because it was too much.
What I also love during such treks is that, on the road you can buy most beautiful ethnic things done by local women. These women wait for the clients, dressed in their daily clothes, which for me gives enormous authenticity of the place, and they sell amazing bracelets, covers for the tables…everything done hand-made and you can’t find it in the different places. They are just unique.
At the end I have to say that this trekking was quite ‘luxurious’. At the end of the first day and the third day we could enjoy Aguas Calientes (Hot Springs), which were perfect for our tired bodies. You have the wonderful view from hot springs on the sky with the stars that seem to be so close to you. For me it was the best feeling, after 8 hours of walking and walking and walking I could finally enjoy hot springs with local people in their small village.
I hope I encouraged you with this post to move from your chair and come visit this wonderful country!
iza handerek 