DAY 1. – CUSCO – ALQATARI-AUSANGATE-ANATA
The journey will begin with an early transfer from your hotel in Cusco with a 4:00 am departure. We will travel in our private van for 3 and a half hours (3.5 hours) to the small village of Alkatara (4,390 mt / 14,400 ft). Upon our arrival we meet our chef, horsemen, and horses. While we enjoy the spectacular view, we will begin packing our gear and our chef will prepare breakfast. Once breakfast and packing are complete, we will begin our gentile up-hill hike for about 3 hours, passing by green valley’s surrounded by local houses, red mountain slopes, and plenty of llamas and alpacas grazing that are camouflaged within nature. As we continue hiking, we will reach Pucacocha pass (4,923 mt/ 16,150 ft), the first pass of our hike.
Pucacocha pass will present us with a stunning view of several beautiful turquoise lakes backdropped by Ausangate glacier which is truly one of the jewels of Ausangate and a fantastic opportunity to get some incredible photos! From here we will continue a soft downhill hike for an hour and a half (1.5 hours) until we reach Ananta (4,713 mt/15,462 ft). Here we will enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by our chef and take time to explore, take pictures, or simply take a short nap. After our break, we will continue hiking for another hour and a half (1.5 hours) and eventually reach our highest pass of the trip, Warmisaya (4,996 mt / 16,390 ft). After our strenuous climb, we will be rewarded with a 360-degree view and we will catch our first glimpse of Rainbow Mountain in the distance. From here it is a short down-hill walk to Lake Q’ellwacocha where we will camp for the night (4,796 mt / 15,7342 ft).
At night we will enjoy the culinary skill of our chef and enjoy Peruvian cuisine while looking at the stars. The night will provide unforgettable skies with fantastic views of the constellations, the Milky Way and shooting stars. Get ready to sleep under a roof of thousands of stars!
- Meals: snacks, lunch, coffee break and dinner
- Accommodation: camping facilities
- Distance: 13.1 km / 8.1 miles
- Walking time: 7 to 8 hours
- Temperature: minimum 5 ° C (41 ° F) / max. 18 ° C ( ° F)
- Physical difficulty: Challange 4/5
DAY 2.- ANATA – RAINBOW MOUNTAIN VINICUNCA-CUSCO
We will begin the day with an early morning wake up and a hot cup of coffee or energetic coca tea while our chef prepares breakfast to get us fueled up for the hike ahead of us. After breakfast we will hike for an hour and a half (1.5 hours) and we will arrive at the Rainbow Mountain of Vinicunca and enjoy the solitude and rising sun as we will be the first group arriving to beat the crowd. Once we arrive, we will have a short 25-minute walk to reach the Red Valley viewpoint from where we will have views across the entire valley; It is literally like being on Mars! When we finally leave this natural beauty, we will walk for an hour to the bus station (4,390 mt. / 14,402 feet).
Back To Cusco
From here we will have a short bus ride to our lunch camp, where our chef will prepare a succulent lunch. To end our journey, we will continue by bus back to Cusco, arriving at your hotel in the afternoon.
- Meals: snacks, lunch, coffee break and dinner
- Accommodation: camping facilities
- Distance: 5 km / 3.1 miles
- Walking time: 7 to 8 hours
- Temperature: minimum -7 ° C ( ° F) / max. 18 ° C ( ° F)
- Physical difficulty: Moderate 3/5
