We woke around 5:45 and the guides went to each tent to give us coffee or tea. I enjoyed some coca tea as I packed my stuff. Everyone took their backpacks out of the tents so the porters could start packing them. Breakfast was on open tables (most meals were in a meal tent). Breakfast included fruit, pancakes, porridge, and tea. We had a great view during breakfast; Wayllabamba is a tiny town in the valley between 2 mountains.
After breakfast, everyone brushed their teeth and got their packs ready for the day. It was a little chilly in the morning, but we warmed up as we started hiking. We all gathered together and were able to meet the porters who carried most of the stuff and did all of the setting up and cooking. They were unable to speak English, so our guide translated.
When we started out, we went through a checkpoint where we could get our passports stamped by the mayor. Wayllabamba is considered the last Incan city, so it was cool being able to get our passports stamped.
The day started as uphill from the beginning but didn't seem too hard. Though, after about 1 hour, the 20 lb backpack started to feel heavy.
We didn't see many ruins this day. Most of it was just hiking through the forest. The cool part was seeing the landscape change as we got higher. It went from wooded, to dessert, to rain forest and jungle.
There were several breaks this day because of the uphill the whole way. We had a few shelters to stop at but not as many as yesterday. We did get to know each other pretty well on this day because of the amount of time hiking. Of any of the days, this was going to be the one to cause altitude sickness. Partway up the mountain, we stopped under a grove of trees to get out of the rain. It rained most of the day and most of us got soaked. When we stopped under the trees, we had a coca leaf break. We each took 10 coca leaves and our guide gave us an activator (charcoal) that extracted the alkaloids from the leaves. To use coca leaves, they are placed in the check and occasionally chewed for about 10 minutes, swallowing the juices. They sort of make your mouth numb and tongue tingle.
We were so glad to see lunch! It was nice to get the backpacks off and sit for a while. Our guide told us this would be our last chance to get water, so we all bought water for the rest of the trip. For lunch, we had soup, Hawaiian pizza, lomo saltado with alpaca, and coca tea. We rested for a bit before continuing uphill. As lunch was still being made, we got the opportunity to play with llamas.
The last bit was hard. It was all I could do to walk up those thousands of stairs. I think everyone's legs were about to give out. The hike was worth it, though. We made it to the top of the summit of Dead Woman's Pass. I didn't realize we were going to summit a mountain of 14,500 feet. To my amazement, I didn't get any altitude sickness. When we got to the the top, we all hung out there for a while and got pictures with the sign saying we made it, taking about 6 hours to reach the top. I have to say, summitting this mountain was a huge accomplishment, probably my biggest.
From there, a few of us climbed a portion that was a little higher to get a better view of the mountains. The wind started to pick up and it got pretty cold, so we started down the other side, 2 hours downhill. We did see some ruins as we were going down, which was pretty cool.
Camp was at a site called Pacaymayu, a layer of Incan terraces that our tents were set up on. When we got in, we had afternoon tea with popcorn, then took a short nap until dinner, which was fried rice and chicken.
I decided to turn in early, as did everyone else. I shared the tent with one of the other Germans, Paul, and had an awesome view of the mountains from our tent. I slept pretty good until it started raining. The tent had a small leak which was dripping on my head. I pulled my rain coat over my head and slept most of the night.
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