Humantay Lake
Part II
Salkantay Trek 5 days
Day 1
We were our own private group with the guide which made us change our schedule flexibly.
We drove out of already buzzing Cuzco city and I thirstily observed people and scenery from the
Mountains near city looked incredibly barren and dry like their hardship in life.
It's over 3400 meters high, what did I expect?
We stopped at the entrance of Salkantay Trek (Mollepata village) for a short refreshment or toilet break
There were lots of camp sites for people like us who wanted to reach Machu Picchu via trekking.
(Similar combination of guides, cooks and horsemen at camps from different travel companies.)
Soraypampa was located in the middle of the glacier valleys and at night the sky was immensely clear
that I could appreciate the stars through our glass dome windows between sleeps.
We didn't need to carry tents, sleeping mats and food basically for this hike.
We only carried day packs and 7 kg weight of each person's belonging along with our sleeping bags
were carried by them.
Also they cooked yummy and hearty food for us.
We normally value our own independence and privacy more.
But whenever we go multi-day hiking three of us Eddie tends to carry too much.
So this trip I felt less burdening for Eddie.
First two days of Salkatay Trek, cars not accessible there, hundreds of horses with horse men galloped the route carrying things along with millions of hikers.
Horses carried hikers packs and the route was literally covered with their droppings I realized later on.
We left our packs at camp and leisurely started walking up to Humantay Lake(4200 meters).
Lake had a surreal beauty in its emerald colour with the glacier at the background.
Its scale and existence was way bigger than I could describe.
after lunch.
Sudden chill after dark made us came awake with a jolt from sweet naps before dinner.
We went to bed around 8pm and had a relatively good sleep.
We were warned it would be cold but with supplied blankets and layers of clothes
it was not bad at all.
Several times I felt breathless and heavy head over the night due to high altitudes.
I practiced deep breaths in and out desperately whenever needed.
Eddie was a little concerned about me.
Day 2
As scheduled we left our first camp at 6 am.
It was freezing cold and our breaths rose to mist with our faces and fingers feeling numb soon enough.
Our hiking route was quiet and peaceful until other millions of hikers and horses came along.
I was high spirited with the fact that we managed day 1 smoothly.
Getting out of the valley ,climbing up the mountains and looking back down at them topped up with grand glaciers was beyond description.
I realized we even could not grasp the beauty of it with Eddie's excellent photography.
I couldn't believe I was actually standing on one part of huge Andes ranges on the way to Machu Picchu.
We were higher up than even clouds.
Soon lots of different open routes were occupied with long files of millions of hikers which was quite a scene.
It was agonizingly hard for me to reach Salkantay Pass due to high altitudes.
It went up from 3920 meters high to 4630 meters high.
It took us to reach there for about 5 hours.
Our route was ,like I was told, on-going steep inclines.
My progress up climbing was getting slower after a couple of hours' walk
and strong sun came out.
Eddie pulled me up as much as he could with a walking stick I grabbed in.
Relentless heights let me be more breathless
which affected my legs weak and I groggily stepped up one foot
and then next puffing heavily.
It was the hardest hike for me in my whole life.
At the end of endless arduous ascents we finally were there.
We hugged each other to celebrate it.
I was looking down at the paths I came from and panoramic views down there in a dazed state.
It was terribly gusty and cold under the crude strong sun.
Every team with their guide stood on the spot to keep the glorious moment by photos.
I am sure everybody shared the overwhelming excitement then there .
Also we followed their religious or spiritual rituals copying our guide
showing our respects to Incan old gods residing there.
3 coca leaves individually put to be buried under the sacred stones
with our sincere wishes.
At that particular moment I was completely with them with the full hearts
and memories of my extreme experience
of sickness ,climbing up those high lands and being in their own territory.
It was my climax or highlight of this trip.
That's it...after we did what we had to do...finally we started climbing down.
Leaving 'the spot' made me feel sad and relieved at the same time.
I wanted to be under 3000 metres quickly where I felt better in breathing.
Breathing was before this never a problem for me but now I realized how significantly it
can affect me.
This trip I was reminded of many things I took for granted in my life.
Involving physical pains and extreme experiences in a unique environment of those first few days in Peru made me
shed tears a couple of times during my trip.
One of them happened on the way down from the highest place I've ever been.
When it did it hit the deepest and the most vulnerable part of my soul.
Undefined feeling regarding my ultimate purpose of this life.
Or feeling so vulnerable and weak to the fullest.
We got to our lunch place at 1 pm when weather was starting to change.
Very windy and foggy at that point of mountain.
We passed more lush areas with forests and waterfalls and then finally
we arrived at our second camp at 5 pm.
Now high mountain tops covered with permanent glaciers were far away from our views.
The set-up tents were covered by another layers of thatches.
We were offered that we could take a shower by paying 10 soles each.
They had a primitive shower booth which was small and dirty.
Also one stage hot water stopped but we felt amazingly refreshed afterwards.
Compared to the night before everything seemed downgraded.
Our company hired spots from people who ran the place.
But I was already very content with big accomplishment of my hike and a hot shower.
It could have been worse.
Even though we had to eat dinner and breakfast at an open place without roof, gusty winds
attacking us nastily I was happy with food our cook made and set beautifully on the table
on top of amazing Peruvian table cloth for us.
It was much warmer than the night before anyway inside our tents
with the relatively low altitude of 2900 meters.
Our tent was cosy and comfortable enough to have a good sleep.
On top of that I don't need to mention there was no problem for me to breathe.