Peru Day 5: Our first view of Salkantay

We all met early in the morning, considerably before the sun had risen. As it turned out, that was a pattern that would repeat itself over the next five days. Groggily, we all piled in the bus that was to take us to the trailhead. I of course promptly fell asleep as soon as we were cosily nestled into our seat. There's something about moving vehicles which just knocks me out cold. Delta, of course, stayed awake as usual, absorbing breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside.

I awoke three hours later, when the bus jolted to a halt. We had stopped for breakfast at a tiny restaurant in a little village, Mollepata. I piled the food in as much as possible. The eggs, the toast, the juice, the coffee, and anything else on offer, as though it was my last meal. Who knew what the food would be like on the hike. But all the same, breakfast was a hurried affair. All of us was trilling with anticipation, and were excited to get started.

At this point, we finally broke down and stopped looking eachother up and down suspiciously, and introduced ourselves instead. For the next five days, we were family. The group had two guides, Marco (head guide) and Edison (co-guide).
"All right, guys," Marco said firmly, gathering us all together after breakfast. "For the next day and a half, it's pretty much uphill. Until we reach Salkantay pass, it's pretty much all uphill. I won't lie, it's going to be hard. But we can do it."

A surge of panic went through me. We were already at 11,000 ft. My breathing came out in little gasps. How much further uphill could we go? But the thought had time to fester, we were off.

It was freezing cold, and the wind added an additional chill. We all huddled as far as we could into our jackets, as we trudged solemnly on.

For hours, and hours, and hours.

And then suddenly, we turned a corner, and saw a tent set up randomly, in the middle of the deserted hillside. "Well done, guys. Lunch time!" said Marco.

Exhausted, we all piled numbly into the tent. And were greeted by the most unbelievable lunch I could describe. A complete three course meal, with soup, starters and dessert. A complete three course meal for fifteen people, made on a little gas stove in the mountains. Just unbelievable. As it turned out, the chef was just a genius. Each day, for each meal, he surpassed our expectations, again and again.

And then, just a moment too soon, we were on our feet again. For mile after mile after mile. As dusk was settling over the mountainside, I started to get a bit worried. The group had spread out over the path, and just Delta and I were together. "We're almost there," Delta encouraged. We were exhausted, dehydrated, and our feet were dragging.

And then, just as we reached the end of our tether, we rounded a corner, and both of us stopped short. Right there, towering over our campsite, was our first close view of Salkantay.