Day 0 - We had a brief meeting in Cusco where we learned about our trip and met the other hikers in our group. Our guide was named Ian. He spoke excellent English was jovial and full of energy. There were two other couples traveling together and one other man.
Day 1- hike to Salkantay Lodge
The van picked us up from our hotel in Cusco around 8am and we headed to an ancient archeological site called Killarumiyoq. It was a really large site, but Ian just took us to see the three highlights.
 |
| Old Incan cave with drawings on the wall |
 |
| Killarumiyoo |
 |
| Templo de la Fertilidad |
We then had lunch at a local farm and then were dropped off at our first trailhead. We hiked up a road for a short distance and then up through a field. It was cool with lots of cloud cover but we did see a few glimpses of the glaciers
 |
| First glimpse of Mt Humantay |
As Peru is just coming out of rainy season, there have been a lot of mudslides and the Fire and Rescue team was scheduled to take us over a section of the trail. All of us were required to wear hard hats. There were definitely some tricky parts and it was super muddy. 2 people (including Filip) fell from the slick mud within 5 seconds of each other. Fortunately no one was hurt.
 |
| Donning our hard hats |
Just before we got to the lodge we the skies cleared and we had beautiful views of Salkantay. The total hike was about 4-5 mi and the lodge was at 12,705 feet.
 |
| In front of Mt Salkantay just before we got to the lodge |
The Salkantay lodge was the largest of the four Mountain Lodges with 12 guest rooms. When we arrived there was another group that had been there the previous night but we had the lodge to ourselves the second night.
Day 2 - hike to Humantay Lake
Our start time for our second hike was at 8am. The morning was crisp and we had a heard of llamas and alpacas on the lodge grounds when we started.
 |
| We had great weather for our second hike |
The hike itself was great but more crowded with people, horses, people on horses, and trash than we would have liked. Fortunately Ian had some insider knowledge and guided us a spot with an amazing view but very few people.
After enjoying the lake, Ian invited us to come sit in a circle because Santos, one of the local men who had accompanied us on the hike, wanted to perform an ancient ritual to wish us well. It began by all of us wearing silly hats and holding cocoa leaves while he spoke to us in Quechua. He then took our leaves back and buried them together on the mountain.
 |
| Getting ready for our ceremony |
 |
| Santos burying our cocoa leaves on the mountain |
Day 3- hike to Wayra lodge
We had an early start today as this hike is supposed to be the hardest, around 7.5 miles with highest elevation at 15,252ft at the pass. It was straight up followed by straight down. Ian had everyone prepare an extra breakfast sandwich (or two) for a break and gave everyone a hard boiled egg with salt to carry. At the first significant break, we asked if we should eat our eggs and he quickly said “No!”, but then softened it to, “You can, but I am saving mine until after we get over the pass.” From that point forward it became a joke about when we could eat the egg- and we were really looking forward to it.
The hike was tough but we were pleased with our ability to do it. We could definitely feel the altitude and had a giggle at how hard it was for us to count 14 switchbacks. Filip had two opportunities to fly his kite, once in a valley about half up and again at the top.
 |
Llamas and alpacas on the lawn when we started our hike
 | On the way up
|
|
 |
| Ruth and Micki taking a break |
 |
| The wind was perfect for the kite |
 |
Salkantay
|
 |
| Horses at the top |
 |
Filip demonstrating his yo-yo skills at the 15,000 feet
Prepared to hike down after it got very cold at the top |
 |
| Lake just below the high point |
About 30 minutes after passing the lake we got to the final resting stop…and it was time to enjoy our eggs. Filip pulled his out of the bag and was making a big show of it and then suddenly he dropped the egg and it rolled away, he turned to get it but it bounced and continued to bounce straight down the mountain. Everyone offered him their egg (including Ian, who had been talking about the egg for two days) but he was too proud to accept.
We arrived at the Wyra lodge and had a quick lunch and then took a soak in the hot tub. Because our lunch was late and there was going to be large meat meal for lunch tomorrow, the staff fixed pizza in their brick oven for dinner which we all enjoyed.
Day 4 - hike to Collpa lodge
Today´s hike was about 5.5 miles and mostly downhill into the cloud forest. It was a really nice hike, although with rain for the middle third of the hike. We took the lead for most of the day and we both felt great- both cardio (although it was downhill) and our joints (which was a pleasant surprise, for Micki at least). When we arrived at Collpa lodge we were treated by the staff who had prepared a massive lunch in an outdoor underground oven, with a second opportunity to try guinea pig, although we both stuck to the other options.
 |
| In the rain |
Colpa lodge, like Wayra lodge, had 6 guest rooms along a long hall with a couple of steps up in between each room and in the evening the lined the steps with votives.
Day 5 - Hike from Colpa Lodge to Lucma Lodge
The hike from Colpa Lodge started off with a long, steep downhill to a road that crossed over rapids and then we began a long steep ascent. We saw several others hikers on this section, most (if not all) were 20-30 years younger than us and while several hiked around us we could hold our own with many.
 |
| About half way down to the road |
 |
From the bridge
Rapids
One of the many waterfalls on the way back up
We passed a passion fruit farm along the hike
Different from the other hikes so far, this hike had multiple small snack shops with large areas for resting and bathrooms. We ran into some of the other hikers we had seen earlier in the day taking a break.
We eventually started back down to cross the river on a low bridge - again with the assistance of the Fire and Rescue crew given the recent land slides - and then had another steep climb back up to the road. We walked along the road for about 40 minutes and then were met by a van that carried us about 3 miles and dropped us at the bottom of an old Inca trail. The last 25 minutes were uphill in the shade through the coffee plants until we got to Lucma Lodge. Like the previous two lodges this one had 6 guest rooms, but these were arranged on the second floor with a terrace looking over the main floor. We liked this one the best and also thought it was best managed of the four - but that could have been because it was less remote than the other three. |
Day 6 - Hike from Lucma Lodge to Hydro electric station
There was a massive rain storm overnight and we woke up really worried about the weather. It wasn't raining when we started but it looked like it might. It was also really muddy. Ian said this was the second most challenging hike and we also had a time constraint as we had a train to catch. Starting around 7000ft we climbed to 9000 feet over about 3 miles.
 |
| On the way up |
Once we crested we started the challenging hike down to under 6000 ft over 1.5 miles - made even more technical with thick mud from the rains. One the way down we stopped at a couple of plateaus. One had archeologic remains and Ian educated us on structures of the buildings, and then the clouds parted and we could see Machu Picchu across the valley.
 |
| Machu Picchu across the valley |
Once we finished the steep descent we crossed a narrow pedestrian bridge and had about 40min of Peruvian flat left before we got to the train station.
Filip doing the dance over the pedestrian bridge
We walked along the road until we reached the train tracks surrounded by multiple tourist shops and open-air restaurants on each side. We went up to the second floor of one of the restaurants where we had a private section overlooking the tracks. Ian passed out our box lunches which we enjoyed while we watched the rain that started just after we arrived.
The train took us to Aguas Calientes - the town at the base of the Machu Picchu. There are no cars in Aguas Calientes and the only way in and out is by train. We stayed in the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel. The bellmen of the Inkaterra met us just out side the train station to take our bags and then directed us through the South-of-the-Border-like shops that we had to walk through to get to the hotel. The Inkaterra was much bigger than the lodges we had been enjoying and it had two fairly large hot tubs - one that was very hot and one that was moderately hot. We sat in the hot one in the rain before dinner.
Day 7 - Machu Picchu
We had a very early start - meeting at 6:20 in the lobby (after checking out) to head to the line for the bus that went up to Machu Picchu. We had tickets for "Circuit 2" at 7am. Ian couldn't join us but introduced us to our guide for the day, named Beto who we followed around for the next 2.5 hours while he described Inka-life in Machu Picchu along with many theories about how they did it (one of which was aliens). Unfortunately the rain began while we standing in line for the bus and was intermittent for our entire tour and it was Easter Sunday so the crowds were immense.
Machu Picchu from top of "Circuit 2"
 |
Our group (from the left): Scott, Gary, Ruth, Melinda, Filip and Micki
|
 |
Llamas on the terraces at Machu Picchu
|
 |
| Lone tree - planted in honor of one of the care-takers |
 |
| Temple of the condor |
After our tour we met Ian at the hotel restaurant for lunch and then we got on the train going to the opposite direction to Ollentaytambo. The train ride was about 2 hours and we were (semi) entertained by the train-attendants who were walking up and down the aisle doing a fashion show of clothes made from llama and alpaca wool. (We were really surprised by how much they sold).
After we arrived at the station we were met by a car and had a long drive back to our Cusco hotel where they greeted us as if we were family when we walked in the door.
Overall we had a great time on the Salkantay trek. The hikes were a lot of fun (apart from the trash), our guide was great and we lucked out having a group of people who had comparable hiking skills and genuinely seemed to like each other.
Comments
Post a Comment