Trip to Cancha Cancha

On Sunday i got up at 5 in the morning in the dark and cold to get ready to walk to Cancha Cancham which is a mountain community part of Huaran up high in the mountains. Everyone said to wear lots of clothes as there was likely to be snow there. I ended up in a t-shirt because so hot walking. We loaded up some horses with clothing donations and there was about thirty people because a lot of locals walked with us. Hauran is about 2900m altitude and cancha cancha is 4000m approx which means we ascended over 1000m in 4 hours. I was a little worried a bout my knee but in the end it was fine. Halfway up we stoppped for a snakc and everyone started coca leaves. I chewed some too but somehow i swallowed them all and after that i had so much energy i was striding ahead. We saw so many llamas on the way and followed a very rapid river the whole time. The view along the way was breathtaking as we were surrounded by steep mountains, and greenery, and the river and towards then end we could see snow capped peaks. At Canch Cancha it looked very small with scattered mud-brick houses around the place. It was so freezing there that i could barely do anything other than sit huddled. We sat utside for hours because they were making lunch for us and no one thought we might be cold! We had a gringos versus Cancha Cancha soccer game which of course they won. The clothing they wear is so colourful with bright pinks and oranges and puffy skirts and squarish hats. We eventually got invited inside for lunch. They had cooked about a hundred potatoes and just put them on a huge woven cloth in the centre of the table. There was also little tiny cut sausages and wedges of local cheese. The idea was you just grab a potato in your hand, grab a sausage and some cheese and just eat. That´s what we all did as we were so cold and hungry that we didn´t mind, plus it was tasty anyway. We had more coca tea for the altitiude and then started to leave. On the way down my foot was so sore from my boots so i was dragging it along. I kept thinking we were almost home but it kept going on and on. I was feeling really unwell probably from the altitide so i just kept walking and towards the end when everyone had split up and was walking at the ir own pace i was getting wierd looks from the locals and from the horses as i bolted down the path and scrambled over rocks i was so keen to get home and be first in the hot shower! Everyone was eventually back by early evening and luckily Frida had cooked dinner for us knowing that we would all be exhausted.

This is one of the trips that we will advertise for backpackers to come for. It is already a passing point for the hot springs nearby but we plan to make it a feature. It is definitly a walk worth advertising and one of the best walks i´ve ever done. Every time i blinked i saw a new photo!