DESCRIPTION
AUSANGATE TREK 5D/4N
AUSANGATE TREK, you to explore all the surroundings of this majestic mountain and feel its strong energy! You observe numerous pure mountainous lagoons and spectacular high Andean landscapes. Also, you see cute South American camelids such as llamas, alpacas and paqochas as well as various Andean bird species. As a bonus, you enjoy a relaxing medicinal waters of 2 thermal baths.
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OVERVIEW
AUSANGATE TREK 5D/4N
DAY 1: CUSCO (3,300 M) – TINKI (3,950 M) – UPIS (4,140 M)
At 6 am, your Tour Guide picks you up from your hotel. You are off to the village of Tinki where you arrive after 3 hours of the ride. You stay there for lunch and after that, you begin hiking for 4 hours until you arrive at the Upis village (4,140 m). This day is short, but interesting because you can see local persons wearing their typical costumes, their ordinary daily activities and stunning landscapes. In Upis, you visit the thermal baths in the afternoon. So, you relax your muscles and enjoy the surrounding panoramic views of Mt Ausangate (6,372 m) and other peaks of the Cordillera Vilcanota mountain range. Finally, you have a delicious dinner and you go to sleep in your special and comfortable highland tent.
Maximum altitude: 4,140 metres / 13,583 feet
Minimum altitude: 3,950 metres / 12,959 feet
Duration of the trek: 4 hours
Trekking distance: km/miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Weather: Cold
DAY 2: UPIS (4,140 M) – AUSANGATE PASS (4,900 M) – AUSANGATE CCOCHA (4,680 M)
After breakfast at 6:30 am (approx.), you start ascending for one and half an hour till you get to the Arapa Pass (4,850 m). From there, you continue by a 3-hour descent passing by the lagoons of Yanacocha and Puma Cocha, a place where you have lunch and a short rest. After that, you keep hiking until the Ausangate Pass (4,900 m) admiring herds of alpacas and llamas and watching local people on the way. At the pass, you are given an impressive panoramic view of the lagoon Ausangate Cocha (4,680 m). You can feel there the energy of the surrounding mountains, lagoons and nature. When you have enjoyed enough of the atmosphere of the Ausangate Pass, you descend to the Ausangate Cocha, where you spend the second night after being served dinner.
Maximum altitude: 4,900 metres / 16,076 feet
Minimum altitude: 4,140 metres / 13,583 feet
Duration of the trek: 7 hours
Trekking distance: km/miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Weather: Cold
DAY 3: AUSANGATE CCOCHA (4,680 M) – Q´AMPA PAMPA (4,700 M)
You are served breakfast at around 6:30 am. Then, you start a 2-and-half-an-hour ascent till the Palomani Pass (5,121 m) – the highest point of the trek. From the pass, we appreciate views of the highest mountain of the Cusco´s Region: Apu Ausangate! Also, we can see a big part of the Cordillera del Vilcanota mountain range. This is an incredible experience to be there and feel the energy, the spirit of the mountains and the Mother Earth (Pachamama) enjoying splendid panoramic views of lagoons, valleys and the Andes. Later on, you descend (2 hours) to the community of Huchoy Phinaya in order to have lunch. After a short rest, you keep trekking for 3 hours to reach Q’ampa Pampa (4,700 m) – a village where we pitch our third campsite. Then, you have dinner and spend the night there.
Maximum altitude: 5,121 metres / 16,801 feet
Minimum altitude: 4,680 metres / 15,354 feet
Duration of the trek: 7-8 hours
Trekking distance: km/miles
Difficulty: Challenging
Weather: Cold
DAY 4: Q´AMPA PAMPA (4,700 M) – PACCHANTA (4,200 M)
At 6:30 am, you have breakfast to later climb passing through the small village of Q’ampa. If you are lucky, you can watch wild animals such as vicuñas (Andean camelids), viscachas (a rodent of the Chinchillidae family) and various Andean bird species on the track. There can be seen colourful lagoons and the mountain peaks Tres Picos and Punta Puca too. After a 3-hour climb, you reach the last pass of the entire trek: Q’ampa Ccasa (5,084 m). After that, you start descending for about 5 hours. You stop at the lagoon Azul Cocha to have lunch and a short rest. Afterwards, you keep descending till Pacchanta (4,200 m), a village near which we camp. Before dinner, you enjoy a visit to the local thermal baths (hot springs). You spend the last night at the campsite.
Maximum altitude: 5,084 metres / 16,680 feet
Minimum altitude: 4,200 metres / 14,107 feet
Duration of the trek: 8 hours
Trekking distance: km/miles
Difficulty: Challenging
Weather: Cold
DAY 5: PACCHANTA (4,200 M) – TINKI (3,950 M) – CUSCO (3,300 M)
Another early breakfast at 6:30 am is followed by a 4-hour hike, during which we return to the Tinki village. We mostly descend so this day is easy. On the way, we may appreciate local people wearing colourful traditional costumes and their small villages. Like this, we can learn more about the culture of this marvellous region. Upon arrival at Tinki, we are given lunch. Finally, we ride back to Cusco City getting there at approximately 5 pm.
Maximum altitude: 4,200 metres / 14,107 feet
Minimum altitude: 3,950 metres / 12,959 feet
Duration of the trek: 4 hours
Trekking distance: km /miles
Difficulty: Easy
Weather: Cold
ITINERARY
DAY 1: CUSCO (3,300 M) – TINKI (3,950 M) – UPIS (4,140 M) – TOUR AUSANGATE TREK
- 6 am – a pick-up from your hotel in Cusco.
- Transport by private vehicle to the village of Tinki (3 hours).
- Lunch at Tinki.
- 4-hour trek till the Upis village.
- Pitching a campsite.
- Visit the local thermal baths in the afternoon while observing Mt Ausangate.
- Return to the campsite for dinner.
- Overnight.
DAY 2: UPIS (4,140 M) – AUSANGATE PASS (4,900 M) – AUSANGATE CCOCHA (4,680 M) – TOUR AUSANGATE TREK
- 6:30 am – breakfast.
- 1,5-hour ascent to the Arapa Pass (4,850 m).
- A 3-hour descent observing two lovely lagoons.
- Lunch and a rest at the lagoon Puma Cocha.
- Climb up to the highest pass of the trek – Ausangate Pass (4,900 m).
- Descend hike to the Ausangate Cocha.
- Pitching a campsite.
- Dinner and overnight.
DAY 3: AUSANGATE CCOCHA (4,680 M) – Q´AMPA PAMPA (4,700 M) – TOUR AUSANGATE TREK
- 6:30 am – breakfast at the campsite.
- 2,5-hour ascent till the highest point of the trek – Palomani Pass (5,121 m).
- From there, we appreciate stunning panoramic views of Apu Ausangate (the biggest mountain of the Cusco´s Region), lagoons, valleys and whole the Andean mountain range.
- 2-hour descent.
- Lunch at the community of Huchoy Phinaya.
- Continuation of trekking for 3 more hours.
- Pitching a campsite at the village of Q’ampa Pampa.
- Dinner and overnight.
DAY 4: Q´AMPA PAMPA (4,700 M) – PACCHANTA (4,200 M) – TOUR AUSANGATE TREK
- 6:30 am – breakfast at the campsite.
- Start of hiking passing by the village of Q’ampa watching wild animals, colourful lagoons and mountain peaks on the way.
- Overcoming Q’ampa Ccasa (5,084 m) – the last pass of the trek.
- 5-hour descent.
- Lunch and a rest at the lagoon Azul Cocha.
- Continuation of the descent till the village of Pacchanta (4,200 m).
- Pitching our last camping.
- Relax at the local thermal baths.
- Dinner and overnight.
DAY 5: PACCHANTA (4,200 M) – TINKI (3,950 M) – CUSCO (3,300 M) – TOUR AUSANGATE TREK
- 6:30 am – breakfast at the campsite.
- 4-hour hike till the village of Tinki observing small villages and their inhabitants wearing colourful traditional costumes.
- Lunch at Tinki.
- Return transport to Cusco City.
- 5 pm – arrival to Cusco.
- Drop off at your hotel.
RECOMMENDATIONS
RECOMMENDATIONS – TOUR AUSANGATE TREK:
- Please note! The trek takes place at an altitude of between 4,850 metres (15,910 ft) and 5,000 metres (16,400 ft) above sea level! For this reason, it is very important that every participant gets acclimatized in Cusco (or, another place with an altitude of over 3,000 m/9,840 ft) for at least 3 days!.
- We recommend you to take any medicine against Soroche (high altitude sickness) or/and coca leaves/coca sweets.
- Every participant needs to be in good physical and mental shape to do the trek!.
- To maximize a nice experience of the trek, we advise you to practice a small exercise prior to this trip.
- If you suffer from any health problem, we recommend you consult with your doctor in advance.
- Please keep yourself hydrated during the trip!.
- In case of rays, please switch off every electronic device!.
CONDITIONS AND SEASONS TOUR – TOUR AUSANGATE TREK:
- The number of participants: 2 (as a minimum)!
- Please note: The tour starts and ends in Cusco!
- 24-hour availability: It is possible to book the tour at any time of the day.
- Suitable season: All year round without any limit. However, you should know that January is the peak of the rainy season and snow so the weather is very cold. If you like to know about the present season conditions, please inquire us a couple of days in advance.
- Please be careful with the environment (all garbage must be taken back to Cusco)!
INCLUDED / NOT INCLUDED
INCLUDED IN OUR TOUR – TOUR AUSANGATE TREK:
- Pick-up from your hotel in Cusco.
- Entrance ticket to Ausangate.
- Professional English-speaking Tour Guide.
- A Tour Guide Assistant for groups of over 10 participants.
- Professional Cook experienced in preparing healthy food.
- Horseman.
- Horses to carry equipment.
- An emergency horse.
- Private transport to the starting point and back to Cusco.
- Camping and kitchen equipment (personal tents, a dining tent, a kitchen tent, tables, seats.).
- Inflatable mattress.
- Meals: 4x breakfast, 4x lunch, 4x dinner, snack, hot beverages (e.g. hot chocolate, coffee, tea) – a vegetarian option available upon request.
- First aid kit and a bottle of oxygen.
NOT INCLUDED IN OUR TOUR – TOUR AUSANGATE TREK:
- Sleeping bag (we can rent it to you if you like, it costs USD 40 extra).
- Walking stick (we can rent you one for an extra of USD 20).
- An extra horse to carry up to 7 kg of your personal belongings (USD 28 extra).
- Breakfast on the first day.
- Dinner on the last day.
- Beverages (apart of the main meals).
- Tips to local staff.
- Entrance fee to the thermal baths.
- Pocket money.
- Any flight.
- Accommodation in Cusco.
- Travel insurance.
WHAT TO BRING
WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU?
- Necessary stuff for a 5-day trek (We recommend a backpack of up to 7 kg of your belongings some of which might be carried by an extra horse.);
- Personal identification document (ID/Passport);
- Personal medicines (if applicable);
- A backpack of up to 40 litres;
- Warm clothes such as a jacket, sweaters, long trousers, gloves;
- Sufficient number of underwear and socks;
- Raincoat or poncho (especially, from November to April);
- Trekking shoes;
- A walking stick;
- Camera;
- Extra batteries and/or power bank (there is no electricity on the trek);
- A flashlight/headlamp;
- A peak/hat;
- Sunglasses;
- Sun protection cream;
- Toiletries;
- Towel;
- Toilet paper;
- Swimsuit (in case, you wish to visit the thermal baths);
- Snacks (e.g. energetic bars, biscuits, chocolate);
- Water canteen (to be filled in the morning with hot water);
- Water purification tablets (optional);
- USD 50 changed in Soles (for any case of emergency or to buy some souvenirs).
PRICE
The price depends on the number of participants, travel dates and other preferences. Please inquire about a personalized price.