The way to the top of Peru

12 October 2010

The way to the top of Peru

It was still dark out when I could first sense that the people around be were rustling about. The night had past quickly as I slept quite well on my wooden bench inside the shelter. When I emerged from my sleeping bag, I saw that everyone else was awake already, quickly and efficiently rolling up their sleeping bags and packing their belongings. We had planned to set out on our trek around 0530 that morning. We had a long day ahead of us with about eight to nine hours of trekking during which time we would summit two mountain passes.

When I walked out of the building to use the outhouse, I saw that the porters and cooks were already working away. I caught a glimpse inside the kitchen tent and saw one of the workers grating apples. After a quick squat in the outhouse, I headed into the dining tent where most of the group had already gathered with gloved hands wrapped around warm mugs of some potent hot chocolate. Before long breakfast arrived, and I could already see where the grated apples had been used…we were about to eat pancakes stuffed with homemade applesauce. It was delicious! My only complaint is that I did not get to eat at least three servings of this. In the middle of breakfast, someone noticed that the sun was coming out and the clouds were breaking. This afforded us with views of one of the glacier –topped mountain peaks in the distance. Right as we sat there at the breakfast table, the porters came over and dismantled the tent around us. Could you ask for better service? We finished our breakfast with breathtaking views of the Andes mountains.

Sitting and sipping on coffee and tea all morning was not an option that day. As soon as we were done eating, Erik reminded us that it was time to start the trek. We had a long day ahead of us and we all needed to make it to the next campsite before darkness set in. We were already leaving almost an hour after scheduled. It was time to strap on our backpacks and put one foot in front of the other.

Jaime again started the group moving at a steady pace. On the way out of Cuncani we met a family of children playing outside. Their dirty but smiling faces greeted us warmly. Jaime asked them in Quechua how old they were and they responded, “Thirteen, nine, and five.” However to look at them, one would have guessed much younger. The children were very small, perhaps genetics played a part, but I would wager that a bigger factor was their poor diet. They gladly accepted our gifts of fruit and snacks before we moved further on.

We also passed by a pack of llama on the way out of town. We had noticed all along that some of the llama in the mountains wore what looked like colorful dangling earrings. Someone finally asked Jaime what this meant, and he explained that on August 29th of every year, the Peruvians celebrated Animal Birthday. Apparently it was a day to celebrate all animals, and they were given these colorful adornments to wear.

The group separated out even more quickly into different pacts that morning, with everyone settling into their own comfortable pace. I was delighted to see that the weather was much milder that day, in fact it was perfect hiking weather: cool, partly cloudy, no rain. It was pretty desolate out there as we walked along. The most frequently encountered creature was not another human, but some kind of livestock, sometimes a llama or an alpaca; other times a cow or horse. Here and there we would cross paths with some of the Peruvians as they lead their animals through the hills.

Looking back, I have trouble remembering exactly what the summit of the first mountain pass was like, I am not sure if it was the altitude or the fact that I may have been engrossed in a good conversation. It was about three hours into our day when we reached our first pass at some where over 4000 m (13,100 ft). We did not remain too long up there, just time for a water break and a few pictures before continuing on our way. The weather had been steadily improving along the way, and we shed off layers of clothing. I felt wonderful! It was refreshing to inhale clean, cool mountain air, feel the solitude of nature and enjoy that exhilarating sensation of physical exercise.

As we came to a turn in the path, I saw a woman sitting on some rocks. She was dressed from head to toe in her traditional attire, with a particularly ornate headdress. She had a baby on her back, whom we later found was named Sandra. Baby Sandra’s hat was even more elaborate and colorful than her mothers, in fact Sandra’s head reminded me of a giant flower covered in multicolored petals. This woman had seen us slowly approaching from miles away and had decided to trek out to meet us and hopefully sell us some of her woven products. As she sat there demurely talking to Jaime she was spinning yarn out of wool with her hands. Sandra peered out of her little pouch from over her mother’s shoulder. Her two black eyes were large and inquisitive, her nose was dripping with baby boogers. She reached out for the thread her mother was dangling between her fingers. We could not resist but to buy some of this hardworking woman’s lovely items.

Further on in that same valley, we came across another community of stone houses and stonewall fences creating rustic corals. The children ran out into the path to stare curiously as we walked by. Jonas handed half of his bologna sandwich to one of the little girls. She accepted it but gave him a strange look of disgust mixed with confusion. The sandwich stayed in her hand as we continued walking. In this village area, we also saw men working in the fields, tilling the land. To do this labor, they used thick tall wooden sticks with pointy metal on the end. They bent over the land, repeatedly driving these sticks into the moist ground in order to work the fields. This is the definition of backbreaking work.

We came over a ridge in the landscape and all of a sudden, before our eyes, there was our dining tent and the porters. It was time for lunch and the sun was out. As we arrived at our lunchtime campsite, we stripped off all of our outer layers and delighted in exposing our sweaty skin to the sunlight and air. Erik ran off to take pictures. Jonas lied down on the spongy yellow grass. Helen and Dylan took their shoes off. I sat on a warm rock and took it all in.

One cools of quite fast in the mountains though, after all we were still at 4000m, and before long I had to put my long clothes back on. Jill and Richard arrived then. Jill had been muscling on at a good pace despite feeling nauseous and sick most of the day. We all sat down in the dining tent as it was time again for hot drinks. The rest of the group slowly trickled in and we eventually enjoyed another delicious hot meal, this time a potato cake with cheese and some kind of delicious yellow squash with cheese and best of all, some protein rich quinoa. Quinoa is a native grain of South American, eaten by the native people for hundreds and likely thousands of years. For a plant, it is uniquely quite rich in amino acids making it essentially a complete protein on its own. It is also high in fiber, phosphorus, magnesium and iron.

With a full stomach, we set off on the second leg of our day’s journey. I felt energized as we set off. I could see our next mountain pass looming in the distance. It was certainly intimidating at a height of 4500m (14,800 ft) with its sharp black surface etched with snow. But onward and upward we continued. Helen and I walked with Erik at the beginning, but before long, we slowed our pace as Erik, Jonas and Dylan pushed on ahead of us. They stayed within our site all along, but we decided it was better to take it on the slow side. The higher we got the harder it got. There were no switchbacks to take as we got closer to the top, just a steep incline up. Once again my lungs were burning and my legs were as heavy as lead. I just kept telling myself to take slow deep breaths and keep moving. It was even harder to start again after stopping so continuation was the only choice. Getting to that peak was more a challenge than I ever would have expected and took just as much internal focus as any long run or hard sprint.

Helen and I reached the top and Jonas, Erik and Dylan were already enjoying the views. A local man walked through the pass, likely on his way to one of the villages we already passed. We smiled at each other. Most of the snow had melted by the time we arrived on top, but I could still reach down and pick handfuls of it with my wool-covered hands. I may have been sweating on the walk up the mountain, but once on the top, it was cold and windy, surely close to freezing with the wind and dampness. It was incredible to look at the views in either direction; to behold two valleys from this high up, and feel almost close enough to reach the glaciers that were still above us.

The valley we were about to enter was probably the most spectacular we had seen so far. The sun presented its rays to the landscape as if to congratulate us on our accomplishment. We practically ran down the other side of the mountain. It was loose with gravel and so running down it gave one the feeling of skiing down a hill. All the while the sun continued to beam down on the deep blue of the glacial lake below us. A horse grazed beside the lake.

As we walked along this peaceful and stunning lake, it was hard to believe this was reality. Back in the USA with all the modern comforts of home, speed of the freeway, and bustle of the city, one often forgets that pure and unspoiled places in nature still exist. In the mountains that day, it was hard to imagine there was a world outside of this beautiful landscape. I felt rejuvenated by this scenery and this air.

The rest of the day was a downhill climb and an easy walk after getting past that summit. The views continued to be beautiful along the way with new lakes to behold, glimmering waterfalls to admire, and babbling creeks to cross. The landscape changed at one of the steeper downhill sections, and all of a sudden there were trees again. Up until then, I had been accustomed to seeing the vegetation of the upper altitudes which is short and scarce. The trees looked oddly similar to Asian Bonsai trees with reddish brown peeling bark and winding limbs. Jill said it felt like walking into an enchanted forest.

The sun began to get lower in the sky as we finally learned we were approaching our campsite. We came up upon a woman in the trail with a few llama in her pack. There was a perfectly white baby llama in front of us. She briskly walked towards us, snatched up the llama, and headed away as quickly as she had come. Further down the trail, we met up with the first western tourists we had seen in days. There were three women, two Australian and one British, who seemed to be doing the reverse trek that we had done. We chatted for a bit before both parties realized they’d better keep moving.

It was a welcome sight to see the happy orange tents laid out in the valley below us, nestled next to a cool stream and crooked old wooden house. My feet were aching by this time, and my legs were again heavy. I was tired at last. I headed right to my tent, unrolled my sleeping bag, and loosened up my muscles as I filled the bag with my body heat. It never felt so good to lay down on the hard cold ground.

The sun was just slipping past the mountainous horizon when I emerged from the tent. It was quite cold outside now and I headed straight for the dining tent. Everyone had arrived to the campsite by that time, and most were sitting inside around the dinner table. The cooks had made popcorn and we were shoving it into our mouth by the handfuls long with cookies and tea. We reminisced about the day and laughed around the table until it was time to eat again, this time a delicious beef stir-fry for dinner.

As soon as my belly was full, I filled my Nalgene bottle up with hot water to put in my sleeping bag and headed for my tent. I wanted so badly to go right to bed, but I stopped in my tracks when I caught a view of what was above me. There was not a cloud in the sky that night and the stars were piercing and bright. Had it not been for the bright half moon, I could have seen the entire Milky Way that night. But nonetheless, the stars were mesmerizing. It is not often that one is far enough from civilization to truly appreciate the beauty of the night sky. I cannot even remember the last time I was afforded this opportunity. It was worth the cold feet and hands and stiff neck to star up at that sky and ponder the universe that night.