Day 10- 7 Colored Moutains.

Well, well, well… I have now hiked to above 16,000 feet. It took trekking poles, a thick hoodie shirt, two coats, a scarf, gloves, leg warmers, wrist warmers, wool ear warmers, some flowers, and an oxygen stop; but I made it. It was spectacular! The scenery was majestic. Look at the snow-covered mountains adjacent to the 7 mineral-formed colored mountains! I’m a lucky girl. Incredible and worth the altitude pressure.

My “silent sinus syndrome” seems to not be silent at high altitudes. In fact, it screamed at me and was quite obnoxious.

In Lori fashion, I did it before I Googled. SSS and altitudes are not friends. So once up there, I took a motorcycle down to lower the pressure. Now that was exhilarating. You can imagine the switchbacks with a local driver racing through them a little faster than expected. He gets paid by the number of trips, so the faster he gets you down, the faster he gets another 50 sol. I survived it with glee. What an experience; fun and worth every bit of the nausea and crushing headache. I would happily do it again if anyone wants to!

Tomorrow I am headed to Aquas Caliente via train.

Then the big day tomorrow: Machu Picchu. Can’t wait. I’m ready for more.

The last two pictures are parcha treats. The parcha here has a hard shell, is a little sweeter, and meant to be cracked open and either poured out or sucked. Delicious. Here I am putting it on top of some vanilla yogurt. Just wanted to share. Food here is amazing. Hoping to get the cuy very soon.Read more