We woke early to the sound of cockerels, ponies and locals and lay in our sleeping bags waiting for morning tea to arrive at dawn. We packed up our kit bags, offered to take down our tent but were declined and waited for the others to join for breakfast, a nutritious affair of granola, porridge and bread. We set off to visit the Inca ruins at Wayna Qente, just a short distance uphill from the campsite. From here we joined the main trail and headed south west, uphill to Huayllabamba and then continued a short distance to where we stopped for lunch, another hot meal in the mess tent. After lunch we continued on, eventually reaching the high mountainside of Llulluchupampa at 3650m and our campsite for the evening. Although there were other groups dotted around on the various flat sites we weren't able to see any and it felt quite remote and isolated perched on the hillside looking out to the mountains. Unfortunately it had started to rain about 30 minutes before we reached camp and, despite being in forest for some of the time, we arrived wet. Luckily it soon stopped and we were able to dry off before darkness fell. Drinks and snacks were followed by cards before dinner. The weather was considerably colder given the higher altitude and it wasn't long before the down jackets were out. After another enjoyable meal we headed off to bed and soon realised that our hired sleeping bags weren't suitable for these temperatures. We'd got one wool liner that Diane stuffed in her bag in an attempt to keep warm along with the thermal leggings, three tops, hat and gloves. It was going to be a long and cold night!
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| Inca ruins at Wayna Qente |
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| Walls built on natural rock |
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| Replica peaks carved from bed rock |
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| Looking down across the houses |
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| Heading up to the temple |
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| Looking across to the ruins at Llaqtapata and the classic trail |
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| Arriving a bit damp at camp 2 |
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| The early evening skies clearing |
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