Ausangate Trek From Cusco (5 Days)

Early in the morning we will be leaving from Cusco on a three hours ride in a private transport to a small village called Tinqui. Enroute to Tinqui, we will be crossing many traditional villages namely Urcos, Cattca and Ocongate.
We will then stop for lunch. After having lunch, we will start the trek. First three hours of the trek offers a wonderful introduction to the enchanting scenery of Vilcanota Mountain range. 
From here we will be trekking for another two hours towards the hot springs of Upis. It offers a jaw dropping view of Ausangate at the end of the valley. Here we will be camping for the night.

We will start the trek by crossing the Arapa Pass at 4,850 meters above sea level. From here, we will start a three and a half hours down hill trek to the valley. On the way we will be crossing the green waters of Puqa Q’ocha and Jatun Puqa Q’ocha a turquoise lagoon. Both these lakes are fed by the melting snow of Ausangate. Here we will spend the second night, camping.

We will ascend to Palomani pass at 5,200 metres/ 17 056 feet. Palomani pass is the highest point of the trek. At Palomani pass we will follow the trail into the valley and stop for lunch. From here you can get a clear view of the snowcapped peaks of Puca Punta and Tres Picos. From here we will continue our trek through the lush green valley of Pampa Jutunpata and further to Rio Q’ampa valley. We will spend our third night here with this view.

We will start our day hiking through the community of Q’ampa. From here we will head north towards the last pass, the Q’ampa pass at 5000 meters. Here we will see different coloured lakes and will stop for lunch near Q’oma Q’ocha. After lunch we will continue to a dusky village called, Pacchanta. You can reward yourself by soaking in the hot springs here. We will be camping for the night near Pacchanta and in the afternoon you will have some free time to walk around this beautiful Andean Village.

After breakfast we will start hiking back to Tinqui. Once in Tinqui we will have breakfast and take our transport back to Cusco. You will be reaching Cusco at around 0600 PM.