Well today was glorious. It was such a relaxed hike with lots of opportunities to site see and get some information on the local ruins. It was pretty fabulous after the hard day we had yesterday.
We had a short incline, past a ruin called Runkuracay (with a beautiful view of the Dead Woman's Pass and the valley below), past some beautiful lakes, and finally to the highest point of that stretch of our walk. It was such a beautiful hike and it's amazing to see how quickly the scenery changes. One minute it's cold, dry and barren, and on the other side of a peak it's hot and there is green vegetation everywhere.
...Well this is embarrassing. Today's hike was relaxing, but Runkuracay was yesterday. Our days are so long I'm apparently losing track of them.
Let's get back on track. Today was relaxed and chill. We made it to a peak and stopped at a few ruins on the way. We actually got to our campsite for lunch. They gave us a lot of time to recover because tomorrow we're getting up at 330.
But on the way, we were able to stop at another ruin, absolutely huge! The name eludes me now. But it was terrace after terrace and we explored the thing for about half an hour. The structure was incredible, and the fact that they could build something so massive with such simple technology (though advanced for their time) is unreal.
Well lunch today was semolina soup, a chicken and veg stir fry, stir fried pickled veges, a potato and beef stew, and curried rice (yellow fever rice). The meals here are always above and beyond.
Around 4, a small group of us went for an alternative hike. It wasn't really a hike so much as a 7 minute walk. But it lead to a hidden ruin, not as big as the last but just as incredible. Lamas were feeding on the terraces and a waterfall was pouring in behind it all. It was a gorgeous view. Darren wanted to try and mount a lama by jumping on it from above. But apparently those thugs can be mean. This structure though, was some sort of temple, and there was a "rainbow room" in the shape of an arc, with 7 windows (one for every colour). What was interesting, was that on the way back from the temple we saw a double rainbow. Today is also the day of "Pacha Mama (Mother Earth), so it seemed quite fitting that we would have such beautiful weather, followed by suchlike rare sight. Quite fitting.
Dinner tonight was fantastic, and a little bittersweet. We're not quite there yet, but we've been sweating and touching it out together now for 3 days, and it feels like a lot longer. It was our last dinner together on this mountain and we all reminisced about the climbs, the bugs, the ruins and the of course, food. Anyway, the highlight of this evening was the freshly made cake. Our cooks made a cake in the middle of the mountains and spent an hour decorating it to bid us adieu. (They streamed it if you're wondering because they most certainly did not have an oven.). We tried to say good-bye to them (which you don't in Quechua), but words in translation could not express how grateful and amazed we were by all their hard work. Darren, who of course brought a bottle of scotch up the mountain, shared a few drinks with some of them, and they were so very kind.
It's the final trek tomorrow. The final hike and the final goal. I've been waiting for this since grade 6! So excited. Just 5 more kilometers.
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