The Salkantay Trek: Days 2 &3

Days 2 & 3: It was absolutely dreadful getting out of bed. To my much displeasure, I realized that my knees were incredibly sore from bearing the weight of my backpack and the uphill overexertion. Today was to be the worst, however, so I ate breakfast and drank my coca tea with fervor. We set off shortly after awaking, as we had a 10 hour hike ahead of us. I barely got so far as ½ mile before I was sick from the altitude. Unable to breathe deeply enough and sick to my stomach, I had to stop. We all stopped.

I had never experienced such a high altitude in my life! Our guide thusly showed us how to chew the coca leaves we had all purchased the day before. Merciful relief! Slowly but surely, we made it up the mountain pass. First, it was through the rain that began to fall, then, as we climbed higher, slush, and finally snow, blowing snow, whipping through my meager RAINcoat and clothing, soaking my backpack and my whole body. I did not sign on for snow. I was in absolute misery. Near the brink of crawling into the fetal position and attempting to breathe deep enough to sob, we reached the top. Stopping long enough to shoot a photo of us at the top of the highest mountain pass I have ever encountered in my life, I left my companions as I bolted down the other side of the mountain. Hands frozen stiff, feet soaked through, and jeans wet and dirtied, I moved quickly down the slope, walking stick in hand for support, out of the snow and into the thick rain. As we reached the camp we were to eat lunch at, I crawled into the tent and attempted to sit my shivering mass of a body on a seat, shortly after falling out of it and nearly taking afternoon tea and the table it sat on with me. The warm food and drink was reviving as we headed back into the uncomfortable weather.

Snow on the Salkantay Pass...And a very unhappy Monica

Toward the latter part of the day, we entered the cloud forest. Here, the rain turned into a thick mist. We began to see flowers and giant humming birds and moths fluttering about. I took the time to appreciate where I was, though exhausted; I reminded myself where I was and was elated to be there.

Myself, Anna and Ryan

Jen, Ryan and Anna

I slept in this tent for 4 nights.

That night, we camped with several other groups traveling the same trail and bedded down for the night. It was very difficult to fall asleep that night as my body had gone into shock, shivering in the near-tropical heat of the night. We had attempted to use the communal fireplace to dry some of our things, but all it did was make the damp things smell like burning wood. So, with our smelly clothes, we ate out tasty breakfast, omelets, bread, something much like watery oatmeal with cinnamon, and juice, and set off. There had been some discussion on which trail to take due to the bad weather. We were likely not to see the ruined lookout at Llactapata, which was very disappointing. I was upset about this but too exhausted to really want to hike another 3 hrs uphill, in the rain. So we decided on the alternative route, which would provide us an opportunity to take advantage of some nearby hot springs. We hiked all day, through dangerous muddy passages. Taking stalk of the beauty as we followed the trail, eating wild strawberries along the way, and catching glimpses of the lovely little birds flitting about we passed the hours singing familiar songs and talking about cultural differences between ourselves. There were some very beautiful spots as we pass the Vilcabamba River throughout the day, descending further and further into the valley. At one rest stop, we encountered a welcoming committee of little piglets. They were so cute! At another, to escape the rain, we were invited into the home of a plantation worker’s family. We were offered passion fruit and a fireplace. As I looked down, there were cuy(guinea pigs) running about the floor. It was hilarious. We observed 6 of them darting about, in and between the feet of people and dogs. It is customary for people in the countryside to keep these guys for food to serve unexpected guest or for a special meal. I suppose you could compare them to chickens. They made nice little vacuum cleaners, too.

We met some friendly little piglets along our way. They loved being scratched behind the ears and fed apples.

We finally arrived to our camp for the evening, quickly changing into our bathing suits. It was still lightly raining, but we eagerly crawled into the crowded pools of the thermals. It was glorious! The Vilcabamba River raged next to thermal pools and as the sun fell below the mountains, it was an strange thought to know that only a short time ago these thermal pools had been destroyed by the overflowing river. I comfortably fell asleep that night.