Day 3: Taullipampa to Llamacorral (3800m)

The hike on this day was downhill and pretty smooth. I chewed coca leaves just for fun. They taste awful, but apparently help with altitude sickness. I was informed they are also an ingredient in cocaine and are illegal in much of the world. Good to know.

One of the most beautiful sights in the valleys of the Corillera Blanca are the horses that roam free in them. They just live there, doing what horses do (which, as far as I could see, is eat grass). Lili said that a few have owners down in the villages, but many do not. That is a great thing.

On this day we hiked past the base of Alpamayo, which, in 1966 was declared the most beautiful mountain in the world. I have seen only a few mountains in my life, but that is saying something. However, it was too cloudy, and Alpamayo would not reveal herself. Even then I was not on the side of the mountain that was its "famous face". I will have to see that another time.

This was my last night on the trek. During high season, there can be as many as 60 tents at this camp, from all the people doing this trek. But, on this night, our group had it to ourselves.

I tried to stitch together 3 different pictures of the valley we were hiking through

Great waterfall. Note the horses roaming free. No saddle, no stable, no fence. Awesome