Description
STORY: Around Ausangate
1 of 31 : The First View
Ausangate is situated about 150km east of Cusco in Peru. The mountain has a height of 6336 meters. In the lore of the indigenous people of Peru Ausangate is a revered male Apu, a white beneficial mountain spirit with great powers.
I have four times walked around the mountain, which is a trek of six days from Tinki in the valley, east of the mountain, and back. The trek has five passes of between 4.500m and 5200m. You can only walk there, or ride on a horseback, if the terrain permits. In the night it is cold, freezing, and in the day in the sun it can be very hot, but the weather is very unpredictable. I have seen all weather conditions, moonlit nights, sunny days, hailstorms, snow and rain, alike.
But the trek in unforgettable because you are on your own, civilisation is eighter way, back- or forwards, days away.
I walked there with Q’ero shamans, in Quechua called paqos, working with and learning from them the art of making despacho’s, and trying to dig deeper in myself.