Day 1
We were told that this would be and easy stroll thru the mountains, going at our own pace, and easy 10km or so.
It was all a lie.
After waking up at 3:45am or so to get into a van and drive 3 hours we had a very nice breakfast at a really cute little shop in Mollapata. After hearty breakfast of eggs bread and tea, purchaseing some walking sticks, and of course the essential coca leaves, we were off.
Did I say stroll? Well, it turns out Gerson does this trek practically weekly, so it was more like a speed walk/run up hill. All up hill.
After some breathtaking vistas we stopped for lunch around noon or so on the top of a mountain. This is where we found out that our trek apparently inclueded 3 to 4 course meals on real dishes for every meal. After an avacado salad followed by an entree and dessert course, we all decieded that this was the best camping food we had ever eaten.
We were then informed that there were a few hours left before we arrived at our campsite.
Four or five hours later, I was under the impression that I was in the worst shape of my life because it took me about 8 hours to hike 10km.
We were then informed that Gerson (our guide) had slightly changed the plan without really telling us.
Instead of the 10k he told us we would be doing (which would have put our campsite at our lunch spot) he threw on an extra 8k. Making Day 1 18km total starting at 3,300m ending at 4,000m making for a total vertical rise of 700m.
But it was all worth it to get to view and camp at the base of two amazing glaciers Salkantay (the woman) and U...??ai (the man... we kept forgetting his name cause it wasn{t really that important)
Might as well get the tough part out of the way first right. Meaning day 2 all we have to do is hike the pass 4,900m (15,183ft) and another 16km.
No problem.
