Day Two began with an incredible view and room service… yes, we had coffee, tea, and hot chocolate brought to our tents which, was just what I needed after a cold, restless night during which I apparently cuddled up on my British tent-mate… woops? During the first leg of our journey the sun was shining and I enjoyed a long conversation with our guide Sol. After about two hours we summated Dead Woman’s Pass, which was the highest point on the trail. To celebrate Sol brought out a bottle of Rum. On the way down the rain began which resulted in me wiping out three times and really hurting my hand. Lunch was spectacular as usual and we drink tea before and after every meal, which is a habit I would love to continue.
The view from my tent!
After lunch we had another uphill pass to complete and we had opportunities to see ancient Inca ruins along the way. While the group was looking at some ruins I took it upon myself to climb 5 more minutes up to do my business in some grass. While mid-business a group of 5 porters (the men who carry our tents and make our food) were approaching and there was absolutely nothing that I could do but fake being dead and lay in the grass next to the evidence of my activities. It was incredibly awkward and I am 100% certain that the porters saw the mentally challenged girl lying in the grass with her butt out next to her own little present. It was horrifying.
When we finally hit our second summit of the day the rain was falling so hard but there was no tree coverage. The group was required to wait for everyone to summit before continuing down the mountain… which meant all of us had to wait for about 45 minutes in the pouring rain huddled up in little balls. Luckily we found a cave about 30 minutes in and took cover. On the way back down the sun came out for what seemed like the first time in days and I was able to pop my iPod in and jam out to my Ecuafaves playlist. The end of day 2 took us to a different set of ancient ruins that looked over the river valley… it was beautiful and really incredible to have the opportunity to have an Inca history lesson in this remote place. We learned that there are many other Inca remains that the local Peruvians know about but refuse to share with the public. We also learned that the grueling path that took us 4 days to complete was finished in 3 ½ hours by an indigenous Peruvian years prior during a race.
Once we reached campsite we were finally introduced to all of the porters (some of whom were 65 years old) and enjoyed dinner and a much better night’s sleep!
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