Salkantay Trek

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On Monday, upon returning from Arequipa, I decided on doing the Salkantay Trek. After pricing around tour companies (they are twice as expensive when you book online rather than in the Cusco office -- and most offer the exact same tour for the exact same price. Even the established, Lonely-Planet-recommended companies did the exact same trek, often with the same food and everything). I was able to get the student discount, making my trip only slightly more expensive than a two-day trip to Machu Picchu. I spent the rest of the day trying to visit ruins museums included in the Boleto Turistico; the ruins immediately outside of Cusco were not comparable to the ones Id already seen, and the museums were small and redundant (except for some elaborate sculptures made of bone in the Museo de Arte Contemporeano).
We left Tuesday at 430am (Peru time, meaning 530) and took a bus to Mollepata. My tour group included six girls (2 Irish, 2 French, 2 Danish, and one other who took the bus back to Cusco after 1 hour of hiking, claiming altitude sickness at 3000m). After a short breakfast, we began the trek from the town. The first day was pretty boring and unscenic, following a road (we could have driven, probably for an extra hundred dollars), and filled with trail-side vendors selling water and snacks at outrageous prices. I was pretty impressed by the quality and amount of food they provided, as we had our personal chef. We also had a mule to carry camping equipment and our sleeping bags, so all I had to carry was a day-pack with water, snacks and rain gear. Our guide, Efrain, was amiable and clearly well-trained (apparently only 10% of guides in the Cusco area are educated and trained as a guide), although his English was somewhat spotty -- I used this as an opportunity to practice my Spanish. We camped at Soreypampa, at the base of Salkantay (and at 3700m, making for a very chilling night). We also had great views of Nevado Umatay.
We woke up early to begin the ascent to Salkantay pass. Following switchbacks, we made it to the 4650m pass by 930, just early enough to get a great view of the "Snow-peaked mountain that is called Salkantay," as it literally translates from Spanish. The mountain was breathtaking, and the pass also provided cool views of the mist enveloping the Andes. I was ecstatic not to get altitude sickness, as I had never been this high and my previous summiting of Mt. Whitney resulted in a splitting headache. We descended through cloud-covered highlands that allegedly appeared more like northern UK -- with large, multi-color boulders and dense grass -- than the Andes. As boulders turned to trees, we entered the high jungle (but also with great mountain views) and descended almost 2000m to Challway.
The third day was pretty uneventful (aside from the jungle mosquitos) as we followed valleys from our camp to Santa Theresa. At night we took a bus to the Colcamayo thermal baths, which felt great after three days of trekking. The fourth we took a road paralleling the Rio Urubamba until Hidro Electrica. Two members of our group were extremely delayed when an (intentional) explosion at the plant caused them to shut down the bridge and evacuate the area. We then followed the train tracks from the Hidro Electrica to Aguas Calientes; the walk was pretty at first, through jungle with views of high peaks and even Machupicchu overhead, but very long.
After spending the night at a hostel in Aguas Calientes (a very touristy, expensive town) we woke at 3:30 to begin the hike to the entrance to Machu Picchu. We hiked up during a thunderstorm, and the lightning illuminating the mist above the trail was awesome (if not a bit terrifying). I reached the entrance at 5:15, and was probably the 5th person there. At 6 they issued permits to climb Wayna Picchu ("Young Mountain", the photogenic peak behind the ruins in all the famous pics) and opened the park. However, while we waited for our guide to start the tour it began pouring and became extremely cold (enough so that people who did the Salkantay trek were leaving to get a cup of coffee or return to their hostels). After waiting for over an hour in a hut shelter, I decided that no rain or cold -- or any other weather -- would stop me from visiting the ruins and peaks that I had trekked five days to see. I explored the ruins themselves: they are beautiful because of how well they are preserved, but honestly nothing more than what I had seen. At 10 I hiked up Wayna Picchu, and by the time I reached the top the mist had temporarily cleared and I got great views of Machu Picchu and the snow-capped mountains behind it. I almost continued on a 4-hour continuation to the Great Caverns and the Temple of the Moon, although I decided I wanted to see other stuff, and was put-off by a description that included "descending back down to the river." I crossed across the ruins and decided to summit Machu Picchu (the montana from which the ruins were named, meaning "Old Mountain"). Much higher than Wayna Picchu, the hike took about 40 minutes. The summit was completely misted in when I arrived. I stayed for 30 minutes and was ready to leave when the clouds cleared and a I got absolutely spectacular views. I also especially liked that there were only 5 others to climb Machu Picchu the entire day (as opposed to Wayna Picchu, which requires tickets and felt more like Disneyland). I checked out the Sun Gate (used to determine season, as light shines into Temple of the Sun), which likely would have been more beautiful had there been a sun. I hiked back down the trail to Aguas Calientes, and 12 hours, 1000+m and thousands and thousands of steps later, I had explored one of the 7 wonders of the world. After a much-deserved cerveza, I grabbed my bags and took the train/bus back to Cusco.
Despite getting back at 10 and being extremely sleep-deprived, I met up with Kim and Lauren at a restaurant in San Blas. Unexpectedly, their friends entire family filled the bottom floor of the restaurant, playing guitar and singing protest songs from S. American revolutions. The canciones were absolutely beautiful (Spanish is such a romantic language), and the family was so welcoming even though Id only met a couple of them before). Possibly the highlight of my day?
Woke up again at 6am this morning. I hope to sleep soon.

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