Travel Peru, Peru Blog

The young guy was telling his story lively and loudly, and all eyes were fixed at him. So were mine. The six or seven friends had sat beside me on the steps underneath one of the arcades that surround the Qosqo´s main plaza. I did not mean to eavesdrop, I swear, but I was all ears too.

I took just about two or three hours…
And you climbed it alone, voludo! exclaimed a pretty girl.
You were nuts, weren’t you? another cried out.
Che, didn’t you want us to go with you? asked a man naively.
Si sos un hijo de…you all had a heavy hangover, replied the young guy carelessly. They all burst into laughing with their argentinean touch.
But you know what? the view is just amazing from up there, the young man added as he was pointing out the mountain to the south.

I looked up at the hill and read the sign written on it. The mountain was calling me.

That very night I set up my mobile phone alarm at five o’clock. I failed to get up, though. Now I can not remember what excuses I made up but the next morning I did fail again. Perhaps it was mere fear. During the third night, I was not able to sleep and I kept looking at my watch. At 4:50 am, I just jumped out of my bed. It was now or never.

My rucksack was packed with two T-shirts, a bottle of water, five cereal bars, a pack of Oreo, and a small bag of kiwicha cookies. I put on two T-shirts, a light windbreaker, and a thick jacket as well as a wool cap, a shawl and a pair of gloves. Nonetheless, I had to cover the tip of my nose and the bottom of my ears as I walked down the Cuesta San Blas.

A lot of cars yet quite a few people around the main square as I headed for the av. El Sol. The street lamps switched off when I was about to get the Pachacuteq´s monument at the end of that avenue. Turning one block to the right, I reached a street that led me to a bridge. Just across it, the mountain arose defiantly.

Its name is Condoroma, and it is located in the Santiago district. I had heard some people saying that one might be cautions and vigilant over there. At that moment, I wondered myself whether I knew or not what I was doing.
Reassuring myself that evil didn’t wake up that early, I began hiking at 6:20 am.

From the base of the mountain I was able to see another full-length sculpture of an Inca leader atop the nearest ridge. While I was going up a steep staircase with houses on either side, my legs grew heavier and my pace slower. When I stepped on the last stair, I was already soaked through. I was freezing in the shadows as the sun’s first rays only lit the western summits.

Gasping, I reached the Inca’s statue built on an incomplete foundation. The brick walls were filled with graffiti. Down to the southwest there was a thin layer of mist spreading over the Qosqo´s international airport Alejandro Velasco Astete. After drinking water, I went on hiking the slope until I got another ridge with three crosses. I could see the Peruvian coat of arms etched on the hillside to my right. Without any straight trail to walk up, I had no chance but turning to the left along a light blue wall with the written words Agua Potable Margen Derecha (Drinking Water Right Bank).

At the end of the wall, I looked up at the peak where I recognized a shelter with gable roof but without walls. The sound of cars down there told me I was not far away from town, but I could not help feeling lonely anyway. Figuring out the path up along a kind of a channel, I saw no archaeological ruins even though I had read this mountain was a sacred place in Inca times.

The sun hit me at full strength as I got another ridge from where the shelter was out of sight. Assuming the tip was near, I walked as fast as I could. The effort left me exhausted only to realize that I had to hike a last but not long stretch.
I felt relief when I glimpsed the corrugated roof which protected an ornate cross.

I was tired but it was worth because the view was just breathtaking not only of the Qosqo´s valley but also of the surrounding peaks and the plateau that encircled the fortress of Saqsayhuaman to the north. Nonetheless, what impressed me most was the view of two snow-covered mountains, one to the southeast and the other to the northwest.

Below the hilltop where I stood, the sign carved on the mountain was visible in the distance. At that very moment anyone at the main square could have been pointing out to it.
The sign says: VIVA EL PERU GLORIOSO.

What should every man do before he dies?
Go sit on top of a mountain, Ian McShane (british actor).
Excerpt from Men´s Journal, june 2009