The Salkantay Trek

The trek is a 5 days to Machu Picchu and is named Salkantay because of Salkantay mountain which was sacred to the Incas and still is to many Peruvians.

Day 1

We covered a total of 16km - mostly uphill on a grit road but not too difficult. We arrived at 3900m above sea level, very near the snow line. Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, crackers and popcorn were served (a slightly odd combo but it seemed to work after full day of hiking). The night was not too bad, I slept pretty well but think Sarah found sleep more difficult to come by as it was sooooooo cold and she is not used to sleeping in a tent (Luckily camping in Scotland had given me all the experience I needed!)

Day 2

I awoke to Jana complaining to Max that he took up the whole tent, snored and was just in general a nuisance to share a tent with! A few of the group including the four of us set off early as we had heard this was the hardest day of the trek. Sarah had been a bit worried as she doesn't really like hiking and the guides had been pushing people who felt like this to get on a horse (because they probably received a cut). However Sarah need not have worried despite hitting me with a trekking pole for saying: could she hurry up as I wanted to be at the front, she did really well and was one of the first to make it to the highest point of the trek at 4650m.

The view at the top was amazing one of the best views I have witnessed in my life. We even saw an avalanche coming down Salkantay Mountain which was an awesome sight. For rest of the day we descended down the valley, covering 22km in total for the day.

Day 3

This day was mostly downhill through the yungas (jungle) and we covered about 13km. We had now been descending for many hours and it was getting tiring and some of us agreed we would rather be going uphill! We ended the day by reaching the village of Santa Teresa and going to some hot springs. The hot springs were brilliant and just what the doctor ordered after a 3 days full hiking.

Day 4 & 5

On Day 4 we walked to Aquas Caliente and covered again about 13km and it was great to get a shower for the first time in four days and it was hot which was a major bonus. Day 5 we got up at 4am to start the climb up the steps to Machu Picchu. Aguas Caliente is at 2000m and Machu Picchu is at 2430m so the 1772 steps are quite a hike I managed them in 35 minutes which I was pretty proud of and Sarah managed it in 53 which was still quicker than most.

Machu Picchu was an amazing site; one of the most unbelievable things about it is the way it is just carved out of the mountain. If you look at all the other peaks around Machu Picchu they are pinnacle shaped. Therefore at some point so was the mountain M.P was constructed on! We also climbed Huaynapicchu and got some great views of Machu Picchu below. At the end of the day we were all pretty tired and the 5 days of walking 9 hours a day was catching up with us but we still had to hike down which seemed to take an age! All in all we covered about 80km in total and well deserved a couple of days break!! Next stop Tupiza and Argentina.