Peru Adventure: Ausangate – If you’re looking for a beautiful and more remote trek for your Peru Adventure; then the Ausangate Circuit Trek is a perfect fit.
The Ausangate Region is a special place; it’s far enough outside of Cusco to be considered remote but it’s also near enough to be accessible for a wonderful adventure. Often you will encounter small poblados (small local communities); with many farming llamas for their way of life. Many children will greet you, often after ‘dulces’ (sweets) to savour. Also a lot of the houses & shelters in the area don’t have basic utilities such as electricity, gas, tap water; things we take for granted in more developed countries.
This is a remote region to trek in, but close enough to Cusco to be accessible. You’ll trek close to the Ausangate Nevada along with taking in Rainbow Mountain (Mt. Vinicunca) and Red Valley. Whilst circumnavigating the Ausangate nevada you’ll hit many high mountain passes, getting up to around 5,200m.
For more information about the Ausangate region you can read our article.
Highlights
- Visit traditional herding villages nestled in the mountains
- Soak in the hot springs of Upis and Pachanta
- Summit the impressive 5,050m Campa pass
- Get a chance to spot endemic wildlife such as vizcachas and Andean foxes
Michael H –
ALONE IN THE BEAUTIFUL RAINY WILDERNESS WITH A WONDERFUL TEAM FOR 5 DAYS
Wow! The trip was really amazing. I can absolutely recommend it, if you like to stay outside! Trust me.
I did a private tour with a 4-person team (guide, nurse, horseman and a cook). They took really care about me. The guide were very flexible, so we could spontaneous add the rainbow mountain to our tour (we arrived before the tourists so we could create perfect pictures).
The guide (Edu) was an excellent storyteller. I took the time to explain me a lot about the Inkas (incl draws in the sand for better understanding).
The nurse (Roxana) was a very kind and lovely person! She was really caring about me.
The trekking it self was most of time with the guide and the nurse only. At the camps and while the eating, the cook and horseman were with us (and did an awesome job).
The cook (Theo) was an amazing chef. Every meal was created on gas and consisted three courses. All of the meals were “muy muy muy rico” (yes, really delicious)! We ate soup, dessert, lasagne, pasta, banana cake, pancakes, fish and much more (yes all was created on the fire! Crazy, isn’it?)
Sure, also the horseman (Wilfredo) was a absolut nice person.
You see, the team was really great.
And also the landscape. We were while the rainy season (in february). We had every kind of weather (sun, rain, hail, snow) multiple times per day. No problem if you have a good equipment. And the nature looks very breathtaking. The green is so nice and everywhere nice rivers. If I would go again, I would also pick the rainy season. Because I think the nature is much more impressive.
Most of the time, there was nobody else (not even locals). Only the nature.
Before the tour i stayed in contact with the tour operator (James). He was very courteous. We changed the phone numbers and i could ask him every question i have while packing at any time and did a quick response via whatsapp.
Tips:
– Take a water filter system with you. There are a lot of rivers with water from the glacier.
At last: The tour was quit long, strenuous and the evening/nights were cold. I liked it. It’s just important that you be aware of this. There were two hotspring on the way (first and last day). According to the plan, we would only spent ca. 1 hour there on the last day. So if you can, maybe you should do the trekking in 6 days, instead of 5. Then you have more time, to enjoy everything. But the most hard thing for me was the cold weather in the evening and night. So i was lucky with 5 days ;).
So thanks to Unu Raymi Expeditions and their wonderful employees.
Best Michael