Baños de Agua Santa - Ecuador

Baños de Agua Santa (or short Baños) is the adrenaline sport capital of Ecuador and is located in a valley surrounded by lush green hills and the active vulcano Tungurahua. After two months of constant travelling and hostel/hotel stays, we were very happy to stay in an appartment with a fully equipped kitchen for more than a week. We could get up when we wanted to, fix our own breakfast (allthough every place we stayed at so far served great breakfast) and most importantly: spent a lot of time preparing homecooked dinners and share a bottle of wine. 

During our stay in Baños we tried to get a good look at the vulcano by walking to the view points at Los Antennas and la Casa del Arbol, but it was always hidden in the clouds. On the day of our departure however, there was a clear sky and we finally saw it out of the bus window. Nevertheless, the walk up the green hills was quite fun.

Baños is also famous for its many waterfalls and we rented a bike to explore the la Ruta de las Cascadas, which ended at the waterfall Pailon de Diablo (Devil's Cauldron). This one was quite impressive, since massive amounts of water were dropping down there and the great thing was that you could get really, really close to the waterfall. Either at the bottom pool, where we got completely soaked, or about mid-height of the drop, where we could appreciate the massive force of the water.

 

 

 

 

Since there were many adventure sports available, we chose to go rafting. About 10 minutes into the raft, our boat came too close to a waterfall and we fell out. While Claudi was rescued quickly, Domi had to negogiate a rocky shallow part while being in the water and got some bruises. Even worse, another couple was taken up by the next rapids while still in the water and ended up with substantial bruises. After this first shock, the rest of the ride was fun and uneventfull.

 

 

On our second last day in Baños we went rock climbing. It was only the two of us and our guide and we had a lot of fun climbing two routes up an awesome and impressive lavarock wall. Even though these routes were still for beginners, they left us so exhausted, that neither of us managed to climb up a third time (allthough Domi attempted a more difficult one and Claudi went for the easiest). For the next two days, we definitely suffered from the most pronounced sore muscles of this holiday. Still, this activity was the most fun one and we wished that we could have done it a second time. 

 

 

 

 

El circulo del Nevado Ausangate: Take two

Since the landscape was so beautiful around Nevado Ausangate, we wanted to try the circuit again and hired the same Arriero Buenaventura and an additional horse for riding, in case there are altitude problems again.

Day 0: Getting to Pacchanta

Since the walk from Tinki to Pacchanta was not that nice (in fact, it was along an unpaved road where passing cars and motorcycles swirled up a lot of dust), we decide to take a Taxi to Pacchanta and thus take the first day very easy in order to acclimatize. Therefore, we sleep in and take a bus to Tinki at 10.30 a.m.

At arrival in Tinki, we are cornered again by an annoying guy. He first tells us that our Arriero doesn't exist, then later decides he's his cousin but unfortunately is not availabe right now since he's on the road with another group. Ultimately, we should please take him on as an Arriero instead... still, he manages to get us a Taxi to Pacchanta, which is driven by the same guy as last time (and he even remembers us). Before leaving us, the annoying guy takes our 20 Soles entry fee to the mountains and promises to pay for us, since the entry hut was unoccupied. As the money does anyway not go to a National Park or nature preservation, it doesn't really matter who of the inhabitants of Tinki keeps it for him- or herself. 

We arrive in Pacchanta around 3 p.m. and while setting up our tent, a well known face sets up her mobile shop directly next to us and presses us to buy some hats, shawls or gloves. Even though we know that people in that area are extremely poor, we are annoyed, since in our mind, she could have at least waited until we are not busy with the set up of our camp. Still, we look at her things which are surprisingly much more expensive than in Cuzco and don't buy anything.

We hang around the campground and have an early dinner of Empanadas, which we brought from Cuzco. One decent meal before the trek starts. The mountain is painted orange and red by the setting sun. As the light fades, cold creeps up and we move to the "warmth" of our little tent to chatter and read. A familiar voice outside greats us and it turns out to be Buenaventura, our Arriero, who, surprisingly, does exist and is also not on tour with another group. We decide to meet at 7 a.m. the next morning to start the trek.

 Campground in Pacchanta

Day 1: Pacchanta to Campa crossing the Campa Pass (5050 m)

We get up at 6 a.m., it is already light out, but the sun hasn't made it over the mountains yet. Thus, it is freezing cold and our water bottles are slightly frozen. We pack up our stuff and the sun takes her time to slowly rise. Still, the campground is in the shade and we're freezing. 7 a.m. passes and our Arriero does not show. We move to the sun to wait and finally see him coming with the young, stubborn brown horse from last time and a white horse with a saddle. We settle our things on the horses and start walking. Finally it starts to get warm and Claudi can shed her layers of clothing. 

We take another path than last time and thus enjoy another view. At first, walking goes easy, but as we get higher, altitude becomes a problem again and the white horse is used for riding. Even though it is very calm, it also seems to be not that fit and takes few steps at a time before stopping and breathing as loud as a steam engine. This also creates an unconfortable walking rhythm, since it walks for a few too fast paces and then waits a bit, which is not enough to sit down and rest. Eventually, the horse is relieved and we continue walking. The view is breathtaking and changes with every few steps. We're getting closer and closer to a massive glacier and finally reach the highest point of the pass. After a few pictures, we descend quickly to our camping site at 4600 m, which unfortunately is already in the shade when we arrive at 3.30 p.m.. It is already cold and gets much colder after the sun sets.   

 

 

 View from the pass

Day 2: Campa to Lago Ausangatecocha

This night turned out to be the coldest on the whole trek. Our water bottles, which we kept in the tent, are frozen solid in the morning and we thaw them in a water bath on the camping cooker.

We continue our way in the same valley that we decended into the last day for a while, before we enter another valley on the right hand side. We see the snowcapped peak of Nevado Ausangate at the end of the valley, and the ascend to the next pass (5100 m) starts. Again, whity has to suffer a ride. The closer we get, the more we see of the magnificent glacier at this side of Nevado Ausangate, which flows into a rose half-frozen lake. On top of the pass is a small snow-free rainbow mountain and the view to a very colourful valley opens up before us. As usual, the view is just stunning and this time, we take our time shooting pictures.

From the top, we already see the camp for this night at Lago Ausangatecocha and we quickly descend. After setting up the camp, we walk to the lake and see many frozen waterfalls coming down from Nevado Ausangate empty into the clear, blue waters of the lake. On top throne the massive snow masses that cover this side of the mountain.   

 

 

 View from the pass

 View from the pass

 Lago Ausangatecocha

 Campground

Day 3: Lago Ausangatecocha to a Hotel

This day is supposed to be short. Buenaventura tells us it is only a 5 hour walk through valleys without much elevation. So we sleep in a bit, until the sun reaches our tent and leave the campground at 8.30 a.m.. After a very nice walk through a valley crowded by Alpacas and Lamas and towered upon by a red mountain we reach the next campground after only 1.5 hours.... 

It is the least beautiful place so far and the day has barely started, so we discuss whether it is possible to climb the Rainbow Mountain already today. Our Arriero talks about this with a local and suggests another route which brings us up the mountain from another side. We start walking through a very nice valley surrounded by colourful mountains, where Alpacas and horses graze around streams. The valley gets more narrow and soon we walk up a little canyon with a tiny stream running through it. Around noon, we reach another campground situated beautifully at the end of the valley with a last view to the snow masses of Nevado Ausangate. However, a huge Hotel destroys the peacefulness of the place, at least it is not opened yet. We're plagued by horseflies and after a bite, Claudi decides to reside within the tent for a nap, while Domi explores the close colourful peaks. Since the campground is located even higher than the others, at 4800 m, Claudi again has trouble with the altitude. 

 

 

 

 

Day 4: To the Rainbow Mountain and back to Cuzco

For unknown reasons we rise at 4 a.m. to a beautiful nightsky and freezing temperatures to start the climb to the Rainbow Mountain as early as possible.  Since our white horse is quite unfit, we rent another one for the first ascent, since Claudi is feeling more and more weak due to the thin air. The Arriero has a very brisk speed and while Claudi is freezing solid on top of the horse, Domi is sweating to keep up but is at least complimented by the Arriero for his good walking qualities. 

Up and down it goes, past a frozen lake with some ice skating ducks and around 8 a.m. we reach the Rainbow Mountain. Since we are so early, we have it nearly for ourselfs, only 2 Italians with their Arriero share it with us. Even more spectacular than the Rainbow Mountain itself is the view to the adjacent valley, which is so very colourful and dominated by red mountains. 

While we hang around at the top of the mountain, eat breakfast and wait for Claudi to warm up, locals arrive and build up their little shops. Ideally, one woman sets up her handicraft stuff right at the best photo spot... We see the first tourists arriving and decide it is time for us to leave. We head downwards, meet up with Buenaventura and start walking towards the busstation. It takes quite some time, but the way leads us again through a beautiful valley featuring even a german mountain (coloured in stripes black, red, yellow). 

Finally we arrive at the bus station, cook a last meal together and say goodbye to Buenaventura, who has to walk back to Pacchanta alone. For some time, we try to find the bus that we booked, but since we're two days early, we have to find another ride back to Cuzco.

 

 

El circulo del Nevado Ausangate: Take one

Preparation:

As we knew that elevations of up to 5100m would take their toll on our fitness, we decided to hire an Arriero and a horse for this tour. We did so using an  agency in Cuzco. In contrast to what we`ve heard so far it was no problem to do so. Shopping was done in the aforementioned Cuzco supermarket with the loud music.

The plan is to undertake a five day tour, completing a half-circle around the Nevado Ausangate, but leave the circle at the Laguna Ausangate for the Rainbow Mountains.

Day 1: Confusion and a lot of struggling.

The journey to Tinqui by bus was pleasant and uneventful. However, our Arriero was not there waiting for us. Asking around for the Arriero we earned reactions ranging from "don´t know that guy" to a lot of laughter. Turns out the name that the guy at the agency had given the Arriero: "Kuchiwato" means someone that is not well endowed in Quechua. After a while another Arriero who was sent for us turns up and we start the hike. 

The way to the campground in Pacchanta turns out to be extremely hard. We split the group and reach the campground by sunset. 

At night it gets really cold. The waterbottles in the tent are frozen. Worse: one of our waterfilters is also frozen and thus disfunctional.

 

Day 2: Realization and change of plans.

After our Arriero keeps telling us that we are moving too slow, we realize in the late morning, that we are not going to be able to complete our planned track in the given time. As Christoph has a flight to catch one day after the planned return, there is no room for mistakes. Talking with our Arriero we decide to change the route for an easier one and camp at 4700m elevation between some nice Lagunas.

 

 

Day 3: Dropout.

Camping at such a high altitude has weakened us further and not all of us are feeling well. We decide to head back to lower elevations. Even though the mood is bad this improves our health a lot. 

As we have changed our plans, our Arriero still needs to get paid. After a few phonecalls it turns out that he has to travel to Cuzco with us to get his money. As he is a really nice and responsible guy, we decide to try the tour again with him, planning in more days.

 

Choquequirao

Preparations:

We decided to visit the remote Inka ruins Choquequirao, a 5 day trek featuring 3600 m descend and ascend in total. Since we didn't know that there would be some campgrounds with little restaurants on the way, we went to a supermarket in Cuzco to get all the provisions needed for our trip. 

When you approach the supermarket it greets you with loud music, which - of course -  gets even louder upon entering. It is the kind of music that could accompany wild chases in cartoons or black and white movies. Not very helpful when you are confronted with a supermarket that boasts a sortiment quite different from home, sorted in a different way and also labelled differently. 

All in all this results in us spending more than an hour in the supermarket, much to Domis discomfort, who, as you know, doesn't like grocery shopping all that much.

Afterwards we started looking for transportation to Cachora and in the end we set off by taxi. An uncomfortable 4 hour ride that left us and the taxi driver completely exhausted.

When we arrived at our hostel, it turned out that the owner, a guy from Lima, just opened it 5 days ago and was renovating it all by himself over the past 10 years. Even though there was still much work to do, it was already very nice and had a great view and friendly atmosphere. 

As we are good hikers, we thankfully said no to the hotel owners offer to organize an Arriero (local guide with a mule to carry the baggage). We can do that! He also mentioned, that there are a lot of bad Arrieros around. We were to find out about that quite soon. Thankfully not to our own damage.

Day 1:

After a hearty breakfast we start-off at around 8 a.m. The backpacks are quite heavy, the sun is burning and no cloud is in sight. We walk for 3 hours along a barely used dirt road with a stunning view of a snow-peaked mountain panorama before the descend starts. After lunch break we start the descend at noon, with no shade and only 0.7 l of water, since we've heard that there would be plenty of streams along the way where we could get more water. This was true for the first part of the hike, but not for the descend and we barely make it to an Arriero Campground at 2200 m where we finally can finally fill up on water. 

The descend goes on an on and close to the campground Chiquisca at around 1900 m we see why not all Arrieros are to be trusted. An American couple who just started their hike back up is standing quite helplessly next to their Arriero, who got so drunk that he fell off the horse and now is lying on the ground wimpering and throwing up. We promise to send help from the next campground, but this proves difficult, since the owners don't want to understand the problem. Finally we find another Arriero, who, to no surprise, exactly describes the drunkards appearance and promises help. This leaves us free to descend further to the Playa Rosalinda campground at 1500 m where we exhaustedly set up our tent and prepare dinner. With a mixture of derision and jealousy we notice a German couple accompanied by a horde of Arrieros and mules who have their tent being set up for them, their dinner prepared and served in a huge dinner tent. In the end we feel proud that we managed on our own, even though it is only the first day of the trek.

 The start of the descend into the canyon.

 The way down.

Day 2:

Today we are smart and rise early to avoid the sun as much as possible. The alarm clock rings at 5 a.m., but we still need 2 hours to prepare breakfast and collect our things. As it is quite warm, we don't bother to wear many clothes, a grave mistake, since we are full of mosquito bites within seconds and realize that the mosquito repellent works maybe for 5 minutes maximum. Nevertheless, we start our ascend at 7 a.m. and are able to walk in the shade until 11 a.m. Then we decide to take a long lunch break at 2200 m altitude to avoid the worst of the heat and hang around in the shade playing with a cute kitten. Unfortunately, the break is not as refreshing as we thought it would be and we decide to stay at an unoccupied campground overnight. We are not sure, if we can make the tour in 5 days.

 Resting place.

Day 3:

Well rested and with some changes in the baggage distribution at the disadvantage of the fitter group members we continue our path. Thankfully this part of the ascend stays in the shade quite long and we manage to reach the wonderful Choquequirao campground around 2pm. The last stretch from the entrance point to the campground is way longer than expected.

As a reward for the hard journey we watch the sunset from the ruins. We have the whole ruins for ourselves and can enjoy the setting sun painting the clouds and the surrounding snow covered peaks. A great counterpart to Machu Picchu. 

At night it gets cold and we are happy to have bought good sleeping bags.

 The Choquequirao Campground, that is included in the entrance fee.

 

 

 

 

Day 4:

In the morning we set out to another visit of the ruins. Compared to the evening it is extremely crowded, as we meet four other people. Out of respect for the way back we forgo a visit to the legendary Llamas as these are quite a way down to the wrong side.

After another rest at the campground we set out for the descend in the afternoon. But first we have a late lunch in the nearby villlage. For 10 Soles we receive a huge plate of delicious rice, eggs and a quinoa-potato mush topped with a fantastic view of the other side of the canyon.

The descend is long and hard. By the time we reach the playa it is long dark, but using our headlights we make it up to Chiquisca by 10pm where we set up our tent and fall into it using our last reserves.

 

 

Day 5:

By the time we get up, everybody else on the campground has already left. We skip breakfast, as the air is filled with clouds of mosquitoes. We are afraid of losing more energy in blood to the mosquitoes than we are able to take in in form of quinoa porridge. We move the tent a little with the shade and vegetate until we are able to eat a late lunch. Now it is probably too hot even for the mosquitoes and we are halfway left alone. 

We start the ascend around 3pm. It is as hard as expected and we reach the first restaurant at the top by about 8pm. We let the friendly guy drive us to our hostel and are too tired to even negotiate the price, just happy not having to walk anymore. 

 

 The view from the balkony of the Inka Dream Hotel in Cachora.