We get woken up at 5:30 am by Carlitos bringing us coca tea and asking how we slept. Like Babies! No, like baby llamas, he adds. :)
Today is supposed to be the hardest day. The temperature is ok, Arzu survived her first night in a tent and didn't freeze. We warm our clothes inside the sleeping bag before we put them on and do the baby-wipe shower. I almost kill Arzu with my deodorant when I start spraying inside.
Breakfast is amazing. We get pancakes, fruit, bread...
And here comes my body telling the story of today...
The legs: What is she doing today? We didn't have to work that hard in a really long time and although she seems to have not been working in a while and we had to work a lot more, this is really hard work now. We seem to walk up a really steep hill and there is not enough oxygen coming through. Hey, blood, what's up?
The blood: I am doing the best I can but whatever she has been breathing in the last couple of weeks has had a lot less oxygen. She must be in the mountains or something.
The eyes: oh yes, guys, she is and the views are beautiful. As slow as she is moving, I would have all the time in the world to look around and enjoy, but she keeps me on the ground because the path she chose to walk is very uneven and if I don't pay attention, the feet lose control and we all fall down the steep cliffs.
The brain: "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight,..." I can do this, I can do this, just keep the rhythm and repeat the song.
The mouth: What the f?$k? Why did I do this to myself? Why am I here and did not take the train like everybody else?
The legs: The group you are walking with is way too fast. Look at them, they are all trained very well. We need to slow down or we are not going to make it if we have to walk uphill as steep as we did for the past 25 min.
The brain: ok, we will walk slower, but then we lose contact to the group and the slow group is too slow. That way we might never make it up and according to the eyes, there is still a long way to go!
The head: why doesn't anybody put a hat on me? It is sunny out and i might get sunburned.
... 2h into the walk...
The legs: we are going straight... What is happening? Are we taking a break?
The eyes: Yes, I can see the fast group resting and the view, the view guys! You should see this!
The legs: Shut up about the view, I want to relax...
The eyes: Sorry, we have to look and take some pictures!
The stomach: Am I getting some energy here? Is there a snack? ... Oh yes, there is!
The blood: I am not getting enough oxygen anymore. How much more do we have until the top?
The eyes: we are at half way, but it seems like everybody is having the same issues with the breathing.
... 20 min later ...
The brain: "in the jungle, the mighty jungle..." Why is there nobody to talk to?
The eyes: because she is too fast for the slow group, where her friend Arzu gets pushed by the Israeli Israel and too slow for the fast group, where Paul is already coming her way again because the other team mate Ben lost his camera and he is kind enough to run down and up again to look for it.
But I can see the top, the boobie, Dead Women's Pass. This should be the highest we are going to.
The ears: I heard someone saying this is at 4200m and then we go down into a valley and back up to 4000 and down again before we can all sleep.
The eyes: I see Carlitos waiting for the slow group.
The ears and the mouth: let's have a conversation!
The legs: oh yes, some rest!
... The last 20 min ...
I cannot do this anymore, I have no power and drag my body up on the walking sticks. Up on top the fast group greets me with a big applause. I try to catch my breathe to take some "I made it pictures" and am happy to be there!
When the whole group is there and had a little rest, we take group fotos and start the descent. It is steep and I would love to have my skies with me and some snow. The knees are not happy, but it is better than uphill. When I look around, I can already guess where we are going after lunch... Steep uphill again :(
But first there is lunch. And again Sebastian has outdone himself. I have no idea how he can cook such good things with so little equipment, which is all being carried by the porters.
The spot where we have lunch is the campsite for the second night for most of the groups. They don't make the second "bump" until the next day, which seems like a good idea when I am resting on the ground, hoping some angel will come and carry me up the second mountain. But there is none and Ruben keeps telling us it is only 20 more minutes, but this is once until the first breakspot, then the Inca Site, then 3/4 up and then finally we make it to Dead Man's Pass. Considering that Dead Women's Pass is called like that because of a boob shaped mountain, you can only guess why this pass is called Dead Man's Pass :)
We have some Ritter Sport chocolate and make our way down. The stairs are really steep and uneven and it takes more effort to not fall than going uphill. Arzu, Ruben and I walk with the Canadians, but for me this is too slow and so I speed up after a while. It is misty, we are walking in the clouds, but after a while the view clears and we see a wonderful valley and we know, it is only downhill from here. :)
By the time Arzu, Ruben and I make it to the last Inka site for today, people are already coming back from the 100 steep steps up. Arzu doesn't want to go up and I am also more excited about the upcoming bathroom and so we skip it. Carlitos will not be happy since he is explaining this site, but we cannot help it. We walk to the campsite and are already washed and deodorized when the others make it here. Our tent is next to the guides and Carlitos tells us that snoring is not allowed. Well, we are the girls... So they should be the ones taking care about that. :)
For dinner we hear some ghost stories from Ruben and he claims they are all true. I am not so sure whether I should believe it and choose not to in order to be able to sleep.
Our tent is not closing all the way and since the Canadians were talking about tarantulas coming into the tents at night, we need to improvise so that Arzu can sleep. Luckily the duffle bags are multifunctional :)
Those are the porters carrying everything for us, tents, tables, food, our luggage,...
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