Is THIS the BEST trek in Peru? 😍 EPIC 6 day Ausangate Trek!

for the next 6 days we're going to be hiking Peru's aangat trick a 72 kmet Journey that will take us around aate a striking peak in the Andes along the way we'll be hiking to stunning Lakes camping at Epic campsites learning about the local culture seeing some of the cutest Wildlife plus taking a detour to the famous Rainbow Mountain and red Valley all while reaching Heights up to 5100 M the highest we have ever been it is what we have been most excited for on our entire trip to Peru and its non-stop Beauty took our Breath Away literally and figuratively I had hoped that after 5 days at high altitude I'd have superhuman lungs now it's still [Music] hard if you our Sal and tii Trek video you saw that we did that Trek unguided and you can technically do this hike alone as well but we decided to book a private tour with AB Expeditions instead which is a local guide company that offers tons of Tours in this region of Peru including the sacred Valley day trip we did a couple videos back and a big reason why we chose to have a guide for this track versus the Su andai track is that this track is a lot less developed and less popular so it just makes things a lot easier logistically to have a guide and a trekking team along the way plus I feel like we're going to learn so much more about the area and culture we had about a 3 and 1/2 hour drive to the trail head going through the remote Countryside and small towns stopping a couple times for snacks and to stretch our legs like in okate where locals are dressed in traditional attire and the main square is filled with colorful statues and cute dogs all right we have made it to oopes which marks the start of our alate Trek but before we get started we want to quickly introduce you to our team so this is our guide Freddy he's been doing this Trek for four years and it's his favorite Trek and we are very honored to have him this is our Horseman Fernando he's in charge of driving the horses that's going to carry all the gear all the food all of our stuff and maybe the most important people on our trk are Cooks this is Adriel he's going to be cooking all of our meals for every day and then we also have the sous chef Richard they're already hard at work at making us [Laughter] breakfast coffee exploded all me everywhere all over the table Uno hak we learned that Haku means let's go in ketua today we only have a short hike about 7 km or so because the goal for today is just to make sure we are adjusted to the altitude we're at about 4,200 M right now the amount of cute animals we've seen just on this first short bit of the hike is astounding we've seen so many so many [Music] we have made it to our home for the night and check out this epic [Music] view this Majestic Peak is aate at 6,384 M tall it is the fifth tallest mountain in Peru and it is said to be the most important of the oppus in the Cusco region oppus are mountains that held great importance to the Incas and are protective spirits that watch over the people and the land and their territory and tonight it will be watching over us every night we're going to have a different campsite and tonight we are staying at this incredible mountain hut and this might be the coolest place we have ever slept it's this hexagon shaped Hut with wood ceilings and concrete and stone walls wooden floors this huge bed area behind us which is padded and then we have our sleeping bags on top which we actually rented through AB so we have to bring our sleeping bags with us from the US and they are rated to -30° f- 34° C so I think we should be nice and warm they also give us some blankets and some pillows which is great because we forgot our camping pillows at home and what I love about this cabin is just all of the color there's the colorful blanket on the bed there's colorful rugs and pillows but hands down the best part of this entire cabin is the view we just have a wall of Windows right here and gate right out of our window and if tonight's a clear night we probably will see tons of stars from bed this is amazing and if you're wondering about the bathroom situation we have this popup tent with a cassette toilet in here you just come in here open it up do your business one and two can go in there and then the toilet paper goes there and then when you're done you push this uh pump here and it kind of washes it out with water and flushes it down only downside is it's kind of right in the middle of the hangout area area so if you have an upset tumy uh everyone else is probably going to know we're going to just hope that doesn't happen to us we have medicine yeah our stomachs have been strong in Peru yeah we've been all good and last but not least is quite possibly the most important spot at the campsite the cooking area where they are hard at work making something that smells so good right now it just smells like garlic oh it smells delicious I cannot wait when we did our cave tour in Vietnam we were blown away by the meals that were cooked way out in the middle of nowhere so we are very excited for these if it's as good as it smells we are in for a treat first up we have some pumpkin soup we are big fans of pumpkin soup oh yeah oh my gosh never end I don't think we're going to go hungry here this is an insane amount of food and they just whipped this up in the hour that we've been here wow [Music] [Applause] [Music] we have a bit of free time this afternoon so we're going to hike to ois Lake which is up by that Glacier right there [Music] [Music] I think what I'm most excited for along this track are all the Lakes we're going to see 20 Lakes over our Six Days on this track and this is just our first one and we are already off to an incredible start you just have this stunning Glacier right at the back of the lake and you can just see the blue in the ice this is going to be an incredible 6 days before leaving the lake Freddy took us through a traditional offering to patcha Mama or Mother Earth one thing that we've noticed here in Peru is how much the Peruvian culture respects and honors the Earth for all of the natural resources it provides during our offering we gave three cocoa leaves to Mother Earth which we then covered with rocks as well as spoke directly to the Earth to ask for any wishes plus a safe journey getting to experience such a sacred and special ceremony was the perfect way to end our first day on the Trek yeah cozy yeah it's pretty cold outside but they gave us these uh water bladders with like boiling hot water in there oh and they keep the sleeping bag so nice and toasty also on our hopefully one and only time going to the bathroom in the dark I saw so many stars including the Milky Way but we're a little too tired to stay up and really stargaze good night you're so far [Music] away sleep warm and sleep keep [Music] tight we were woken up with tea service in bed does it get much better and that is what we woke up to amazing actually slept pretty good little friend here kept me nice and warm it stayed pretty hot until like 1 or 2 and actually got too hot took my jacket off at around that time overall it's that pretty good and I feel pretty well rested right now yeah it was so cozy in here I was perfectly warm and comfy in my little cocoon the entire night [Music] today we have another pretty short day only about 10 kmet or so but we are going to get to go up our first pass of the trip even up high in the mountains you can't escape the early morning traffic jam [Music] and to add more excitement to this morning we are getting snowed on right [Music] now we were told we'd see all four seasons on this trip and that's proving to be true I did not expect all this snow [Music] all right we made it to the passo and it is a complete Winter [Music] Wonderland the snow continued to fall completely blanketing the ground and giving us only small peaks of the scenery around us and after after hours of getting blasted in the face and trying not to slip we made it to our next campsite I could get used to a warm drink waiting for me after a hike we earn this one today oh yeah it's way too hot to drink right now though hot chocolate ready all right good wa man what a day when I woke up this morning it was pretty clear out and the last thing I would have expected for the day was to be hiking in basically white out conditions for hours and hours and hours you know we normally try to avoid this kind of weather but we just didn't have that flexibility on this trip but I really enjoyed it it was pretty challenging and just kind of put you out of your comfort zone and it was really cool to be able to see this epic scenery in this like in that white out conditions and just get snowed on the whole time yeah I mean I didn't want the whole trip to be too easy you know perfect condition so it was fun to be have a little bit of a challenge added a little bit of spice it kind of felt like we were hiking in like a movie the whole time just like getting blasted with snow we were towards the end just soaking soaking wet a little uncomfortable at times but it just kind of added a little extra element to today's adventure this intense but tonight we are camping in a tent underneath a shelter which will protect us from the elements our tent is nice and big I think it's like a three plus person tent it's huge they set it all up with our sleeping bags nice and cozy in here and we basically just have a free afternoon I think we're going to go for a little hike later but for now I think we're just going to try to dry off a bit warm up and just admire this campsite view because since we've gotten here the weather has completely cleared up and this campsite is even more epic than yesterday's campsite this is mind-blowingly crazy [Music] it is hard to believe that just a few hours ago when we got here this entire landscape was covered in snow and you couldn't see a thing and now there is no snow on the ground and the views have completely opened up we have a massive Glacier right here Freddy says it's the largest glacier on elate and it is huge the top of it is just stark white and then the color of the landscape out here is wild and something that we did not notice on our hike out because it was all covered in snow you have these kind of purple HED mountains and then the golden and the Green Grass and the Blue Lake and Al together it's just a combination of colors that I don't know if I've ever seen in nature altogether [Music] [Music] I have been so impressed with the cooking on on this trip they over there right now cooking with headlamps because it's dark and they whipped us up this beautiful plate of dinner with this huge amount of rice some chicken and we started out with soup which is something that we've been having for most meals and the soup that they've been making has been so good especially when it's so so cold I just very much admire and appreciate all their hard work lugging all the food up lugging up all the supplies cooking for us multiple times a day cleaning up yeah just very very much appreciated it it's made this experience very luxurious for us okay I've got my little hot water bladder in here keeping me warm I'm going to go up under like a cocoon good night all right let's see if we have a view this morning [Music] wow yes it's clear [Music] we are starting this morning with an uphill climb and I think I'm breathing the heaviest that I have the entire track so far I feel like I am walking in slow motion [Music] [Music] we are about 60% up our first pass of the day puka coocha pass and I don't know if you can see but all the way down there you can see a little bit of red that is where we camped last night we've already got up so far but holy crap I I cannot stop freaking out about this view this Glacier is massive and the higher you go up you can see more Lakes just more of the ice oh my [Music] go I made it oh my gosh according to my phone we're at 16,30 FT our first time over 16,000 ft w we did it climbing up this I had to like develop a rhythm on my right foot I would breathe in my left foot I would Breathe Out Breathe In Breathe Out breathe in breathe out you just get in the Rhythm and just keep chugging along it's amazing up here though [Music] while we were taking a break up at the past we noticed some locals hiking up all the way from that Village down in the valley and Freddy was saying how many locals will come up there and set up a little shop that way they can sell items to hikers and the sweetest tiniest woman hiked up while we were up there carrying bottles and bottles of beer and Power Aid and water and all sorts of goodies so much stuff and she was very small and the fact that she was able to carry all of that and she was going so fast up to the pass was so impressive so we obviously had to buy something I got a bracelet and I also got this charm from my backpack and it's just such a special souvenir to have to remember this hike by as we descended the first pass the scenery turned into an artist pallet Freddy told us that that when the ground is wet it makes this area's already colorful terrain pop even more and after yesterday's snowstorm the greens Reds purples and yellows were extra Rich which was A Feast for the eyes as we struggled up our second and final pass of the day good y we are here wel come to your pass good y [Music] Dam it that was the hardest day yet yeah one of the top things we wanted to see while here in Peru was Rainbow Mountain normally it's done as a day trip from Cusco but one big perk of doing this trick is that we're camping just 45 minutes from Rainbow Mountain so we're going on a sunset hike this is Rainbow Mountain also known as Vin kunka which means colored mountain in ketua it's famous for its vibrant and multicolored Stripes of sediment with shades of red yellow and blue which are the result of 14 different mineral deposits this is a place that I have seen photos of for years and years and it is so cool to finally see it with my own eyes [Music] [Music] this morning we are back at Rainbow Mountain but this time we're going to go check out the red Valley which we have to climb up that steep path to get a view of it [Music] they not kidding it's red it is a red [Applause] Valley similar to Rainbow Mountain red Valley gets its color from minerals specifically high amounts of iron oxide present in the Rocks which makes it look a bit like Mars one thing that is pretty crazy about Rainbow Mountain is that until about 10 years ago it was mostly covered in snow and ice so it's vibrant colors were Unknown by tourists but as soon as its colors were revealed it quickly became the second most popular tourist attraction here in Peru after Machu Picchu Freddy says that it gets about 3,000 visitors a day when we came last night at Sunset there were maybe four other people here and this morning we were the first ones to arrive and it's just been so interesting watching all of the van loads of people flocking in after spending the past several days around only about a handful of people it's kind of a culture shock to be around found crowds and vehicles and a road but thankfully it wasn't long until we were all alone again minus a cute dog that followed us and hundreds of alpacas and after a downhill hike to alcari Village for a delicious lunch we arrived at yet another beautiful campsite dang this is crazy [Music] tonight we are camping near alate Lake which sits just below the massive alate Glacier the lake has this super deep dark turquoise color and then the backdrop of it is this massive wall of waterfalls it is pretty Spectacular One thing I've really enjoyed about this track is that the days aren't super full we get up around 5:30 a.m. we have breakfast then we usually hit the trail around 6:30 a.m. and then we're typically hiking until at lunch or just a little bit after after lunch and then the rest of the day we just have time to go check out the lakes nearby or just take a nap or read or relax it's just been nice to have that time at the end of the day to kind of decompress a bit from the hike and today our plan for the rest of the day is to sit at this gorgeous Lake and read our books because we have a very very very very very big day tomorrow and we need to rest up [Music] thank you it got so Frosty last night that our tent iced over un hu I am a tad nervous for today it's going to be our longest day in distance our highest day in altitude and we have two passes to climb and we're starting with pomani pass which is all the way up there and is the highest path along the entire track we're having a bit of a delay this morning a very cute delay [Music] though I think we've seen probably 3 th000 more alpacas than we've ever seen ever yeah no we've never seen so many alpacas in our entire life and it still never gets old seeing them they have the cutest faces they just stare at you they're so fluffy oh they bring a smile to my face every single day on this track [Music] [Music] I had hoped that after 5 days at high altitude I'd have superum lungs now and this would be easy but it's still hard but what I have found helps me is just setting little goals on the way to the Big Goal just get 10 more steps then you can take a break 20 more steps get to the top of that Hill get to that curve and it really helps just having little things to work towards instead of just the daunting task ahead one of my mental strategies is just keep my head down and just keep stepping keep stepping keep stepping for I don't know how long until the next break and then look up at the p and oh we've actually covered some distance and it helps me mentally just keep my head down I feel like those are all good life lessons and that's why we love being out in nature it just pushes us and shows us that we're capable of more than we think and just gives us a whole new perspective that is the top of the pass we just have one final [Music] [Applause] push the final steps let's go we did it we did [Music] it good [Music] job according to my phone we are currently standing at 16,74 FT our highest altitude ever oh breathe breathe it in no no oxygen [Music] baby all of yesterday afternoon I was just staring up at the past and feeling so intimidated by it so it feels so good to have knocked that out and to have crushed it and now we have a nice long stretch of downhill until the next pass that [Music] is we are seeing our most unique Lake of the trip so far fretty said the locals call this Blood Lake because in the rainy season it's more red but right now now it's pretty brown so to us it kind of looks like a chocolate milk [Music] Lake what we loved about this Trek is that there was something wondrous around every corner you either have a lush River Valley a glimpse of a new Glacier in mountain peaks or waterfalls and the scenery on today's stretch of the Trek may have been the most varied yet all right it is time to refuel for the second half of the day so we can crush it and we have so much food to eat here the chef's like really baled out today there is so much food here I don't know how we're going to tackle all [Music] this as we hike through a magical River Valley on our way up to our second pass of the day and final major pass of the track we were treated to views of Kay at another towering peak in the Andes but the views were very short-lived because within minutes a surprise snowstorm blew in thankfully it was a much quicker storm than a few days before and the sun popped back out less than an hour later which just goes to show how quickly things can change in the mountains while the P this morning was a lot more daunting this pass has been pretty grueling to get to we finally can see it off in the distance but it's been about a 5 kilometer just uphill [Music] grind the last [Music] pass we did it woo we're here I am so glad that passes over and behind us that one was much tougher than the last [Music] one so from this pass you have a head-on view of the kayang gate mountain and Glacier and as we've been sitting here we kept hearing you know things breaking off and you can hear things falling but we can never see them but then we finally saw a big one down in the lake down there that big wall of ice a huge chunk fell off we saw it crash and make huge waves and you can see all the little chunks of ice in there it looks like chocolate milk with a little froth in it and now for a mostly downhill 5 km to camp for the night this is just what we needed at the end of a long day hi oh puppy party you are cute no thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] ohat let it go team oh man what a day we were out hiking for 11 hours today and after today this has been our longest hiking trip we've ever done and I don't think we're going to have any trouble sleeping tonight it's our last night in our giant tent and we've actually been sleeping so well in here it's been really comfy super warm almost too warm Adam like strips down in the middle of the night cuz he gets so I will kind of miss this tent it's probably been like the best tent experience I've ever had but uh desperately looking forward to a shower our feet are like in the morning when it's like steamy in here it it's very ripe and I also um will not miss having to go outside in the cold to go pee at night [Music] it is our final morning on the trick and they surprised us with a cake a cake that they baked out here it is so beautiful it says welcome to Al andate oh my gosh I don't even want to cut into it cuz it's so beautiful that made my whole morning that was so sweet wow I cannot believe they baked this out here and decorated it I can't even decorate a cake in a house nice wow Che to our last day on the [Music] trail best cake I've ever had in the [Music] wild we have a short day today but we have two fun stops to make and first we're checking out the Seven Lakes of alate which is a collection of Seven Lakes in the area we actually camped near three of them last night so we're off to go see the other [Music] four despite all being formed by glacial activity each of the Seven Lakes is completely different from the others with varying water color and sizes this Lake right here is much smaller than some of the other ones back there but it is so blue and it is so deep and you can see very far down there [Music] so you can visit the Seven Lakes of Al andate as a day troop from Cusco which we would highly recommend if you want to get a small dose of the Epic scenery of alate but you're not totally up for a full multi-day Trek man this is our last glimpse of alate up close and I am just so sad to leave this [Music] scenery we have made it to panta which marks the end of our Trek this community is known for its Hot Springs so we can't think of a better way to celebrate than a hot soak it's like a nice warm bath oh yeah this is what I needed this is perfect [Music] hie Freddy you'll miss you [Music] yes we made it we did that was hands down our favorite experience so far here in Peru I don't have the words to do that experience Justice the amount of glaciers we saw the Epic mountains the thousands and thousands of of alpacas the colorful scenery it was just out of this world a huge thank you to Fernando Adriel and Richard not only did they have to do the entire hike but they had to set up and tear down Camp every day cook all of our meals transport all of our gear they are some of the hardest working people we have ever seen and of course a massive thank you to our guide Freddy he not only led the way and made sure we were always taken care of but he taught us so much about the local culture wildlife and plant life and history he is the sweetest and was an amazing companion throughout the entire track these last 2 and 1/2 weeks in the Cusco area and the Andes Mountains has been everything that we dreamt of with visiting Peru but our time in Peru is not over quite yet we still have a week left here and we are heading to the coast for a complete change of scenery and I would say a more relaxing time but some of it may not be [Music] [Music] n [Music]