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Published: December 15th 2008
Salkantay day 1
Our first sight of one of the famous (TM Pio) Snow MountainsThat may seem like a bit of a bizarre title for an entry about a trek to Machu Picchu, but being as this is what our guide, Pio, insisted on calling me for the entirity of the trek, I thought it kind of appropriate.
So in answer to the poser at the end of my last entry, yes, I did wake up and drag myself down to wait for our pickup. It was kind of wierd being up and going just as a lot of people from the hostel were getting in from a night out, but thats how it goes sometimes.
Day 1: Mollapata - Soraypampa
After a sleepy 2 hour ride in a bus, we arrived at Mollapata, which is where the Salkantay trail begins. We stopped for breakfast, and had a chance to meet the rest of the group. We were 11: myself, Beth, Chris (USA), Sam (Aus), Beth (Aus), Rob (NZ), Phillip & Priska (Switzerland), Giacomo & Laura (Italy) and last, but by no means least Vincent from Ireland. Sorry Vince, but someone had to be last, and as you don't have an email address, I figured you're probably the least likely to read
Salkantay Day 1
Mount Salkantay. Noones ever reached the top. this, which renders this sentence somewhat redundant. For the remainder of the trek though, we were to be known as Inti (sun) group. We all hoped this would make the weather be on our side.
After breakfast, it was time to set foot on the trail. The morning was relatively straightforward trekking, with just a couple of steepish shortcuts to cope with. Pio made sure we had plenty of breaks, and everyone was making good progress. About halfway through the morning, we reached a plateau from which we had a great view down the valley, to an imposing snow covered mountain. I've forgotten it's name, but Pio definitely described it as being famous. Although we soon learnt that to Pio most things were famous.
Soon enough, we reached our lunch spot, where the chef prepared a meal of soup followed by spaghetti, which was very pleasant. Lunch lasted about an hour, then we continued down the path towards our camp for the night. All afternoon, we were following a valley up into the Andes, and as we progessed, the views just became more and more spectacular. Rounding a corner, and catching our first view of the 6,000+m Mt
Salkantay day 1
Down the valley Salkantay looming in the distance was a particular highlight. Apparantly, the top is very often cloaked in cloud, so we were incredibly lucky to see it all.
The days trekking ended at our camp at Soraypampa. This camp is at 3,900m, and is trapped between 2 glaciers, and as such is incredibly, incredibly cold. We all put on our warmest clothes, ate tea, then retired to our tents, as it was far too cold to contemplate anything else.
Day 2: Soraypampa-Chaullay
The day began with some disturbing news, as Chris and Vincent had had an unwelcome visitor in their tent during the night, trying to steal their stuff. However, we all knew we had a tough day ahead, and tried to put it to the back of our minds, before making tracks.
The first 3-4 hours of today were probably the most demanding of the entire trek. It involved ascending from our camp at 3,900m to the mountain pass at Abra Salkantay, which was at a daunting 4,600m. It was fairly slow progress, but the entire group made it safely, and I was particularly pleased that the altitude didn't seem to have any noticeable effect on
me. It was unsurprisingly exceptionally cold at our summit, so after a brief stop for a group photo, and to build a strange pile of stones, we heading down the other side. It was during this descent we had our first rain of the trek, but fortunately it wasn't too heavy.
The same couldn't be said for the rains that came down after lunch, and at one stage it even turned to hail. At various points along the trail, groups of us were taking shelter in the undergrowth, until Pio came past making us continue. Luckily, the sun came out, and by the time we reached our second camp at Chaullay we were mostly dry. Sprits were further lifted by a much needed beer after a tough day, and we all retired happily to our tents after tea.
Day 3: Chaullay - Santa Teresa
During the night, there had been some quite heavy rain, and in our tent we awoke very happy to still be nice and dry. Unfortunatelty, the same didn't apply to all of our group, Giacomo and Laura had to abandon tent in the middle of the night, after it turned into a swimming
The highest point
Proof that we all reached the pass at 4,600m pool! A few others got wet too, and there were plenty of sleeping bags on the line as we had breakfast.
Todays trekking took us out of the mountains, and down into the cloud forest. It was a completely different experience, as instead of cold, we were now having to cope with intense heat. Oh, and mosquitoes. The blighters. Along the way, there were several slightly unstable bridges to cross, and it was a minor miracle that none of us took a plunge. Unfortunately, I started having a few problems with blisters, and at one point my left calf became very painful, to the point that it needed a couple of paracetemol before I could start going again.
Therefore, it was a great relief when we reached our lunch spot, and a very pleasant surprise when Pio told us that that was the end of the days trekking, as we were going on an excursion to some nearby hot springs. These really were incredible, and the hot water definitely did wonders for my calf. Afterwards, our chef had prepared a huge banquet for us, of rice, pasta, chicken drumsticks, pizza and vegetables. A job very well done sir.
My offering to the mountain
It seems the done thing at the top is to build a large pile of rocks. My pile was slightly smaller than average Tea was followed by an evening of playing cards, and Chris, the self appointed morale gauge of the group, soon declared that this was the morale highpoint of the entire trek.
Day 4: Santa Teresa - Aguas Caliente
So to the last day of the trek. In contrast to the last 3 days, where from the off we were trekking through beautiful areas, whether they be in the jungle or up in the mountains, during the first half hour today we walked through a town, then crossed a building site. Nice.
However, things soon improved, as we followed the valley of the famous (Pio's words) Urambamba river up towards Hydroelectrica. Pio was setting a furious pace, in some ferocious heat, and it was all we could do just to keep in touch with him. We weren't quite sure of the reason for this, as for the last few days his pace had been much slower.
Our final lunch was taken at Hydroelectric, and after this we all opted to walk the final 2 hours to Aguas Caliente, rather than take the train. It would have undoubtedly been cheating to take the train, but had we known
Salkantay day 2
The rains were coming in beforehand that the last 2 hours would be walking all the way down the train tracks, there might have been some takers for the lazy way out. Despite the fact that it was all flat, these 2 hours were 2 of the hardest of the trek, as it was very hard to keep a good walking rhythm when you're trying to balance on railway sleepers.
Nevertheless, tired and weary we arrived into Aguas Caliente, and I had my celebratory snickers and ice cream. My snickers was slightly battered after having been carried for 4 days, but it still tasted fantastic! After a much needed hot shower and change of clothes, we headed out for a meal and some drinks before retiring for an early night. Apparently we had to get up early the next day to go to this place called Machu Picchu. Someone told me its quite famous.
Stewart
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