Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu

Trekking for 5 days and 40 miles through Salkantay Pass to Machu Picchu

Adventure

Machu Picchu. Even the name conjures images of ancient Incan ruins shrouded in mist, hidden atop the lush mountains of the Peruvian Andes. While many choose the famous Inca Trail to reach this UNESCO World Heritage site, there’s another path, lesser-known but equally rewarding: the Salkantay Trail.

Into the Wild: Beginning our Journey (Day 1)

After an early morning departure from Cusco, our journey began in the sleepy town of Mollepata. The first day was a warm-up of sorts, allowing us to get acquainted with our group and guides, and prepare ourselves mentally for the challenge ahead.

Before we set off, our tour guide, Freddy, led us through some team icebreakers so that we could get further acquainted. He asked us to come up with a team name as well and although there were a couple of good suggestions like “Seth” (proposed by Seth), we eventually agreed on Salpacas (a portmanteau of Salkantay and Alpacas).

We began the day with a 7km trek from Challacancha to Soraypampa. It was relatively flat and was a good way to acclimate to lack of oxygen in the atmosphere. About a mile into the hike, we were greeted with views of the mountain range we would eventually pass through. The video below shows us near the trailhead and we hiked to the base of the snow-covered mountain in the distance.

Tour guide Freddy is a jovial character who is extremely knowledgeable about the history, geography, fauna, and flora of the region. As we walked along, we got to take acclimation breaks, often while he edified us about the panoply of medicinal herbs that lined the trail. Most of these plants would not have warranted a second glance to the untrained eye, but in just a few miles of the trek, we had enough remedies to fill a western medicine cabinet; salves ranging everything heartburn to kidney failure. One of the most commonly associated medicines of Peru is the fabled Coca leaf, with medicinal properties like increased energy and altitude sickness prevention. Freddy, like many of the guides in the Andes, carried a small handwoven bag full of the coca leaves and munched on them as we walked.

After a relatively easy first day of hiking, we descended down into the valley below the snowcapped mountain from the video above. We arrived at camp which consisted of 20+ glass domes and a large central cabin with a full kitchen and multiple large tables inside; glamp life was already treating us well. Freddy showed us all to our respective abodes and asked us to rally at the cabin for lunch. After a 4AM departure from Cuzco and a couple hours of hiking, we were famished. Lunch consisted of a 4 course meal, but the main course was local mountain trout wrapped around onions and covered in a light citrus sauce. IT WAS AMAZING. We ate very well on this trip; breakfasts and dinners were always multi-course, healthy, and locally sourced.

Humantay Lake: A Gem in the Mountains

Now, we had thought the day was wrapping up and we got through without pushing ourselves too much on the first day, but Freddy had a surprise for us. The following day was going to be the hardest day of the entire trek, so to test the mettle of our group, he recommended we hike up to Humantay Lake. This hike is only 3 km round trip, but it is straight up. Freddy instructed us to walk at our own pace and not to walk as a group so that naturally our differing stamina levels would stratify the group as we ascended. It was brutal. At 4000 meters in altitude, we only had 60% of the oxygen that you get at sea level, and you saw it in the fatigue levels of the group.

I was interested in trying some of the coca leaves that Freddy brought and he happily obliged. As you can imagine, they are very earthy tasting and generally weren’t very palatable to me. He instructed that if chewing the leaves, one should break them down with just a few bites, then pouch them around the gum line, sort of like how people do with chewing tobacco. Then, after 10 or so minutes, chew them again and repeat the process until there isn’t much left. I tried this for about 30 minutes and I did experience a bit of an energy boost, but the salient feeling was my tongue going a little numb which I didn’t enjoy much, so I spat it out and focused back on trying not to die on this side quest of a hike.

I made it to the top first (coca leaf power?) and it was about 45 minutes until the final straggler made it up. Our group was all reasonably athletic, but Freddy’s gauntlet had its intended stratifying effect. He now had a better idea of who would survive the hike tomorrow and who would need alternative accommodations to the top.

We were greeted with an azure blue, glacier-fed lake nestled in a raised valley that dropped off on both sides. This landscape can look terribly harsh with it’s rocky peaks sharply jutting up and very little organic matter to support an ecosystem. We spent about an hour up there exploring the lake, taking pictures, and resting before descending back down for dinner.

Dinner was another feast, this one hard-earned after the Humantay hike, but the main event this evening wasn’t the food, rather, people starting to show the symptoms altitude sickness. The huffing and puffing of the afternoon hike had started to affect people across multiple groups, and the guides had to bring out oxygen cannisters to pacify the rising anxiety. Our groups ailments ranged from minor headache on the benign end to one girl getting nauseous and vomiting. I highly recommend bringing electrolyte tablets if you undertake this trek. There are small huts along the trail that sell Gatorade for exorbitant prices ($3-5/bottle, depending on how remote you are), which were life savers for me since I didn’t bring any electrolytes.

For those who felt sick during dinner or lagged behind on the Humantay hike, the next day was going to be rough, but luckily there was an easier alternative to hiking it. At Soraypampa, our base camp for the night, there are mules and small horses that can be rented to take you up to the top of the pass (4,600 meters) for a mere $40USD. 6 people in our group opted to travel by trusty steed the next morning while the remaining 4 of us voted to tough it out and hike. The horse crew got to wake up later and leave later because they’re faster, whereas us walkers had to set off before the sun rose.

We originally had grand plans to play board games after dinner, but we were all exhausted physically and mentally so we retired to our respective domes to stargaze until we fell asleep. (I ended up carrying Bananagrams through the entire trek and we only played a single time).

New Heights: Ascending Salkantay Pass (Day 2)

The real test began as we set off to trek through Salkantay Pass. Mount Salkantay, sacred in Incan mythology, stands tall at 6,271 meters (20,574 ft), casting its snow-capped shadow over the landscape.

On the morning of day 2, we awoke to the sound of Freddy knocking on our sky dome doors. He was our alarm clock every day to make sure that the we were on schedule, and he always brought coca tea to kickstart our mornings. Although I think it might have just been a placebo effect, it was a nice way to start the freezing cold mornings.

At night and early mornings it’s only 20-30° F so everything (including us) was froze when we departed from camp, but during the day got up to ~60° F so most of us eventually stripped down into t-shirts and shorts. Efficient layering was a must. The terrain was generally well-trodden with a few patches of ice that slowed the walkers down, but the horses didn’t seem to mind one bit. Interestingly, there are tons of what seem like wild horses that roam this valley, but they’re actually domesticated and will always return home each night. Great place to be a horse if you don’t mind ferrying humans every once in awhile.

Freddy also brings a traditional Incan flute with him as he treks, so we were treated to some peaceful songs as we began the arduous hike.

After a couple of hours, we made it to the first stopping point for some pictures.

The 3-hour ascent was tough, with the oxygen levels down to ~54% of that at sea level, but after a lot of sweat, steps, and getting passed by the horse team, we made it to Salkantay Pass. After a photo shoot, the horse team and the walking team regrouped to eat sandwiches and drink coca tea while Freddy educated us on Incan astral philosophy.

At the top of Salkantay pass, we were privileged with long sweeping views down two valleys created by glaciers long gone. The valley we came up from was harsh, grey, and cold, but the grass and the ‘wild’ horses didn’t seem to mind. The valley would descend down next was a warmer, punctuated with large boulders as far as the eye could see, and seemingly devoid of any flora or fauna.

From the chilly heights of the pass, after a few hours of walking, we descended into a warm cloud forest, a landscape dotted with orchids, hummingbirds, and the music of gushing streams. The diversity of scenery in this region is astounding.

Wayracmachay: Lunch in the Cloud Forest

After walking through the desolate Salkantay Pass and down through the boulder field, we arrived started to see a change in scenery. I don’t know what the altitude was, but suddenly trees started to appear, slowly and small at first, but after a half of a mile the path was lined with deep forest vegetation.

Another half mile down the road we arrived at the sleepy village of Wayracmachay; although calling it a village almost seems a misnomer considering it just consisted two houses and a covered eating area.

Tired from the long morning, we shed our backpacks into a pile near the tented area and shrugged our shoulders to get some of that sweet sweet mobility back.

At this point we were famished and our chef did not disappoint. We ate heaping piles of rice, chicken, and some other foods I don’t know how to describe. We were also served a drink called Chica Morada which is made from ground up purple corn that tastes sweeter than you would imagine for a corn drink.

After lunch we were left to our own devices for a rest period before our descent down to the next camp. There was a makeshift soccer field and another tour group so it didn’t take long to get a game of soccer going between the two groups. I thought that I could take the easy way out and play goalie, but my team had other plans. I thought I’d be able to play competitively, but the lack of oxygen humbled me quickly. After a little while I called it quits and thought I’d take the drone out for a casual spin. Boy was I wrong.

Once my drone was properly stuck in the tree, 20 feet out of reach, the villagers and the tour groups began to rally until there were about 30 spectators. The locals started bringing long sticks to try and knock it loose, but no such luck; they were 5 feet too short and putting someone on my shoulders still wasn’t quite reaching it. Then someone brought out a long, thick rope that I swung wildly up at the branch to try and get some purchase, but again my attempts were in vain. Finally, I went old school. I grabbed the soccer ball and began hucking it up at the tree close to where the drone was stuck, but trying to avoid hitting the drone itself due to the sensitive gimbal electronics in the camera. After 3 people hurled the ball around 20 times and someone tossed a rope Indiana Jones style a few times, I finally got lucky with a granny-style toss scoring a direct hit on the branch. The drone dislodged itself and came tumbling down to earth and I was able to catch it before it hit the ground. No permanent damage and I was up and flying again in a few minutes. Drone recovered, it was time to continue on the journey.

The next couple of hours was almost entirely a long gradual downhill slope, a much needed respite from the treacherous terrain of the morning. Our path followed along the edge that traced a river down below. We followed this route for a few more hours, the pack of people shuffling around as is common along hikes.

At one point I was walking with Freddy and getting to know about his life outside of being a guide. It turns out that he is somewhat of an expert on Incan culture and traditions, and has been asked to speak at conventions in France every couple of years. The conventions focus on general health and wellness, whether that be physical or spiritual. He then offers that he has been training with a Shaman on the ritualistic and psychedelic use of Ayahuasca and that he plans to share his experience with the plant at the upcoming conference. He has undergone this psychedelic ritual hundreds of times and still doesn’t consider himself an expert, but he plans to achieve the level of Shaman someday.

Arrival to Chaullay: A Sight for Sore Eyes (And Legs And Backs)

After what seemed like the longest hike known to mankind (10 hours and 22km), we arrived at Chaullay, our home for the night. Safely nestled between the bosom of the surrounding mountains and at a breathable altitude of 2900m, Chaullay was just the sort of refreshing and peaceful village we were looking for.

We all unloaded our gear into our respective Andean style huts and queued up for a nice hot shower. There was a bit of drama because one of the showers wasn’t functioning well and a guest in another group was not having it, but eventually it was fixed and she was sufficiently assuaged. The showers were also a bit strange because two stalls were right next two each other and there was a circular port hole that connected them. Anyone above 6 foot was eye to eye with the shower partner in the other stall. Nobody seemed to mind though, probably from the exhaustion (or from being too short to notice).

We ate our meals and retired to bed shortly thereafter; to my dismay, still no Bananagrams games played.

Day 3: Agricultural Tourism

Freddy woke us up promptly at 5AM with our coca tea and we prepared for the day. We set off a little later this morning because it was going to be a relatively easy day.

We had descended out of the high altitude zone significantly which made hiking significantly easier and allowed for fruit bearing plants to thrive. We were also greeted by pristine sights as we hiked along the river.

As we walked, we started to see small crop fields adjacent to the path. The forest was dense but that didn’t stop the locals from carving out a space to their crops. The most exciting crop there (for a Californian) was the avocados. They grew rampantly with branches full of fruit hanging over the path. Had we been there a week or two later, we could have gorged ourselves on huge ripe avocados, but instead we let the tree grow in peace.

We passed through a small village on the way that wouldn’t have stood out to me, but Freddy of course had some interesting factoids for us. The one that stuck with me is that there is a flower that many of us have seen before called an Angel’s Trumpet. What I didn’t know is that if you grind it up and make a tea out of it, consumption will result in hallucinations. These plants grow all around the area; there was even a huge tree of them in front of my hostel in the middle of Lima!

Eventually we arrived at a coffee plantation in the middle of the jungle. We got to walk through the entire life cycle of the coffee bean from the fruit body, to bean removal, to roasting, grinding, and brewing. The coffee was super and it was fun to walk through the process from start to finish in just 30 minutes or so. The coffee brewed at this plantation has taken first place multiple times in world coffee competitions out of Seattle and Milan!

After getting our coffee fix in, we headed down to camp to set check into our jungle domes in Lucmabamba.

After a long day of hiking, we had the opportunity to hit a local hot springs. I was imagining a hole in the ground with some hot water and was very surprised to find a resort-esque spa with multiple pools at varying temperatures. It wasn’t quite like something you’d experience in the states, but it was nice to relax the sore muscles. If you choose to visit, make sure to bring mosquito repellent because they were insane here; almost as bad as the Amazon rainforest. Also, turkeys roam the area and are territorial but if you hold your ground they’ll usually back off.

After we got back to the jungle domes, we FINALLY played Bananagrams, but we were so tired that none of us lasted very long and we hit the hay early. 5AM coca tea wake up always comes too soon.

Day 4: First looks at Machu Picchu (Over the mountain to Hidroelectrica and on to Aguas Calientes)

Another day, another coca tea alarm clock. I thought I was getting used to this lifestyle… little did I know, but this was going to be the most difficult (and painful) day for me yet.

We spent the morning ascending straight up from our jungle dome camp up into the hills behind us. There was about 3 hours of unrelenting uphill climb, save for a quick stop at one of those swings that swings out into the abyss off the side of the hill (sadly didn’t get any pics).

At the top of the mountain ridge we were largely shrouded in trees so we could only look down into the valley we had just climbed up from, but luckily I had my drone so I was able to capture a birds eye view. For reference, we came up the left side, and headed down to the right in the photo.

About a half mile down from the top of the hill we visited our first archeological site which was an Incan holy site. All that remains is some of the original walls and a stone channel in the ground that points towards Machu Pichu.

While at the holy site, Freddy instructed us to look out through the valley ahead to see if we could spot anything interesting. It didn’t take long for us to start realizing that off in the distance you could spot a man-made archeological site. MACHU PICCHU SPOTTED. It was ~3 miles away as the crow flies, but we wouldn’t be seeing it in person for another 24 hours. Now, at this point I knew I wouldn’t be able to fly my drone once we got there because it’s a geo-location locked no-fly zone. But, if I flew from this hillside, I wouldn’t be in the no-fly zone. It was farther than I’d every flown my drone, but there is no electronic interference out here and the atmosphere is thin so I figured I had a chance. Shoutout to DJI for making an absolute legend of a sub-250g drone.

Now, at this point the trip takes a bit of a turn… Freddy had joked that the hill we climbed was called Gringo Killer Hill, which I assumed was due to how steep it was to ascend. Wrong… It was because of the back side of the hill… As we started to descend from the holy site, I noticed a pain in my right knee and it immediately reminded me of a pain I had felt 10 years before, running with a Couch Surfing host in Germany. Within about a quarter mile I was already limping, and another quarter mile later I was completely reliant on my left leg and a hiking pole as a crutch. Unfortunately, we were an eternity away from the end of the hike. I went from being someone in the front of the pack to being assisted by Freddy on the way down. It was honestly a bit of downer because I couldn’t focus on the beauty of the hike at this point; all my attention was on trying not to stumble.

Eventually we made it to Hidroelectrica which gets it’s name from a hydroelectric plant nearby. The town itself was just a small collection of buildings and we ate at one of the restaurants in the hills. The food was decent, but I was just glad to have a brief respite from the pain of walking. To avoid complaining for the rest of the post, just know that I was in pain for the rest of the trek and well into the following week of travel. C’est la vie.

From Hidroelectrica we continued down along the river towards the entrance to the entrance to the historical sanctuary where Machu Picchu resides.

Once we were in the sanctuary, we had a short pit stop at a small town that served as an end-of-the-line for a train. We, being the travelers we were, opted to walk along the tracks instead of taking the train (much to the dismay of my knee). This section of the stretch seemed to stretch on forever because we were dead tired at this point.

As we neared the end of our trek, the tiny town of Aguas Calientes welcomed us. A hotspot for weary travelers, this town is the gateway to Machu Picchu. Here, we had hotel accommodations which meant showers for the first time in 4 days.

We were all exhausted at this point, but Freddy asked that we all make it out to dinner because he was going to order us the classic Cuzco drink – the Pisco Sour. I don’t have any pictures from dinner, but we happened to be there during a holiday that celebrates Machu Picchu, so there was a lot of dancing in the streets.

After dinner we all retired to our hotel, exhausted, but proud of what we had accomplished that day.

Day 5: The Grand Finale: Sunrise at Machu Picchu

To get to Machu Picchu from Aguas calientes, you can walk up the 1600 vertical steps from town to Machu Picchu. OR, you can take the bus for a few bucks. Considering the shape my knee was in after the Gringo Killer Hill, I opted for the bus; I was in no condition to walk at this point. The rest of the group took the bus as well, but because I lagged on buying my ticket, I was on a different circuit than them so I didn’t see them for most of the day anyway.

Freddy went with the rest of the group, but he secured a personal guide for me on my alternate circuit and she was a gem. She had been in the tourism industry forever, but had recently retired, only coming out of retirement as favors to her friends. Unfortunately I have forgotten her name, but she was a sweet older women with a big smile on her face.

To enter Machu Picchu you need a ticket for the park entrance which will dictate the circuit you take as well as the time you can enter. Freddy, an experienced guide, booked the perfect times for everyone. I entered the architectural site at 7AM and the sun rose at 7:30AM. The view was INCREDIBLE. I had honestly thought that Machu Picchu was going to be overhyped, but I was happily mistaken. The sun slowly rose over the mountain in the distance casting dancing rays of light into the valley below as it refracted through the thin clouds in the atmosphere. It was beautiful and serene with the backdrop of the green mountains and floating clouds.

After taking in the first look at Machu Picchu, my guide led me through the ruins and provided context to all of the different buildings and masonry. She also took me to Huchu’y Picchu (the smaller mountain on the left side of the photo) where I was able to get a bird’s eye view of the ruins. I had originally planned to scale the ‘death staircase’ which is a series of steps carved into the mountain in the middle of the above picture, but it was full because I had signed up so late, plus my knee wasn’t going to allow it anyway.

Along the trail, we stumbled upon ancient Incan pathways, remnants of the vast network that once connected the entire Incan empire. Machu Picchu, with its temples, terraces, and mysteries, was the perfect climax to our adventure. Walking through its ancient alleys, one can’t help but feel a connection to the Incas who once called this place home.

The Return Home: A Journey of a lifetime

As we made our way back to Cusco, taking the scenic train route this time, the memories of the Salkantay Trek flashed before our eyes. It’s a journey not just of physical endurance, but of connection – with nature, history, and oneself.

For those considering this trek, here’s my advice: Embrace every moment, every challenge, and every view. The Salkantay Trek is not just a route to Machu Picchu; it’s a journey into the heart of the Andes. Safe travels!