Alternative to the Inca Trail....Salkantay

---

Unfortunately it was imposable to book on to the Inca trail as you have to book up to 10 weeks in advance and as a backpacker its impossible to book something so far in advance as you don’t really know where your going to be and don’t want to be restricted to a time schedule. Due to this we had to look into an alternative option which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

The Inca trail costs between 150 and 200 pound depending on the company, some at ridiculous prices. So we were expecting to pay the same for an alternative so were pleasantly surprised when the Salkantay trek cost us 85 pound nearly half of what the Inca trail cost and plus Salkantay gives you an extra day and sounds a lot more challenging as the Inca trail distance is 45km and the Salkantay is 78km, so nearly double. I looked at both the itineraries and read lots of different reviews and Salkantay was the better option and the added bonus of not having to book in advance as people only want to do the Inca trail.

For me the Inca trail put me off due to the number of people on the trek at the same time up to 500 hundred people each day and looking at the places you stop at overnight some have even hostels with restaurants and hot showers! For me it no longer sounds like a very authentic trekking experience! I think 10 years ago it would have felt like you were walking in the old Incan footsteps and a great romantic ideology but that feeling has long gone. At least with the Salkantay you are camping in the middle of no where with only llamas as company and are now what the Inca trail used to be like, not with 500 hundred other people! People pay more to be in smaller groups but you end up mixing with so many other groups because everybody is going at different speeds so it doesn’t make that much difference.

Whilst trekking the Salkantay route it was very rare to bump into other tourists and we were usually just left alone to admire the great views. After speaking to our guide Marcus who does both treks we definitely choose the right option. He was saying on the Inca trail you feel like a giant snake trekking along the path and with Salkantay you could walk naked for miles without being seen if you wanted to! I think I know what I would rather do!

For any people still not sure what to pick then read what I did over the 5 days and compare to other peoples experience on the Inca trail

Salkantay Trek - 4 nights, 85 pound per person, 78km of hiking

Day 1 - We had to meet the tour at 4.30am, the earliest yet for any tour. We were very tired and had to wait outside in the freezing cold for a taxi to take us to the bus station, so we could get the local bus to Mollepata 3 hours away, the starting point for our trek at 2800m above sea level.

The start of the trek was easy enough and a good introduction, we got a taste of the amazing scenery that awaited us. We walked through some quaint villages surrounded by fields and green valleys. After 3 hours we stopped for lunch, we were a bit surprised when we got it, everyone had expected a sandwich and a banana, we actually got a 3 course meal of soup, garlic bread, spaghetti bolognaise and fruit for desert to top it off. We were ready for bed after eating all that! Unfortunately we had a further 4 hours of hiking ahead of us. It was all worthwhile though as when we arrived at our camp site we were completely surrounded by snowy mountains and green valleys, with the impressive Volcan Salkantay looming over us at 6271m. It just didn’t feel real; it felt like a dream, maybe altitude was affecting us after all! The beauty of it all seemed to quickly disappear as the sun set, as it was freezing, luckily Marco our guide was on hand with a cup of steaming tea to keep us warm. We were all huddled together in a large tent when he returned, no tea this time, just biscuits and popcorn! An hour later we ate another 3 course meal, not much chance of starving on this trek!

As we headed to our tent for bed we looked up and saw a blanket of stars, the next hour was spent stargazing and freezing! They were so clear the Milky Way looked amazing. We finally got into our sleeping bags, fully clothed with our trusty long johns from Otavalo on. So glad we had them, it was so cold, and not the best nights sleep as we couldn’t get comfy either.

Day 2 - What a perfect start to the day, Marco brought us a cup of tea to wake us up (and defrost us!) , how spoilt did we feel, 3 course meals, breakfast in bed?! Pure luxury! We started hiking at 7.30am, the start of a long and strenuous day. We needed to climb from 3600m to 4800m, the highest point of the trek, a definite test for how we cope at altitude. It was tiring but the views were awesome, we just took our time, stopping every 5 minutes to take photos! The scenery was picture perfect, snowy mountains flanking a green valley complete with a stream running down the centre. We finally arrived at the highest point after a couple of hour’s hard slog. We were absolutely knackered but were rewarded with breathtaking views, ahead of us lay a ring of more snow capped giants and another beautiful green valley. Within 5 minutes of being there Volcan Salkantay sprang into life with a little avalanche, pretty amazing thing to see for the first time. Our travels have brought us next to volcanoes erupting and now an avalanche too. There wasn’t much noise to my surprise, just a rumbling sound, watching the snow crash down the mountain was fantastic. Got it all on film so will show you all when I get home.

After 30 mins of rest we started our descent, the quicker we did it the quicker we could relax at our lunch stop. Yet more amazing scenery awaited us, giant snow capped mountains on either side as we walked down the valley, we descended 1000m to a fairly flat point in the valley where we spotted our lunch camp. Next to the camp was an icy stream running down from the mountain, within seconds our boots were off and our feet were in the glacial water, it felt so nice to cool down our steamy feet, chilling out and taking the views in.

After lunch we had another few hours to walk before we reached our night camp, thankfully it was all downhill through lush forest. When we arrived at the camp we realised it was literally in a local families back garden, complete with resident pig, dog and chickens, very rustic! The place had yet more amazing views, I thought the family must be lucky to live where they live, but I’ve a feeling they don’t look at the views anymore, too busy worrying about the number of tourists coming and how much money they can get from them.

Once the sun had set the temperature dropped dramatically, for some reason I managed to have a worse sleep than the night before, probably something to do with the fact our tent was pitched on a slope, every time I turned over it felt as though I were about to fall off a cliff!

Day 3 - Only half a day of walking today so not too bad, we set off fairly early again and noticed straight away how much the scenery had changed. We’d gone from the snowy mountains of the first day to tall forests and bright greenery everywhere. We also could see various fruit trees, wild passion fruits and tiny wild strawberries, only as big as a finger nail but full of flavour. We stopped for a snack overlooking a waterfall and fast flowing river, a nice place to chill out for a while, the horses seemed to think the same and joined us! We reached our lunch stop, ate, then spent the next 4 hours waiting around for a truck to our next overnight digs, we were all bored and getting impatient at this as we knew there were hot springs where we headed, the time wasted at lunch meant less time there soaking our blistered feet.

The truck finally arrived, and it was literally a truck piled high with wood, locals and now gringos! It was standing room only, legs and arms everywhere, the truck took the old road as far as it could before taking a new road, the reason was that the old road crumbled away in a landslide a couple of months ago, killing several people and destroying houses, it must of been scary as it looked like the whole hillside had collapsed.

We finally arrived at our overnight, it was luxurious compared to our last two, and it had a flushing toilet so no more crouching in bushes! We set off for the hot springs at 6pm, it was already getting dark and the temperature was dropping, when we arrived we stripped off in a matter of seconds before we plunged into the hot water. It was so warm that it reminded me of Fuentes Georginas in Guatemala, the setting was just as nice, a natural pool lit by a single oil lamp. As the stars came out we lay back and floated the tiredness from our bones! It was such a clear night, there were millions of stars to gaze at, possibly the most relaxed and happy I’ve been in a while. After our bath we had another fantastic feed and sat around a camp fire with another group of hikers.

Day 4 - Our last day of hiking, it wasn’t supposed to be too bad, all level ground. Unfortunately Shell was up all night being sick and more! In the morning she was exhausted and not well at all. At breakfast she couldn’t face anything, she was bit gutted as the cook had baked us all a cake, her favourite! One of our group was a Doctor (luckily enough!) so we went to the nearest pharmacy for some antibiotics to sort her out. The mornings walk was around 3 hours to the hydroelectric plant, there was no way Shell could face that so we said bye to everyone and got a collectivo there instead, an hours ride along a pretty dull road, the same one they were walking, thankfully Shell kept control of her stomach and didn’t puke in the truck! When we arrived at the place we were to meet the others Shell sprawled out on a bench and went to sleep, not the comfiest place but there was no where else, proved how bad she felt. I got talking to another tourist in the cafe, oddly enough another Doctor, he was a bit concerned about shell as could tell she looked like death, and he was a nice guy and gave us some more advice. The others met us, ate lunch then continued walking to Aguas Calientes, we took the $8 train there which meant we had another 3 hour wait.

We finally reached Aguas Calientes where Shell crashed out in bed, I decided to visit the famous hot springs. Id been expecting so much after our last hot springs but was really disappointed, they weren’t that hot, only warm and man made pools full of annoyingly loud tourists. Shell looked miles better when I got back so we went to meet everyone for tea. To our amazement it was in a local Italian restaurant, we were hoping for some nice Italian food as we could see the pizzas being freshly made, instead we found our cook working away over his camp stove at the back of the room! So funny, it seemed so stupid that we were in a restaurant and he was cooking on a camp fire!

Day 5 - The final day and what a start it was going to be, we had to be up by 4am to eat breakfast and get the bus up to Machu Picchu. Thankfully Shell was feeling miles better as we queued for the 30min, $6 mini bus to the ruins, the company must make an absolute fortune as the queue was huge and there were loads of the mini buses winding their way up to the ruins. We queued to get in and started to feel a bit disappointed thinking were never going to see anything with all these tourists, scrabbling over the ruins like ants. Once through the gates we could finally see Machu Picchu, it lives up to all the hype, absolutely amazing. They’re bigger than Id expected so the mass of people didn’t really ruin it as Id thought, plus, everybody stayed away from the ruins until after sunrise as we all wanted the same famous shot. We found a place to watch the sunrise and waited, it appeared through a gap in the surrounding mountains and slowly illuminated the ruins. It was such a magical experience and we managed to get loads of fantastic photos.

One of the treks you could do from Machu Picchu was up Waynapicchu, the cone shaped mountain behind the ruins. It was a really steep trek to the summit to see some more Inca ruins and get a great view down onto Machu Picchu, a completely different perspective. The climb was really tiring, the steps were built by the Incas and were at least a foot high and not very wide, we sweated all the way to the top, the views were well worth it though, if you suffer from vertigo its probably not the best place to visit, the ruins are all accessed by more steep steps, some floating out of the actual building with precipitous falls in every direction. See Pics

We also walked to the Inca Bridge, I didn’t think that much of it really, its setting was pretty impressive, cut into a sheer rock face but that’s about it. We found a quiet place along the terraces, away from the crowds to chill out for a while. Before long we were joined by a couple of friendly llamas, munching away on the grass at our feet! By 11am the place was swarming with tourists from Cusco who had come on the train, glad we got there early that’s for sure.

A few weeks after are trek it was voted as one of the seven wonders of the world and not at all surprised, it was a great place and brilliant experience and will remember it for ever.

---