Nevado Auzangate

I get cllected from the hostel at 3am and im absolutely exhausted, i really need to start taking things easy and maybe should have had a break before Machu ichu, but you know me. Its a 3 hour drive to the village at the base of the mountain and i sleep most of the way on the bus, but when i wake up its starting to become light and as i look out of the window i nearly have a heart attack. We are driving down a single track road way too fast and there must be a 200 foot drop right below us i m so nervous i spend the rest of the journey just holding onto my seat, we speed round corners weaving in and out and i honestly believe if we meet anything coming the other way we will die. I am relieved that everybody else on the bus is nervous and its not just me. We safely arrive at Nevado Auzangato and when we get off the bus its absolutely freezing. Luckily I always plan for this having learnt from previous experiences but ther are some people on the bus who are freezing. We are taken to a small house(ill use that term loosely) and they lay on a good breakfast. Rainbow Mountain is 5200m above sea level so i fill up on my coca tea and its not long before we set off. I have agreed to share a horse with one of the other ladies on the bus,but they are more like donkeys than horses. We set off walking as there are parts of the trek which are only accesible by foot and the first part is a steep incline up to the valley. The walk is beautiful with waterfalls trickling down and after about an hour we are in the valley. I take first turn of riding the donkey and sit back and enjoy the beautifulview. As we trek along there is a small village community and a short while later we reach the entrance to the National Prk. There is a guy here collecting the entrance fee with his youg son, who has the most chapped cheeks ive seen, i just want to take out my moisturiser and cover his face , but of course i dont. I walk a little further before we have yet another incline. Its quite rocky and we weave our way through. The trek in total is 11km each way and by the time we reach Rainbow mountain i nearly fall over at the hill we have to climb to get to the top of the rainbow mountain. The accent to the first part is so hard i have to take 10 steps and stop and then take another few steps. After much perserverance i reach the first peak , and can see the mountain. Its so beatiful that i dont feel the need to climb the other part, but evebody says how much better the view is and after eating some sugary snacks and having a drink i take on the challenge. Once again its slow and steady and i after 45 mins i reach the top. It was so worth it the varying mountain ranges are so beautiful up here that it takes my breath away(or was that the climb up here) After a short break and a group photo its time to descend. The altitude definitely takes its toll on your body and on the way back there are people collapsing every where. I make it safely back to the house and we are given a wonderful lunch of chicken. We eat up and its time for the journey back, baggsy not sitting next to the window. We arrive safely back in Cusco and when i get to the hostel Mark is nowhere to be found. I guess hes in the Irish bar and when i go in there one of the regulars says he left 5 minutes ago so i head back to the hostel. Hes not here either but i am so tired i just get into bed. Mark turns up at 4 in the morning. Smethings never change.Read more