Day 56 – Trek day 2

After a stormy night under canvas I was thankful for  the extra thick sleeping bag that I’d been lugging around.

Breakfast was the customary banquet, including smiley face pancakes, looking out over the freshly snow capped mountains. Its one breakfast that I don’t think shall ever be topped.

Leaving the camp ground at 7am we set off up the remainder of the Salkantay pass. By the time we reached the 3600 meter col my head was pounding. The area was surreal as low cloud hugged the mountains and left all but a couple of hundred feet of clear visibility.

When Katherine and José caught us up he talked us through the meaning of the hundreds of cairnes that adorned the area. They are created by people as offerings to Mama Pacha (Mother Earth).

From the high ground we descended seven miles to our lunch camp. The journey down took us through grassland, cloud rain forest and eventually into the rain forest. Spying another luxury hotel in close proximity to the humble dwellings of local farmers I asked José who it was for. He said that they’re recently created for tourists, mainly Americans, willing to pay up to $4000 for a luxury trek. What disgusted me more than the sight of this place was the fact that the land was bought off the farmer for around S/7000 – less than what one tourist pays per ticket. They see no more money from the venture other than that earnt by working for the company as a cleaner.

To reach our final destination we walked another five miles, descending to under 3000 meters. The path was pretty steep and rough in places but the view compensated us for our efforts. Camp itself was located at the point where two rivers merge, resulting in a constant wind like sound. The site was swamped with tiny grasshoppers and sand flies but we didn’t care as close by were some natural hot springs.

After initially being closed Percy forced the lock so we could get in. We thought he would get in trouble with the locals but apparently its they knew the owners and all was fine. The warmth of the water made the aches of the days trekking fade to the back of my mind. Peering over the side of the spa I could see the river roaring past.

After another filling diner we made a fire and played cards whilst fighting off the insects. Stepping out into the darkness I could see firefly’s twinkling against the blackness of the hillside.