Today we were up at 5.35am sorting our tent out; the guys arrived at 6am with some warm drinks we both had hot chocolate as it was very cold ( in the shade it was below freezing as water that was thrown down quickly turned to ice until the sun got to it). A little while later water arrived for a quick wash. At 0630 Bobby shouted breakfast so we took our packed bags and day bags with us so the guys could start to break camp. Corn porridge, French toast and pancakes - too much to eat everything but all were great to help set us up for the gruelling day ahead. We headed out at 0730 - it was sunny with bright blue sky and the day was set fair albeit I knew we had to anticipate a gradual climb - with only one down after 4700 metres. We passed high Andean farms and heard farmers calling to each other across the valley, we were passed by an old man with a donkey and met a young 10 year old girl called Gloria who had walked with her dog from where we would be camping ( it only took her an hour! ) to watch the animals - she was attracted by the sheep, cows, pigs and piglets of the highest farmstead.
We continued up and when we had got up to the height of Wata ( the Inca place we had lunch at yesterday and which we could see) John was struggling - Bobby hollered to the horsemen who had passed us for the riding horse to stay back - we then took 'Bobby's baby steps' to reach the horseman - John happily donned a cycling helmet and jumped aboard ( today's photo) - as he progressed steadily up the mountain the rest of us insisted that just because he had left we liked the baby steps - you covered a lot of ground without needing long gasping breaks - it was great for endurance walking and without too much effort we all made it as a team to the top of the pass - as we crossed the coll we were greeted by magnificent views of Mt Veronica (so named as a lady called Veronica was reluctantly allowed to join a group of Swiss climbers in the 40s and she reached the top first consequently the Mountain was named in her honour). Below us was the Antiplano and in the distance was our campsite just below Gloria's family farmstead.
John, now revitalised, walked the downhill section with us - enroute we passed domesticated llamas, alpacas and horses and a pair of wild Andean geese - who mate for life.
We arrived just after 1pm and had a much needed lunch followed by a snooze - the wind was really strong and as soon as it went down it got really cold. Popcorn at 4pm and dinner at 6pm followed by a quick inca astronomy lecture from Bobby - needless to say the sky was clear and full of stars. The Incas used the Milky Way and the position of what looked like a llama to help them distinguish the wet/dry seasons.
Bed by 7pm and listening to the wind howling around the tent meant I was not going to venture out unless absolutely necessary but I did stay warm inside -that is once I realised my sleeping bag zip was open and that was the cause of my cooling BTM!