Peru. Ausangate trek

  The most beautiful travel location was the Ausangate trek... The fantastic landscapes of the Andes mountains in the company of llamas and alpacas made this journey magical... The route circled around the high-altitude massif with the highest peak, Ausangate (6,384 m), and included a radial hike to Rainbow Mountain and Red Valley...

  Route map...

  About three in the afternoon, we boarded a bus from Cusco to the village of Tinki, departing every 30 minutes from the Ocongate stop... Arriving in the evening at Tinki, we stayed overnight in a local hostel, and early in the morning took a taxi to the start of the trail...

  This mountainous region is the main place where alpacas are raised, so we immediately found ourselves among these cute creatures...

   We hadn't walked the first five kilometers when a local approached us asking to purchase tickets for entry to the natural park (20 soles or 5 euros for two)...

  The weather was wonderful and snowy peaks immediately unfolded before us...

  The mountains in this region are very diverse, with snowy rocks on one side and volcanic mountains on the other, reminiscent of Iceland...

 

  

  After crossing the high ridge, we reached a picturesque lake...

   

   It was a very nice place to spend the night, but we still had plenty of time and wanted to go a little further...

  After climbing the Apacheta pass (4900 m), other landscapes opened up to us...

  Near the picturesque lakes where alpacas grazed, we decided to camp for the night...

   It was a very nice place with shepherds' shelters... Inside, we decided to set up our tent...   

  After a while, a local shepherd woman from the neighboring community approached us and asked for payment for staying on her territory, initially requesting 30 soles, but we paid 20 for two (5 euros)...

  The next day, we made a radial hike (round trip) to Rainbow Mountain and Red Valley, and after spending another night in the same place, we returned to the Ausangate trek route...

   The third day started with a very nice traverse... 

  Again, snowy peaks on one side and rocks and colorful mountains on the other...

  The Abra Paloman pass (5200 m), the highest pass on our route...

  From here, you have a view of Mariposa peak (5808 m) with a glacial lake at its base... 

 And directly above the pass, the highest mountain of the massif - Ausangate (6384 m)...

  Then we continued our descent into the valley...

  Dropping more than 500 meters in altitude, we found ourselves among alpacas again...

  And the route curved towards other snowy peaks... 

   And here we entered the most beautiful valley of the route, where there were incredibly many alpacas and llamas, towering behind them were snowy peaks of the Andes...

 The alpaca is a type of South American camelid, mainly raised for its wool...

  

 There were also many llamas, which like alpacas, belong to the South American camelid family, but unlike alpacas, they are more often used as pack animals, as they have a strong back and are significantly larger in size... Llamas are also often used as shepherd guardians for alpacas...  

 And in this fantastic place, we set up our tent for the night...

  In the morning, we again met alpacas and llamas...

  

  We were heading towards the last pass...

  The Campa pass (5085 m)...

  On the descent from the pass, we saw vicuñas... Vicuñas belong to the camelid family like alpacas and llamas, but they live separately from humans...  

 Snowy peaks of the Andes...

  We left behind high mountains and entered the valley of the seven lagoons...

  I couldn't resist taking a swim in one of the lagoons at an altitude of over 4500 meters...

  

 ТBut the most beautiful was the Anqas Qocha lagoon...

  The lake is located at the base of the highest mountain in the region - Ausangate (6384 m)...

  And we finished our route in the village of Pacchanta with thermal springs, which were very welcome... We spent over two hours here, relaxing after four days of hiking...

  After the water procedures, we ordered a taxi to the village of Tinki (30 soles, 7.5 euros), where we stayed overnight... The next day, we planned to travel to Puno, to Lake Titicaca...