We were up at a quarter to five to be ready for our six o'clock taxi up to the trailhead to Montaña Vinicunca, arriving there a few minutes before seven o'clock. A few busses, the standard two thirty departure from Cusco I suspect, had arrived before us so there was a steady stream of tourists heading up the trail already. We started out immediately and reached the lower viewpoint just after eight thirty. We joined the queue for a photo of the main event, namely Montaña Vinicunca, but by this stage we had realised that for us the main event was almost secondary to the amazing environment. Amazing despite all the tourists. Then it was a climb up to the upper viewpoint, topping out at 5036 meters above sea level. That's higher than any place in Europe and almost as high a Everest Base Camp.
The area seems to be community owned and managed so there is no entrance fee but the locals have monetized its usage. Apart from the usual tourist tat, the main income stream seems to come from providing horse transport up to the point where the horses can no longer go.
The weather started to change for the worse as we made our way down to our waiting taxi and we had to quickly redon the layers we had removed on the way up. Tourists were still streaming in and were making their way slowlyup the trail. We arrived back in Cusipata in time for a large and enjoyable lunch but a big storm broke soon afterwards. The rain pelted down for an hour or so and we reflected on how, once again, we were so fortunate to enjoy the best weather of the day.
We're both pretty knackered and an early night is on the cards. Likewise, tomorrow will be a short ride.
