Salkantay to Machu Picchu

Upon arrival to Cusco one is inundated with travel agencies and aggressive people in the streets offering everything from massages to cheap travel packages to MachuPicchu. It can be overwhelming and while guide books can offer recommended agencies, it can be hard to ascertain why some companies charge $495 for the trek while others offer appearingly similar packages for a mere $170. After talking to a number of people, we decided to book through Loki, our hostel for their $250 Salkantay Trek ($230 with an ISIC card). The price was on the lower end of the scale and we found that companies offering the trek for anything less than $200 are screwing over someone along the way (having super large groups, saying you have a guide, cook, and porter when they all happen to be the same person, dated equipment, etc) - or including a ton of hidden costs you´ll just have to pay later.

The Salkantay trek itself is an alternative trek to the Inca Trail (The Inca Trail is limited to 200 tourists a day and can book up months in advance). Two other popular alternative treks include Lares (4 days easy trekking, more cultural/visiting small Andean towns) and Inca Jungle (4 day combination of biking, rafting, and trekking). Salkantay is catered more to the adventurous - claiming to be more difficult than the Inca Trail and offering an unforgettable five day journey through varied landscapes.

The first day we were picked up by Roger, our guide, from our hostel and brought to Mollepata, where we ate breakfast with the other two people on our trek (Alfie and Millie, a Brit couple on their gap year) and then headed up through winding valleys and hills until we had reached the temporary summit. We ate lunch there and took a brief siesta before continuing along a wider, flatter road for about 3 hours to Soraypampa, our campsite. Our tents, thanks to Javier and the horseman were already set up for us and hot drinks, snacks, and dinner ready. The first night is the coldest, as the campsite is wedged beneath the Salkantay and Tukarhuay mountains.


The second day was an early wake up call and everyone hiked from our campsite up to the summit, 4600 meters above sea level. The ascent takes about 3 1/2 hours and includes steep inclines and switchbacks but the hard work is constantly rewarded by the views of the Urnaytay snowcapped mountains. At the summit, you can opt to take a 20 minute detour to go see the beautiful lagoon of Yanacocha. If you are not feeling well or too tired, hikers can also opt to pay 80 soles to take a horse from the campsite to the summit. From the summit, its a gradual descent til you reach small houses where lunch is prepared and served by the cooks. Again, the walk down is gorgeous: with views of the mountains and accompanying glaciers.


After lunch, the climate drastically changes as you spend another 3 hours walking downhill to Colcapampa, the second campsite. Don´t be mistaken... the downhill is very rocky with steep descents and can be tough on the knees. There are also a number of rivers and streams that you have to walk through (and where a walking stick would have come in handy). The campsite on the third night overlooks lush green hills and a wide river, but its pretty infested with mosquitoes: make sure you bring insect repellent.

The third day gives relief to your sore body and blistered feet as it is almost all downhill til La Playa. Note that we followed the main road as the traditional path had been washed away in parts from landslides two months ago and was unpassable. This could change as they do renovations on the path. You´ll pass through valleys with views of small coffee plantations built into the hill and some stunning waterfalls. We stopped in La Playa for lunch, a small town, before taking a bus to Santa Teresa, the first place on the trail for showers (1S for a cold shower, 5S for a hot one), real bathrooms, and cold beers.


The fourth day is a lazy one... we woke up late (7am) and started hiking to Hidroelectrica, along the road again. I thought it was the least asthetically pleasing day of them all, as we followed a large gravel river to the town. The path was easy though, with some slight inclines, but mostly downhill. We stopped in Hidroelectica for lunch and bid farewell to Javier, before hiking with all of our gear, along the train tracks up to Aguas Calientes.

If you don´t wish to hike, you can take a train from Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes but the trip will cost you a whopping US$18. The first 10 minutes of the hike were difficult as its a pretty steep incline through the trees, but once you get to the top, the road is flat, as you walk for about 2 1/2 hours with all your gear to touristy AC. We arrived to our hostel around 1:30pm and took showers and rested, before meeting with Roger for dinner, and then heading back to bed.

The last day we awoke at 3:45am in order to beat the crowds to Machu Picchu. We wanted to climb Huayna Picchu, a mountain that boasts glorious, postcard-esque photos of Machu Picchu but only 400 tourists are allowed to climb up daily - 200 at 7am and 200 at 10am. We started our walk in the pouring rain, and debated standing in line for the bus, but here´s the clincher. The first buses leave at 5:30am and arrives to MachuPicchu around 5:50am. The hike up however takes about an hour. So ideally, you want to beat the buses before they arrive, to guarantee your spot for Huayna Picchu. Leaving so early, we didn´t think it would be a problem. What you should know though is that the bridge to start the hike up doesnt open until 5am, so you have to scramble uphill ASAP in order to beat the buses. It was pretty miserable. After 5 days of hiking, my body was about ready to give out and the rain and humidity didn´t quite help the situation.
But we made it to the top right before the buses and managed to get tickets for 10am (which is considered better timing because most of the morning fog and clouds have cleared up to offer better views).

We toured Machu Picchu, set at 2,430m above sea level with our guide for about 2 hours (he showed us some of the most important parts of the Inca City such as the Sun Temple, the Intiwatana (Solar Clock), the schools, etc) before wandering around for a bit on our own and then doing the hike up to Huyani Picchu. The hike up to Huayna Picchu is again, an hour of straight uphill, with some frightening parts such as the stairs at the way top which are so small only your toes can really fit on them. The top however affords some of the most impressive views of all of Macchu Picchu, showing the wider landscape of the tropical mountain forest and the gorgeous eastern slopes of the Andes. 



In the afternoon, Jed and I took the bus down (8US) and then a train that evening from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo, where we boarded a shuttle back to Cusco (arriving close to 11pm), to take hot showers and rest our bodies. Overall, I could not have asked for a better trek - the variety of landscapes, the challenge, the people, everything... just wonderful. Though it´s an alternative to the Inca Trail, I´d argue it´s a better one.