Ausangate part 2 - High passes and altitude sickness

Day 3.
Having decided not to give all our gifts for the children away on day one, we actually hadn´t seen a child since and were lugging around extra weight in our day packs in the hope that we might come across one. Christmas would have come early for that child!
Our third day was to be the most challenging with the ascent of 2 passes one of 5,200m. It all started well and we were walking at a reasonable pace. One of the group, E, had been feeling a bit off colour with a bad cold and was finding it tough going, but determinedly and impressivley plodded along a little way behind. The walking was tough as the terrain was covered in thick snow that had started melting in the sun. So we found ourselves walking at altitude, uphill on a surface of snow covered, boot sinking mud! The top of the second pass was reached after lunch and we all felt slightly elated with the views, the Peruvian vodka shot (men only) and the lack of oxygen.

Kerry and I on top of High pass

Coming down from the pass I began to get a headache. By the time we reached our camp it had turned into a thumping, nauseating migraine. A sure sign of mild altitude symptoms.  As soon as I reached camp all I could do was unpack my sleeping bag, I barely managed to inflate my sleeping mat and curled up for a couple of hours to try and sleep it off. I dont remember much about the rest of the day. Miguel had filled his water bottle up from the kettle as a very welcome hot water bottle for me. I did get up for dinner but had no appetite for food or real interest in coversation. Thankfully a good nights sleep was medicine enough and I was back to my usual self by morning. E, however had taken a turn for the worse and her symptoms were becoming acute and a much more serious concern. She didnt have the strength or breath to walk and it was decided to put her on one of the horses. After the exersions of the previous day, day 4 should have been a nice easy and short walk to the next campsite. As we walked along Miguel, who was leading E on the horse, told us there was a lagoon up the mountain to our left and there was a path up to it. If we wanted we could walk up to the lagoon as an extra loop to the days short trek. None of us wanted to get to camp too early, so we jumped at the chance for an add on to the route..... So commenced a fairly serious scramble up the side of a snow covered rock face. Not what we were expecting at all!

 Reflections in the lagoon

E¨s condition continued to deteriorate and by the time we reached camp she had a fever and was coughing up bloody mucus. Luckily Will had a very well equiped first aid kit, a tank of oxygen and a satellite phone with his doctor wife on the other end!

Treatment was prescribed and then a plan was made to shorten the trek by a day in order to bring E down sooner. However, which ever way we went we still had another pass of over 5000m to cross. That afternoon some of the group played high altitude football with Miguel, Domingo and the rest of the team. The rules were seriously compromised as Olga who was far the best player was literally picked up or knocked over by the others to stop him getting the ball. The goals were rocks positioned on the pitch, which had streams of glacial water running through it, and players would often lie infront of the goal to prevent the ball going in! The game ended with a herd of alpaca invading the pitch. I think the score was 7-0 to Peru.

Mike, Will, Jim, Miguel and Stuart (left to right)

Day 5

We had now seen a couple of  very rural Alpaca farmers´ settlements and also a couple of women and finally one child, who received a bundle of mirrors, marbles, toothpaste, socks etc. E continued on the horse and seemed slightly better, whether from the drugs or the fact that the end of the trek was in sight and lower altitudes and more oxygen was only a pass away, and a comfortable hotel in Cusco only a night away.

Once we reached the pass, Miguel wanted to perform a ceremony to the mountains. We all had to select 3 coca leaves and hold them in a fan shape. He then went on to say a thanksgiving to the Apus (mountains) and also to Pachamama (the earth). We then had to place our leaves under a rock of our choosing and we could ask the Mountains or Earth for a wish.

 View from just after the last high pass

We had decided to walk a longer day in order to get to a lower altitude and shorten the trek by a night and to get back to Cusco earlier, so it was still a good 3 hours down hill at a furious pace after the high pass ceremony. Everyones legs were feeling it the next day! Miguel had suggested that Domingo organised to have a lamb slaughtered and would cook it in a traditional way, under a pile of hot stones with baked potatoes. The camp was in the center of a small settlement where there was another hot spring pool.  There were lots of children who continually lined up in the hope of receiving gifts. We off loaded most of the rest of the things we had brought to them. Domingo had a fire going over which he´d built a hollow cavern of stones. These were allowed to heat up for a couple of hours. Meanwhile the lamb was marinating in herbs and garlic in a large bowl in a hut that the team had commandeered. I found out the next day that the sheeps head was under the bed! When we had all had a plunge in the hot springs it was time to cook the lamb. The stone cave was dismantled the lamb and potatoes were then layered up with the hot stones, then covered with more stones and then packed down with damp straw, then a tarpaulin and finally the whole thing covered with earth. Forty minutes later the lamb was cooked and the potatoes baked! The potatoes were lovely, unfortunatley the lamb was a bit saltly. The next day we had a cake, made in the pressure cooker; for breakfast and packed up our sleeping bags for the last time on this trek and set off for the shortish walk back to Tinqui. In Tinqui we said our good byes to a great team and headed back to Cusco in our mini bus. E was looking better and better the lower we got and the more oxygenated the air she was breathing.

Ausangate

Apu (Quechua for mountain god) Ausangate at 6372m is the highest mountain in southern Peru. It had just received a fresh dump of snow the week before we arrived and that meant the snow line was much lower than usual.  Our trek was to hike a circuit around the summit that would take us over 4 high passes, 2 over 5000m.
We met up with our guide Miguel in Cusco and drove to a dusty little town called Tinqui about 3 hours away. We were also accompanied by Domingo our cook and Alberto his assistant. After a night in a rather basic hostel were also joined the next morning by Aberliño the arriero (horseman) and his young helper Olger,who was aged 15 to 20 depending on who was asking.

Our team of guide, horsemen and cook in Tinqui

We started our trek bright and early after a delicious breakfast cooked by Domingo at the hostel. The previous night we had had pan fried trout for dinner. It seems rather odd to me to be eating trout in Peru, but there are lagoons full and they are farmed by the locals.

Day 1 was not the most impressive, but a necessary hike along dusty tracks. The number of dwellings dwindling the further we went. The local bush telegraph was in excellent working order and the track was dotted with children hoping for some sort of gift or sweet from us. We had all brought items such as pens, notepads, clothes etc for the children but were determined not to give it all away on day one and so close to the road head!

We were mildly suprised to find a red tableclothed table laid up for our lunch, and then to be duely served a 2 course meal. Will 4 adventure for softies? We finally started to get some better views of the mountains and our first camp for the night was at Upis 3800m. There was a natural hot spring pool, a bit sulphuric, but a hot and welcome plunge for the few of us who dared at the end of the day.

Once the sun disappered behind the mountain however the temperature started dropping rapidly and we were all thanking out lucky stars there was a mess tent to hang out in. The first night was a real test on the warmth of the sleeping bag, which I found to not be sufficient even though it has a comfort rating of -12! Desperately hoping I wouldnt need the loo in the night I went to sleep a bit cold and found my self waking up to a frozen tent,  and a semi frozen, chocolate munching tent mate (kerry)and also a cup of tea  served to me at about 6.30am. Luckily the temperature rises as quickly as it drops once the sun is up and by 8am we were all seated around the breakfast table in the sunshine eating our breakfast.

Day 2 saw the first of our high passes, Arapa at 4750m. The trek its self was stunning. The landscape had changed dramatically to  we were spoiled with fantastic views of snow capped mountains, glaciers, deep blue lagoon and deep orchre coloured hills. There was plenty of wildlife in place of people. Chinchillas, Picunias, Llamas and Andean ducks and geese.

During the day, Miguel told us stories about local customs and traditions and taught also more about the way of life of the mountain people. One of the most interesting was about 2 villages, seperated by a river. He was explaining about a type of grass we could see growing around us. The villagers use the grass to make a bridge between the two settlements that is replaced every year. The bridge is replaced on the same weekend annualy and all the villagers take part. On the first day the grass is cut and soaked. On the second day it is plaited and then twisted into ropes about 20cm thick and as long as the river is wide. Then on the 3rd day and night the men (no women are allowed as its bad luck) build the bridge, whilst the women prepare a feast. When the bridge is complete the leaders of the 2 villages walk to the center of the bridge to exchange gifts and to make sacrifices to the Gods, that the bridge will be strong and safe for the coming year and finally there is a big celebration.
Our camp that night was next to a lagoon where we were going to fish for trout. Sadly someone lost the rod in the lagoon! Luckily Domingo had not counted on us bring home the fish for tea!

Our camp at Laguna Jatan Pucacocha 4624m

Machu Picchu

Can I just apologise in advance for spelling mistakes and lack of punctuation. Every computer keyboard I have used so far is missing letters and the keys are configured differently!!!


The next few days saw the arrival of Will (Will 4 adventure) and the rest of the team. There were 9 of us in total. A nicer bunch of people couldn´t be had. In real time, I said bye bye to the last of them yesterday evening. After being presented with a woven friendship bracelet as a parting gift, (thanks Lynne and Mike)I am now at the beginning of the slippery slope of starting to look like a proper gringo traveller. All I need are some beads, silly trousers, a poncho and possibly dreadlocks!
Anyway, back to the blog...
We spent a couple of days sightseeing and walking in the hills behind Cusco. Our local guide, Ophelia (named after a Peruvian soap opera character, not Shakespearean!), saturated us with Incan history and ruins,showing us all the local sights and also a trip to the sacred valley. Which is very overly subscribed tourist route that involved stopping at a Llama-Alpaca farm and also a wool dyeing and weaving co operative (for tourists).The most interesting bit was seeing real live cochineal bugs that live on cacti and are squashed to make red dye and also used to colour glace cherries!
We then set of Agua Calientes (hot water), a small town near to the base of Machu Picchu which has hot thermal springs as well as an enormous and noisy river running through it. We caught a rather lovely train there which had sky light windows in the roof as well as the sides. It felt and looked similar to an old steam train, but was diesel. Now at a much lower altitude than Cusco, the climate and vegetation was semi tropical. There were exotic flowers growing wild by the sides of the roads and there was a brightly coloured parrot in a bush out side my room when I woke.

Machu Picchu was very impressive. When we arrived in the morning the mountains and the Incan town were still shrouded in mist, which was very atmospheric, and luckily cleared by mid morning to allow us to really see the city in all its splendour.

Just in case any one reading this is unsure what I´m on about.  Machu Picchu is probably the best known Incan archaelogical site in South America. It was never discovered by the conquering Spanish and only discovered in the early 20th C by an American called Hiram Bingham, who consequently took loads of artifacts back to the States. The Peruvians are still fighting to have them returned to this day.

Many visitors come to Peru to hike along the very busy Inca trail. Nothing so easy for us. We returned to Cusco by train later that evening to prepare for the Ausangate trek!

Cusco

There was plenty to look at from the small aeroplane flying me up from Lima to Cusco, and to take my mind off the turbulence. As we broke through the city smog, we were suddenly in bright sunshine and blue sky. There were spectacular views of the mountain summits breaking through the clouds below.
Cusco, a hill side town, or possibly city as it had a cathederal. A birds eye view reveals a muddle of red tiled brick and concrete buildings most in a state of semi completion and of uncertain building regulations.
There is a large white and illuminated statue of christ on one of the hill tops over looking the town, surrounded by a congregation of satellite dishes and telephone masts.

Why I can rotate this picture...I dont know!

Cusco at 3326m above sea level is in fact a nice little town with a population roughly 360,000. The old part has narrow cobbled streets with even narrower pavements. The streets are designed in a grid formation and more suited to Llama herding than motor vehicles. The narrow streets are lined with doorways giving on to mulitfamily dwellings, often built around central courtyards. Many of the buildings are a red or grey stone in the colonial style with the odd bit of Inca wall here and there. Frankly the Inka walls are still in such good nick but they remind me of the slightly dodgy tiled facades Greek immigrants cover their houses with in North London. All it needs is a few columns to finish the job.  Anyway, once I had learned how the Incas built their walls and cities , a few days later, I cant help but be impressed. There are rainbow striped flags flying everywhere, much like the Gay friendly establishment flags that are all around Soho, but these Cuscan flags are to symbolise its connection with its Incan heritage. Also its the 100 year anniversary since the discovery of Machu Picchu.

Cusco old town

I am staying at a hostel in the non tourist part of town called Niños, meaning children. I am infact not in the hostel but in a room off a second floor balcony at the Niños school, just up the road. Its a charity run school, founded some years ago by a Dutch woman who had come to Peru on holiday...and stayed. She was so moved by the plight of the most poor and homeless children that she ended up taking in 12 and looking after them herself. She went on to find away to generate an income to help more children and started the Niños hotel. There are now 2 hotels plus the school and a hacienda in the countryside. The school educates, feeds, washes and provides medical help for over 400 children 6 days a week. Quite an achievement. My room is lovely, pale blue wood with big brightly coloured paintings a writting table and 2 balconies. I have the use of a kitchen and a shared bathroom. The water is so hot it actually boils as it come out of the taps!

It has become immediatly obvious that the need to learn S´panish is a priority, so I spend my forst day searching out a Spanish school, good lunch spot and supermarket in that order.

Everyday is fiesta day, in some shape or size. On my first day, the main square was full of food stalls being run by women in big white or brown top hats, traditional dress and selling mainly deep fried guinea pig! The little creatures (actually big by British guinea pig standards) were stacked up in very creative but slightly macabre piles, Their mouths wide open showing off little buck teeth and their fried postures almost looked as if each cooked creature were trying to run up to the top of the pile. They were in turn garnished by the odd tomato or lemon wedge.  I hope they werent alive when they went in the frier.  You can just see some in this next picture. I was a bit too nervous to just go up close to take pictures that day.

I spent the next couple of days exploring the city, orienting myself and acclimatizing. There are lots of hills and steps and every step is breathless at this level. On the second day I discovered the central market. The surrounding streets were full of sugar cane stalls that somehow drew me in to this partially covered market. Once inside there were areas of stalls selling everything from hardware to fruit and veg, fresh juice, clothes, spices, pulses, fresh local cheese, bread and a section selling meat. The usual chicken, pork, beef cuts on display. Not refridgerated but fresh and non offensive. I continued my wandering and speculating what some of the weirder things I was seeing for sale actually were. I then observed 2 women squatted down and peeling what appeared to be frogs legs. There was a bucket of live frogs next to them. I continued a few step and then my nostrils were assaulted by the most noxious smell. Looking around I realised I had wandered into the offal section. I was surrounded by stalls dripping with blood, guts and fat. There were dried brown and decaying horse and ox heads, complete with eyes. Tripe, hooves, guts...god knows what else. My stomach had started to heave, my eyes were watering, I needed to breathe, but I knew if I did I would be sick right on the spot. The stall holders around me were obviously impervious to the smell. My step quickened, almost broke into a run, not daring to breath until I was well clear. The smell of death and decay stayed with me for quite some time.

Cusco has definite sectors of buisnesses and so far I have discovered the cake sector which not only smells good but is a visual feast of over the top, highly decorated gateaux of all shapes and sizes. There is also the banking and administration street, a street consisting solely of shops making and selling gold and silver religious banners and badges. You name it theres a street for it!

San blas and the main square, plaza das Armas are the main tourist areas. There is a relentless assault of touts, shop keepers and entrepreneurs, all trying to sell you anything from massage to art to trinkets and t shirts.  The Inca walled lanes have women in traditional dress on every corner clutching an obligitory baby llama, alpaca, child or new born lamb. Ready to take 1 soles (peruvian money) or two from photo hungry tourists. Quite a lucrative buisness it seems. There is also the man dressed as an Incan king and the person in the Kermit the frog costume promoting some club or other.  I{m glad im staying well away from all this!

Well, finally I find the time and means to start this blog, 2 weeks after leaving Londion for Peru. I've got a bit of catching up to do...so here goes.
I'm currently sittling in a very crowded internet cafe in Cusco, there's Latin American rave music crackling away in the back ground, its dusty and theres lots of noise of traffic and marching bands, drums and brass instruments filtering in from out side. Its only 9am here, but everyday is seemingly fiesta day! Some days more so than others, but never the less marching, dancing and music are a big part of daily life...oh! and the letting off of very loud bangers and fire works at any time of day and night. I've just returned from my first trek and am feeling a bit sunburnt and stiff, with peeling nose and very chapped lips....Not nice. Still atleast I look like a trekker and not just a tourist.
Ok, back tracking a bit, I arrived in Lima just over 2 weeks ago. Its winter here so it gets dark early, about 6pm. Its hot in the day, but gets very cold in the shade or at night. My flight had come in via Madrid and was packed full of Peruvians. The atmosphere in the arrivals hall of Lima airport was one of celebration. The terminal was packed with friends and family of the arriving passangers, clutching massive bouquets of flowers, waving banners and banging drums. It was almost overwhelming. In amongst it all was a sign with my name on it. My taxi driver, pre organised, to take me to the hostel.
Lima, what I saw from the rattling, practically held together by twine taxi, is a dusty and hugely congested city. Theres no public transport infastructure other than big, smoking, diesel buses clogging up the streets and churning out fumes. The buildings were a mix of crumbling old colonial and half built modernist structures, every other one a casino, which sat uncomfortably next to each other along badly maintained avenues lined with the usual western mulitnational advertizing propaganda promoting life styles and products very far removed from the life I was seeing around me.
The hostel was an old colonial building in a nicer neighbourhood, apparently. It had a few bits of beauitiful furniture placed carefully on a well worn and lovingly polished parquet floor. High ceilings with intricate, dusty cornicing, slighly dodgy plumbing and very questionable electrical wiring. Still, I was exhausted and after chatting to a couple of fellow travellers, got my head down as I had an early flight to Cusco.