Machu Picchu trek: day four.

(Key decisions recently: Viki is buying a topographical map of the hike and I am buying a field guide. So at some point one of us will correct any incorrect names of mountains, passes, flowers, birds or anything else I have misnamed this far.)

The hike up to Huayanay pass from Anqascocha only took a few hours. At ~5,000 meters (15,200 feet) it was the highest the four of us had been and we all felt great at the top! Even getting to the top was easier than we all imagined.

15,000 feet - no problem

There was a pyramid of stones at the ridge; rebuilding/reforming this is supposed to bring luck and a good trail. Our guide rebuilt it for us with a stone pointing like an arrow at the top, and we followed its direction.

The views were - say it with me - stunning, and a short while later we reached yet another gorgeous lunch spot, this time in a cow field. Sounds like a terrible idea, I know, but in this instance it was charming.

how now, brown cow

The cows were that small Swiss variety that has adapted to the highlands well. So very cute, and quite curious about us or, more likely, what was for lunch. (Viki decided early in her Peruvian aventura that dogs were cuter here. I must agree about the cows.)

After lunch we hiked to another pass with several waterfalls and an avalanche overheard in the distance, then I opted for a horse ride (because why not, right? might as well save my knees and Achilles tendons for when we no longer have horses) through a few alpaca farms and down the pass to the campsite at Muyu Muyu.

a collective ton of fluffy goodness

The horse was in much better condition than the one I rode in the Galapagos and its leader much more gentle. I am sad (yet happy) to say I think its owner takes much better care of their herd than the island horses.

thanks for the lift, Ballo

And now I sit by an overlook of a beautiful valley with a few rivers running down to join each other at the bottom. The scenery here is truly amazing. Because of the newness of the mountains, we can see all colors and shades of stone - gray, black, brown, white glacier-capped - while strolling through fields of dried grass that turn in seconds into meadows of pretty floral bushes and butterflies.

Not sure I have experienced such dramatic differences in landscape in one 360 degree view before. Amazing.

(later)
At afternoon tea (yes, that's right, and we get a morning snack too) we learned a little more about Peruvian culture and history. The potato is the main staple here in the highlands, it's eaten year round and with almost every meal. The International Center of Potato Research (CIPS) found that a few thousand varieties of potatoes grow here in Peru.

Quote of the day: "I had no idea there was an International Center of Potato Research."