Happy December! I can’t believe it is December already, and considering we were hiking in sunny, 85 degree weather today, it definitely doesn’t feel like December.
So last night we went to bed straight after dinner. The beds felt quite cozy with the thick blankets and we fell asleep listening to the sounds of the sheep and cat meowing. Woke up this morning to about the same, plus some roosters. Breakfast was at 7:00 – pancakes and mangoes. Then we set off hiking around 8:00. It was already quite warm out and the sun was very bright!
The first couple hours were largely uphill and I struggled a lot – even though we are at lower altitude than the Inca Trail, at around 2,800 meters, we are still much higher than I am used to. Luckily, we stopped fairly frequently. The last couple hours was more flat or downhill, but also more of the annoying sand/gravel combo from yesterday. I just can’t walk that fast in that stuff! I always feel like I am slipping and the trail is so narrow, I’m afraid I may go over the edge!
We got to the Sangalle Oasis around noon, our day of hiking done already (see, why did we need to hurry?!?). I would have rather gone slower and taken longer to get there since there’s really not much to do.
Or I would have rather hiked longer and stopped in some of the villages nearby (which is what I thought we were supposed to do). The oasis has a pool so we dipped our feet for a while as we drank warm Sprites from the canteen. The best warm Sprite I’ve ever had! We had a lunch of chicken, veggies and french fries around 1:00, together with another Sprite (I am sooooo sick of drinking water, I needed something else even if it was warm). Also, cold shower again, although nicer and more discreet than at Llahuar. Then took a nap and spent the rest of the afternoon reading.
Maria showed us a map again after lunch of where we have hiked compared to the “regular” 3 day trek. Ours was definitely harder and allegedly more scenice, but we’ve missed seeing some of the little villages that we would’ve seen with the other trek. That’s a little disappointing. Regardless, the views have been amazing and it’s been quite challenging, so I’m glad we did it.