Lares trek

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As all of the the Inca trail permits were sold out months ago we decided to book the Lares trek instead. It was supposed to be 4 days, 3 nights and moderate challenge. Unfortunately for us the weather was really bad so we had to change the route, and miss out on pretty much a full day of walking. There was snow on route to the first destination so the llamas couldn´t pass. We didn´t want to risk it and some of the guys had normal trainers so wouldn´t have been much fun trudging through the snow.

Hopefully you can see the photos as they tell the story along the way. We passed through several communities and learnt a lot about the way these communities live. Our guide, Dimas was really good. He´d studied anthropology at University and knew everything!

The communities all work together on each others plots of land, taking it in turns to work the land. The main agriculture grown at this height is potatoes. Something like 3000 different varieties in Peru..... crazy! To become a member of the community you must marry and have a family. Then you will be given a plot of land. The kids go to school in the mornings and then help the family by caring for the animals and herding them up at the end of the day.

The first two days were raining lots but thankfully it cleared on the final day and we got a bit of a better view. I really enjoyed this trek and meeting the locals along the way, even if it wasn´t as planned!

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Photos

Locals on the trail
This is the traditional dress worn in the area

Dimas, our guide
Offering the 3 best cocoa leaves to the mountain for a safe journey

On the trail
It was very wet! Walking along the river bank you could smell the eucalyptus trees which are everywhere. They were introduced by the government to help with errosion problems

Giving presents to the kids
The kids in the communities were so cute! We bought balloons, books and pencils for them

Typical view
On the way from Lares to Huacahuasi

Top of Ipsayjasa pass
4450m high. This was a pretty tough climb in the mud, rain and freezing wind. We wanted to enjoy the views but we couldnt see anything!

Ipsayjasa pass
Going down

Andean grass
This grass grows at a height of 4000m and above

Final day
Leaving the campsite on the final day to walk to Ollantaytambo

James and our new friend
This dog followed us all the way from the campsite to the next town, about 3.5 hours walk. We couldn´t get rid of it!

Transporting a tree
Can´t really see it in this photo but they are pulling a massive tree. We gave these guys a couple of bags of cocoa leaves we had left over, they were stoked!