The raddest trek EVER

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“Oh right, you’re doing the Salkantay trek..? That’s tough!” Was the response everyone gave us when we told them we weren’t doing the Inca trail but an alternative instead. We’d found out in Brazil that the Inca trail was full until July (!!!) and that you need to be booking about 4 months in advance and not the 6 weeks we had thought. Having initially felt pretty gutted about this we looked in to the other treks available from Cusco (the Inca capital of the world) and realised that the Inca trail may not be all that great anyway! 500 people a day on one trail seemed a little ridiculous alongside that £300 price tag!! We’d met a few people that had done Salkantay and said it was beautiful and definitely worth it so we booked with a company called Hiking Peru (I’d read someone else’s blog on here and that’s who they went with!). The trek was very cheap and we’d been warned against this but the blog had said it was good so we were happy with that!

So at 4.30am on 27th April we were collected from our hostel (having spent the night before frantically getting an extra blanket for the cold we were warned against!!). When we got in to the minibus we were a little worried that all we could hear being spoken was Spanish and we thought perhaps we were going to be completely unlucky with our group!! Fortunately we were proved wrong and had the ‘raddest’ trek group in the history of Salkantay (as quoted by our Californian surfer compatriots Mark and Ryan!). We were joined by Joe and Tara from Oz, three guys from Argentina and some crazy Spanish (who sang, clapped and generally ran for the entire 5 days!!).

Day one -
The toughest day for me and I quickly realised I was going to be the slowest in the group (which had been my fear!). We walked 21k in the sun along what we called ‘Peruvian flat’ which basically means a slight incline which is HARD! We also took shortcuts up steep terrain which I didn’t like! As we were at altitude i just couldn’t get my breath easily compared to everyone else and had to stop fairly often. I had with me my wooden walking sticks which cost £1 each (which everyone recommended getting) and thankfully we were able to give our bigger bags to the horses to carry so we didn’t have too much by way of weight on our back. I found out that some people have turned back on day one (as day two was supposed to be harder) so I felt a ‘little’ better. This isn’t trekking and camping as we know it though - we had our group, two guides (Edwin and Eddy who were excellent) and then a team of horseman and porters who carried all the tents, food, our bags etc etc and then when we pitched up for lunch a whole camp was waiting for us including a two course meal of soup and some kind of meat and rice dish!! As we reached our first nights camp at over 3500m we had stunning views of the snowcapped Salkantay mountain which we were going to be climbing tomorrow! This was our coldest night of the trek but we were both pretty snug in our tent with alpaca socks, hat and blanket on top of our 5 layers and sleeping bag (thank you MCD for my pressie)!!

Day two -
We were woken at 05.00 by coca tea being bought to our tents!! The views were stunning - snow capped mountains hidden amongst the morning clouds. We had our breakfast and all joined in a group warm up to prepare for the day 19k hike up Salkantay!! Thankfully it wasn’t all up - the first four hours were the killers as we trekked to 4650m above sea level to the summit (well what we call the summit!). Again I was the slowest and also battling with a bad tum and Steve struggling with his knee it was pretty hard! A number of people opt to get a horse up the first 4 hours but neither of us wanted to do that so I just decided that being slow was going to have to be ok! Along the way we saw Condors which are quite rare, but on seeing a cow stuck in some mud at a lake, half dead, we decided that the condors had spotted their pray and would swoop down and take the cow!! That’s why they were circling us!! GRRR!! Anyway, I may have been slow but we still reached the top in time and it was a weird feeling!! Relief mostly! The views were stunning, unlike anything I’ve seen! We performed a ceremony to Pachamama (mother earth) and made a wish before we started to head back down to our lunch spot! The walk down was a piece of cake for both of us and I much preferred it (I think all those crazy dance moves on a Tuesday night saved my knees girlies!) Ha ha! We spent lunch deciding that we were in fact the raddest, most hardcore trek team and that all other treks were weak in comparison. We designed our own language consisting of cavemen grunts and crazy eye movements which is an indication to anyone that ‘yes, we have in fact done the Salkantay trek. And you?’ I think it was the altitude but it made us laugh!! The second night we camped in the jungle, chased local pigs (without knowing about the flu!) and all felt pretty smug about the day we’d just had!

Day three -
A much easier day trekking through jungle - just 14k today! We headed off early again - about 7am and made our way through mud, heat and waterfalls. We walked through small communities and enjoyed the more relaxed feel. Day two had been 10 hours of trekking and today was only 6. Part of the day was also by bus as otherwise it would have been too long! Let’s say it was an interesting bus journey over wooden bridges (with no sides) and waterfalls that went across the road. Once we arrived at camp we were all over excited about the thought of the hot springs which were in the local town next to us and at about 3pm we were picked up by a local bus and headed out to relax. And relax we did - the springs were amazing! The little bath me and Steve are sat in was so hot I could only manage a couple of minutes! We also got to shower in the baths in a special shower room - little seats with natural spring water coming out of the rocks!! Amazing! That night we sat around the camp fire and Steve and I made some cool pictures with the torch (it kept quite a few of us in the group entertained for a couple of hours trying to get it right and some of the local kids who were fascinated with the camera viewer.

Day four -
Our easiest day where we headed to Agaus callientes (the town at the base ofMachu Picchu) ready for the big one on day 5. The walk was pretty straightforward and for part was along a nice flat rail line! We could see Machu Picchu from the base at a different angle, perched way up high in the mountains and it really bought home what it must have been like back when the Incas lived there! So remote and isolated! We were all so relived to arrive in the town and all feeling pretty exhausted from the last few days! Luckily we were staying in a basic (!) hotel so we could shower! We had our final dinner together, got given our entry tickets for MP and headed to bed ready for the 04.30 start the next day.

Day 5 -
MACHU PICCHU. Lets just say that it does live up to it pictures, the hype and everything else you read about it, it really is a cool place! The walking up the 1700 steps at 04.30 is not cool however - hot, picthc black and bloody hard work!! I again was a little slow so we arrived at the same time as the first bus (06.00!). There was no way we were queuing behind the slackers after walking up so we just pushed in with the rest of the group!! Salkantay, grrr! So at 06.00 the gates open and in you go!! We headed straight to get tickets for Wayna Picchu (the big mountain you see in the classic MP photos) as only 400 people a day are able to go up. Steve climbed up WP at about 11am but I was feeling pretty tired at this point so opted for the smaller one on the left hand side of the photos - the view was just as good!! The city was covered in cloud until about 13.00 however and I was beginning to think that our luck in weather had run out! Up to that point we’d had 2 days of rain in 2 months and today was really a day for good weather so I was starting to worry! But proved wrong, out came the sun and just completed the whole experience. I could write so much more but i’m sure this is getting boring now so just enjoy the pictures!!!

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Photos

The locals
Hopefully bath time soon!

Comments

[Heather]

Amazing!
You did it! Well done...the photos are stunning xxxxxx

[USMC_Mike]

Beginning the Trek
I am going to be doing this independently. How would you describe the marking of the trails? Are they easy to distinguish? How about leaving Mollepata for the trail. Are there tolls we need to avoid? I have been researching this trek and my only concern is getting off the trail and losing a couple of days. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Mike