Humantay Lake - Peru

I took a day trip to Humantay Lake from Cusco in the heart of the Andes Mountains in Peru. I booked my tour through www.getyourguide.com a month or so in advance. They contacted me through WhatsApp the evening before, confirming my pickup location. That is when they told me our tour would begin at roughly 3:30 in the morning. Being it was winter in Peru, it was still dark for a few more hours. After a quick introduction, our guide told everyone to rest our eyes and try to sleep for the next few hours before we made our first stop at out location for breakfast. Breakfast was at a cute, but cold, outdoor location and was an all you can eat buffet. I watched the sun rise over the mountains before boarding the van for another 90 minute or so ride to the Humantay Lake area. When we arrived, our guide had everyone stay in a group until we reached a certain point. After that, he said we could choose to walk up to the lake, or we could rent a horse to ride to the top from the local people for 80 Sols (roughly $25 USD). This is what I opted to do, since it was quite an elevation gain, and I was already at almost 13,000 feet in elevation and the air was thin. I loved the horse ride, and am very glad I opted to do this. It gave me more time to enjoy the absolutely beautiful lake and the surrounding mountains. This was truly one of the most stunning locations I had ever been to. I walked back down the mountain, which was hard on my knees, to the van. We stopped by the same buffet restaurant for a late lunch, before returning to Cusco later that evening. Th entire trip lasted roughly 14 hours, and I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone that has a few days in the Cusco area. 0:00 Introduction 0:34 Departing Cusco 2:01 Breakfast 6:27 Start Hike 12:26 Horse Ride 18:32 Hike up to Humantay Lake 19:58 Humantay Lake 24:38 Hike down