
A guide at Q'uenqa told us that the Incans used to sacrifice humans on the tops of sacred mountains. Bess and I should have taken that as a hint. On our first day of hiking out of Urubamba, we took a taxi to the start of the trail. As the driver was dropping us off, he said, "There aren't many houses after this. Are you sure you want to do this? There are people who will steal from you and hurt you." That should have been
our second hint that we may be biting more than we bargained for. Our true midwestern stubborness showed up as we neglected our third hint. As locals would pass us on the trail, we would ask
them directions to our next destination and they would say nothing more than "Arriba" or up.
Along the way we ran into some very friendly people dressed in their traditional outfits, eager to chat with us. Quite opposite of the taxi driver's warnings. We followed the River up to our first campsite near the town of Paschasbata. We pitched our tent underneath an abandoned cabana in the middle of some Incan ruins. REI could use these photos as a promo shot. We thought we were in the middle of nowhere until we had a series of visitors (small children) come check us out. When asked where they lived, they would say, "arriba".

As with many of nature's elements, the Incans worshiped thunder and lightning, something we experienced that night. The thunder was extraordinary as it rumbled through the valley. When we woke up, we could see snow not to far above our elevation (12,000 ft.).
Determined, we set out to get to Cucanni, over the abra (pass). This brought us past many beautiful waterfalls, green pastures and lots of snow.
The pass was no easy battle. At about 14,000 feet, I started showing signs of Acute Mountain Sickness. Friends reading this must be saying "you should be used to this" as it is similar to an extremely bad hangover, but much worse. Bess fared much better with the altitude, pushing us slowly but surely over the pass standing at 4970 meters or just over 16,200 feet. That may be higher than we will ever be again. I hope not though. If it weren't for the two locals (in sandals) leading the way through the snow, I'm not sure we would have found our way to the pass. In a fight between a sherpa or Andean, I wouldn't know who to put my money on.
As we descended back down the abra, the clouds lifted, the rain stopped and we were spared with some amazing views of glaciated peaks, alpine lakes and green pastures separated by ancient Incan stone fences still used today.
We set up camp in the pasture of a young lad who once again told us we were crazy. He said he uses 2 horses to get over to Urubumba and then proceeded to set our tent up for us. We awoke to an amazing view over looking Cucanni. This could have been paradise to Bess and I.
As we descended down to the town, we dreamed of setting up our house here. Bess would weave the alpaca wool that Else and I would raise. And during the down time, we could climb, white water raft and mountain bike some of the best terrain in the world. On our way down, we ran into a couple of girls looking after a newborn llama.
From the town, we had an easy 8 km hike down to Lares, where there were thermal baths awaiting two weary bodies.
Bess and I are back in Cusco feeling very accomplished of our trip and navigating multiple forms of public transportation. We are preparing to leave for the Amazon on Friday.
Again, please take a look at our other photos of the trip here.
Josh