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Ausangate Mountain (Rob Rachowiecki) |
Almost anywhere else in the world, hiking over 16,000-foot passes would be the big challenge. But those rules don't apply in the Andes: These passes will seem relatively easy as you gaze up at daunting, 20,946-foot Ausangate Mountain. Lying in a rural area, where Quechua-speaking highland farmers herd llamas and alpacas, Ausangate's often visible from Cuzco. From the village of Tinqui, on the road to Puerto Maldonado, hikers can circumnavigate this massive mountain in about six days. En route, enjoy hot springs, wander past herds of alpacas, chat with the few hardy families living here year-round, and climb over those 16,000-foot passes with rock shrines dedicated to the "apus," or mountain gods.
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