Hi,
Personally I have no problem carrying gear, and would have preferred to do it that way, but after my partner turned back in the Alpamayo trek, we decided to hire porters instead. We managed to do that without getting into a group per se, but it required lots of haggling, and I wouldn't recommend it.
The salkantay route is fairly obvious with a map (you can get one in Cusco), and I think it's described in the guide books.
There are villages and established camps throughout where you can get water, buy food, etc. I would still treat or filter the water on the route, even if it comes out of a tap (it all seemed improvised).
I would rate it as fairly easy, with the only hard part being the salkantay pass which is at altitude.
It took us four days (three days of walking, one day in machu pichu etc), synchronized up to the group. Most of the group's days were short, but it was a good pace for my partner.
If you start early and walk fast I think it can be a two day trek, either going over the pass on the first day or having a long final day.
There are lots of hostels in Cusco, where you should easily be able to find partners if you're outgoing. I personally didn't like the loki backpackers hostel, I thought it was overpriced and kind of boring, but can't remember the name of the hostel where we ended up eventually.
There is bus service to the village where you start the trek (fairly cheap, ask your hostel about it).
Lastly, as for what I thought of it - i'm a bit of a misanthrope and I thought this was a bit too busy. I much preferred the Huaraz area. I did the Alpamayo trek with no guides/mule drivers, with two austrians and an israeli I met there and it was fantastic despite the atrocious weather, it was pretty challenging so there were very few people there. The cusco area in general is much busier, but as long as you don't mind that it should be fun.
The scenery is great, on that one trek you start in a hilly area, go up the pass into an alpine terrain with two very impressive peaks, and then descend into a much warmer area, almost like a rain forest. There are also hot springs in the end.
Good luck
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