Blogs from Salkantay Trail, Cusco, Peru, South America - page 8

We´ve just got back from our Salkantay trek, and it was amazing! Jamie and I agree that it was the best thing we´ve done so far on this holiday, an incredible 5 days. So here´s the rundown... Day 1. We woke up at 4.30 to catch a bus to Mollepata. There was a bit of drama when some guys came up to us and said they would take us to our guide, but didn´t know our names or those of our guides (or the company). We kept asking them in Spanish, and they kept saying "Si, si!" but not actually answering any questions. Eventually after about 15 minutes of us refusing to get into their car, we were able to sort things out and (embarrassingly) they did turn out to be from our guiding company and ... read more

The Salkantay Trail is an alternative trek instead of the Inca trail which is booked up until late september. The Salkantay trek is a 5 day trek which includes camping in tents for 3 nights and staying in a hostel on the 4th night with the final destination Machu Picchu. Day 1 - The first morning we were collected from our hostel at 4am and brought by bus for 3 hours to Mollepata. There we met our 2 cooks, 2 horsemen and guide that would be with us for the the next 5 days. We left Mollepata walking up hill in the heat for 3 and half hours to lunch. Food was really good on this trek. After lunch we walked for another 3 and half hours to our first camp site at Soraypampa which was ... read more

when the inca trail is booked out months in advance and comprises mostly a beautiful stone pathway, largely uphill for 3 days, the best thing to do is choose a trekking option that involves spectacular mountain and jungle scenery and a slightly less harsh route for the feet. this is how we chose the salkantay to machu picchu trek. 5 days, 4 nights and trusty steeds that would carry 8kgs of our gear. nice one. day 1: pretty darn cold, straight through hot to freezing .... awake before the sparrows and the rooster has even thought of crowing and endure cold shower before putting on every item of warm clothing i own. for a general idea, this comprises a thermal singlet, thermal long sleeve, thicker thermal long sleeve, fleece, rainproof jacket, 2 pairs of socks - ... read more

A combination of the fact that the 'classic' inca trail is booked up many months in advance and we'd heard that this route was over crowded meant that we opted for an alternative inca trek to Macchu Picchu via a mountain called Salkantay. This route is longer and climbs higher than the classic trek - our tour guide (Victor from a company called 'United Mice') described us as brave hikers. This trek was for 5 days and 4 nights, covering 77kms in total and wide variety of landscapes and ecosystems. The United Mice team were excellent - all our gear was carried by their porters and mules, our campsite prepared in advance of our arrival each day, and the food at each stop was top notch. Our fellow trekkers were a good bunch as well - ... read more

4 Day Trek Hi Everyone, So its the last week and i have just returned from Macchu Pichu, but before you can read and see the pictures from there you have to see how i got there first. 4 Day Trek Basically i set out to walk the Urubamba Mountains for 27 Kilometers over 4 days, this consisted of walking over the highest passable mountain peak of 4700 meters high. The days are hot and the nights cold but i was looking forward to the challenge of seeing if i could actually do what i had talked about doing since i got here. Mountain walking is strangly liberating, and these mountains are so peaceful that you really appriciate the open spaces of the mountains. It is fantastic to look down deep valleys from really high up ... read more