Salkantay Shenanigans

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After a couple of days in Cusco acclimatising to the altitude, recovering from passport related trauma, and stocking up on tacky souvenirs, we set off on the Salkantay trail across the Andes towards Machu Picchu.

We had a great group of co trekkers and were lucky to have an excellent guide and a cook who was a genius at creating fantastic food using only a camping stove and any unfortunate chickens who happened to cross his path!

The first day we hiked up a few thousand metres which was knackering in the heat and altitude. We arrived at our campsite at the base of the Salkantay mountain more than ready to hit the tents. We were up at 5am the next day to begin the climb up to the highest point, around 4600m, which was again really hard, a good test of physical fitness and oxygen intake for anyone. There was a great sense of achievement and relief at the top, although we still had another 3 days of walking before the finish. About an hour before we reached our campsite that night it started raining really hard which soaked us and our tents. We arrived at the campsite and sat huddled under a wooden shelter, fortunately able to drink some very welcome beers while our tents were put up in what now resembled a lake in the middle of the camping field!

On the third day we walked through the jungle and arrived at our campsite in Santa Teresa looking forward to the promised hot springs. They were great for aching limbs especially when you haven´t washed for 3 days worth of hiking up mountains! What we didn´t enjoy was the mosquito welcoming committee which attacked us both as we got out of the water. We both had too many bites to count and the itching was horrendous!

We then got a bus and hiked for about 3 hours to reach Aguas Calientes which is the village at the foot of the Machu Picchu mountain. A much awaited shower and a few beers were very welcome that night, although we were all having trouble walking especially up hills or stairs! This wasn´t good the next morning when we got up at 4am to hike up the hill to Machu Picchu but we all survived and it was well worth it as you can see from the pictures. We even had enough energy left to climb Huayna Picchu which is the (very steep) mountain next to Machu Picchu from where we got great views.

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Photos

Salkantay Mountain
looked quite nice from a distance

Halfway there
Our group on the way up the mountain

At the top
Only 3 more days walking to Machu Picchu!