The hiking today was quite a bit easier in comparison to the last couple days. As our guide put it, it was ‘Peruvian flat’ meaning the trail only had a few small and gradual up and down climbs. We got up early as usual and started the day with 5 hours of hiking before lunch. Thankfully that would be all the hiking we did for the day because we then took a van to our sleeping camp. The place we had lunch called La Playa was quite a bit more civilized than our previous locations as it was actually a small town with more than two families living near by!

The scenery was still beautiful, but we did not have any views of glaciers today. We were hiking on a road with a good view of the river below and also of families properties who were living along the river. We were told that the families in this area were all farmers and mostly of fruit. We had decended quite a bit and were at an altitude of between 1500-2000m. The climate was a lot hotter than when we were in the highlands and there were big trees covering the entire mountains surrounding us.

After lunch we drove to the next town called Santa Teresa where the guides quickly set up our tents before we headed to some gorgeous hot springs. I have seen a few so far on my trip but these ones were by far the best. They were built into the mountain side with beautiful stonework creating the look of three large pools with the view of mountains surrounding us.

After some time in the hot springs to relax our muscles we headed back to camp for dinner. This campsite had a big bonfire set up and the owners of the property were definitely trying to get a party atmosphere going on. Some others in another group seemed to be enjoying themselves with a few drinks, but we had a beer and then headed to bed because we were so tired!