Peru and Machu Picchu Day 5

Day 5 is the really tough day. Though the end of day4 had us climbing a steep climb at the end to the campsite it was nothing compared to the climb to Dead Woman's Pass. The pass is named such because the profile looks like a woman lying down. It is not because anyone died on their way up there. The pass is the highest point of the hike at almost 13000 feet.

The sun was out and the heat was brutal. I started to really lag behind the rest of the group during the hike because they were just far better at it than I am. Justino took some of my stuff and gave it to the chef to carry for the rest of the day when I was more than half of the way up but really starting to falter. The lightened load helped me to get to the top but after the rest had already started on their way down.

As soon as I started down the rain and some hail began and basically continued through the day and night to probably about 11pm or so. Justino said this is not typical. Normally it rains for 2 hours then stops. The downhill was much harder due to the treacherous and slipperfy footing but I did eventually make it to the lunch site which is where most tours finish for their day 2.

Lunch had us eating a pumpkin soup and Aji de Gallina along with potatoes and rice and of course all of it was excellent. After lunch was another climb but much shorter, maybe an hour. This came to the ruins of Runkuracay half way up where we each gathered a rock as an offering to the mountain at the top of the pass. Justino had us all blow 3 times on 3 coca leaves and then offered them to the mountain. Unfortunately it did not stop the rain for the but in some respects this made me more confident for the following days.

We then hiked downward for about another hour. It was very steep. This brought us through the mountain forest which I am sure would have been even more beautiful if it wasn't covered in clouds and rain. We made it to the camp site ahead of schedule and got settled in then went to happy hour to have popcorn and tea. Dinner was roasted chicken and mashed potatoes with rice and vegetables after a vegetable soup. Then we finished off with a spiced tea that sort of tasted like mulled cider and each added a shot of Peruvian rum to the glass. It was very good.

For the record, I have officially used a squat toilet now...

After settling in we did what little bit we could to keep ourselves dry, which was very difficult with the sheer amount of rain, and slept for the night. I personally slept like a rock.