At this point I’ve written a lot about the logistics of planning a trip to Peru and my absolute favorite places and things to do. I wanted to write something that would not simply tell you about the best routes and companies to visit Machu Picchu, but something that would truly immerse you in what our experience hiking the Salkantay route in 5 days with Salkantay Trekking was like. Enjoy the adventure of a lifetime!
Day 1: Cusco – Mollepata – Challacancha – Humantay Lake – Sky Camp
Walking time: 5-6 hours
Walking distance: 6.21 miles
Min elevation: 12,467 ft
Max elevation: 13,780 ft
Campsite: Skycamp glass domes
We had been in Cusco for a few days enjoying the city, the views, and the amazing food before our long hike to Machu Picchu. I woke up to our phone alarms going off in the very early morning, but Ethan had been up for hours. Apparently, it sounded like someone was trying to break into our Airbnb in the middle of the night and he couldn’t sleep (a promising start to a long day of hiking haha). But we dragged ourselves out of our warm bed and into our cold Cusco apartment to get ready and do some last minute repacking before our transport picked us up at around 4 am. We stood shivering on the cobblestones just north of the main square, joking in that delirious early morning state, until a nondescript white van pulled up. Our guide, Wilo, who we had met at the pre-hike meeting the night before, hopped out and told us to get in. We were some of the last in our 9 person group to get picked up, so we piled into the remaining space while all the luggage was configured around us. (The van experience was not new to us, throwback to Colca Canyon van-sickness…)
We cozied in for the drive to the start of the hike and half attempted to sleep, half enjoyed the views. We stopped for breakfast about an hour away from the start of the hike and, as always in Peru, had a delicious breakfast of traditional bread with eggs, along with some pancakes, fruits, juices, and of course, tea. Tea ended up playing such a big role in our whole Peru trip, and I remember it so fondly.
We had met everyone in our group briefly the night before at our meeting, and Ethan and I were both kind of surprised to see that people in our group seemed a bit older. They definitely weren’t OLD, but they seemed to be later twenties. All that to say, we weren’t sure how the group vibes would work out. We had a quiet van ride, but at breakfast we were all able to chat a bit. It is always so interesting to meet people who are from all over the world, from different backgrounds, but who have the same passion for exploring nature and experiencing something new. (Names have been changed to preserve privacy) We had a young French couple from Paris (Anna and Etienne), the Dutch couple (Amy and Nik), a few solo travelers: the American, Tom, Holly from the UK, and Dasha, who was Russian but had been living in the UK/US since college. Such a unique group, and I can confidently say I learned something from each of them, plus we had an incredible time together. At breakfast we got the basics, where everyone is from, what they do, and of course, how we were all feeling about our upcoming 5 day hike.
After breakfast, we hopped back in the van for the final push to the beginning of an experience that would truly be life-changing (dramatic, I know, but if you’re doing it right, isn’t every trip life-changing???). We got to the start, and the views were already incredible. We prepped all of our bags, pulled out the hiking poles, and made one more bathroom stop for a few soles at an open air stone structure with a hole in the ground. I’ll say, it was one of the best bathroom views I’ve ever had.
Then we started on the first section of our hike. This day was theoretically one of the easier days with only 6.2 miles, but over 1000 feet of elevation gain, it would be relatively flat in the morning until we hit our campsite, and in the afternoon we’d have a steep, but fairly short trek up to Humantay Lake from our camp. The challenge of the day was really acclimatizing to the altitude. We had already had our brush with altitude sickness on our Colca Canyon trek, and we had been at around 11,000 ft in Cusco for a few days, so we were hopeful the altitude wouldn’t present too many issues, other than the harder to breath part, of course.
The morning was absolutely incredible. We hiked along an Incan Aquaphor for a few miles, as we transitioned from the green mountains into the jagged peaks of the Salkantay Pass.
Ethan and I chatted about our favorite travel memories and how excited we were to be here doing this hike. We stopped to take some pictures along the way of course. And after just a few short hours we made it to our first camp. It was at the base of Humantay and the Salkantay Pass, and comprised of about 20 glass bubble domes surrounded by nature.
It was fairly hot at midday, which I definitely took for granted at the time. But our group had been quick to get there, and we had about an hour to relax and explore before lunch, which was held in a gorgeous dining room nestled towards the edge of the domes.
This is where I have to acknowledge a glaring fact: we went with one of the more expensive Salkantay companies. You can do this trek guided for around $250, but we splurged for the Salkantay Trekking company, which was $500. There were a few reasons for this. 1) Salkantay Trekking had INCREDIBLE reviews, like 5 stars across the board, everyone raved about the company and experience, and if we had one chance to do this hike, we wanted to do it right. 2) The group size was much smaller than the companies who offer $200-250 treks, we saw some of those groups along the way, and they had 20+ people. 3) All of the staff had good working conditions and were paid a living wage, which is not always the case with other companies. 4) The accommodations were so special, glass domes under the peaks, cozy Andean huts, and jungle domes. 5) $500 including 5 days of guided trekking, all accommodations, all meals + snacks, and Machu Picchu entrance permits still only worked out to $100/day, which is not a bad deal, especially for the experience it offered. All this to say, we spent a little extra, and it was worth every penny.
Lunch was incredible. We had at least 3 courses of delicious avocado, fried fish, rice, and chicken. We also got to chat a bit more with our group. We got to know Amy and Nik, from a small town in the Netherlands, they were also around 22 and had been together since high school. They were on a two-week trip, and Nik was very into photography, which is why they were doing this hike—to capture the incredible and unique scenery. Amy wasn’t much of a hiker, but she was along for the ride, which must be true love, because joining in on a 5 day hike is no joke. And they were headed to the Amazon after the hike to see some of the most unique wildlife on the planet. Maybe it’s just the former Rotary exchange student in me, but it’s just so special getting to connect with people from a completely different part of the world. After filling up on a delicious meal, we had 20 minutes to get ready for our afternoon out-and-back hike to Humantay lake.
We set off through the grazing area for horses and up the rocky gravel mountain side towards what is one of the most beautiful alpine lakes in the world. At this point my tummy was beginning to feel a bit off, at first I thought this might have been the food from lunch, but with retrospect it was definitely some mild altitude sickness. I struggled up this mountain, feeling quite ill, but Ethan helped by encouraging me and taking as many breaks as I needed.
Luckily, I took some medicine and started to feel a bit better by the time we reached the top. And even though it was a challenge to get to the top, the lake did not disappoint. It was crystal blue and surrounded by gorgeous ridges and dramatic peaks.
It was one of those moments when you breathe out and just feel so incredibly present and free and happy, amazed that you get to experience something so beautiful. We hiked further along the ridges and saw some cows grazing in the distant valley below us.
After exploring the lake more and taking a bunch of photos, we headed back down for the descent, which is never as easy as you’d think it would be. But we made it back to camp and found some curious alpacas in our courtyard, which were so cute!
It was snack time, which consisted of a pile of popcorn and some cookies and lots of chamomile tea, before taking some time to chill and enjoy the views before dinner.
Between snacktime and dinner we ended up sitting and chatting with Holly for a bit. She is truly one of the most positive and warm people I’ve ever met. At that point, she’d already been traveling for 7 months! She had always wanted to travel, and eventually, at 27, she decided to just do it, and take a gap year from her job as a nurse in England. It was so amazing to hear a bit about her story and how she ended up here. After a few hours of chatting and exchanging stories, we headed to dinner and enjoyed another three courses of incredible food from our chefs. Towards the end of the meal, Wilo told us what to expect for tomorrow and our sous chef brought out hot water bottles for the night. At that point, I had no idea how important they would be. We headed back to our little domes and got ready for bed at the outdoor sinks. You could see a million stars and the outline of the Salkantay Pass above against the night sky. It was already starting to get cold, so we tucked into our sleeping bags and tried to get some sleep before our 5 am wake up call.
It might be dramatic, but that night may have been the coldest of my life, I was shivering and chattering through the wee hours of the morning. We heard a knock at the door from Wilo at 5 am, and it was time to start day two.
Day 2: Soraypampa – Salkantay Pass – Huayracmachay – Chaullay – Collpapampa
Walking time: 10-11 hours
Walking distance: 14.6 miles
Min elevation: 9,514 ft
Max elevation: 15,190 ft
Campsite: Mountain Skyview huts
We woke up bright and early to a knock and offer of tea from our guide, as the sky began to brighten above the mountains. I was shivering and quickly pulled on all the extra layers I could before we headed out to a delicious breakfast of banana pancakes, eggs, fruit, and, of course, more tea. I drank so much Manzanilla (chamomile) tea on this trip that now whenever I have it I can only think of Peru. We packed up our bags and handed off our duffels with sleeping bags to the amazing horsemen in our group before setting off on what would be “the hardest day”.
There is a lot of talk about which day is the most challenging, and a lot of people said this day. I can see why, the elevation gain is intense and the morning route is quite steep, but honestly, for me this was not the hardest day.
We spent the morning hiking up towards the pass, and stopped at this family’s home/shop along the way.
We eventually made it to the infamous switchbacks up the pass and took in the incredible alpine views. We periodically breaked along the way and had a snack and some water.
As we got closer to the top, the breaks became more frequent, the altitude was one of the highest I’ve ever been at (over 15,000 feet).
Luckily neither Ethan nor I suffered from altitude sickness on this trip, but if you do end up not feeling well enough to hike, you can hire a horse to take you up the pass for around $40 (Amy ended up having to take this option). There were a few groups tackling this section, and the guides were all incredibly attentive and ensuring everybody’s safety. Once we reached the top point, we sat and had tea as a group and chatted and had some little sandwiches (this was not lunch, and I will again emphasize that the food on this hike was incredible, big thank you to our chefs, and we certainly did not go hungry).
After cresting the pass, we hiked down for miles as we transitioned from rugged rocky, snowy terrain, to lush green jungle. I’ll say, the uphill grind was difficult, but the downhill is always somehow less fun – much harder on the legs.
We stopped along the way at a small shelter with a kitchen, where our chefs had been preparing a delicious lunch of lomo saltado, chicken stir fry, avocado, potatoes, and tea!
It was delicious, and we spent lunch relaxing and talking to Dasha and translating some words in Russian, Chinese, and English. We continued our journey into the green mountains full of vegetation and along narrow valleys with small creeks running below, until we saw our camp for that night.
We had booked a standard trip with Andean huts for this night, so we were very surprised and happy when our guide told us we had been upgraded to the luxury mountain skyview accommodation. This meant panoramic glass views of the green valley below, extra comfy beds, and most importantly, our own private hot shower.
The difference a hot shower can make after a long day of hiking is astounding.
We spent the night enjoying the incredible accommodations and enjoying a delicious dinner with friends. This was one of my favorite meals of the hike: soup, roast chicken with a tangy passion fruit sauce, rice, avocado, and dessert. We headed back to our place for some much needed rest before day 3.
Day 3: Collpapampa – La Playa – Lucmabamba – Jungle Domes
Walking time: 5-6 hours
Walking distance: 11.18 miles
Min elevation: 6,562 ft
Max elevation: 9,678 ft
Campsite: Jungle domes
We woke up, as always, to a knock and tea, followed up with a delicious breakfast and beautiful sunrise!
This day was a bit shorter and had a bit less elevation gain, so it’s considered one of the easier days, and I’ll say it was one of my favorite days, but not necessarily because of the hiking. We headed out deeper into the jungle and saw lots of waterfalls and streams, as well as a lot of small farms growing various tropical fruits.
We were able to stop at one of these farms for a quick snack and some pick up soccer. There is a fruit native to Peru called a Granadilla. It is similar in shape and texture to a passion fruit, but it’s very sweet and not sour. We tried it and I was a huge fan, but the “alien” look and texture meant Ethan didn’t love it. We also tried a local yellow dragon fruit, which is known for its natural laxative-like effects haha.
Other people had some fresh avocado sandwiches. It was a nice break before heading out onto the second leg of the day. At this point it was getting quite hot, and it wasn’t that difficult of terrain, but I just felt tired. All that to say, energy was dropping quickly. Luckily we happened upon a tiny hut which had homemade passion fruit popsicles, and they quite literally revived me. To this day, I remember that popsicle vividly.
We walked a bit further to a small creek and a dirt road, finally reaching the bottom of the valley, and met a van which brought us to a local coffee farm. It was beautifully nestled in the jungle, with a few buildings and a large yard where we relaxed and went on the rope swing while we waited for one of the owners to come teach us about the process of making coffee from the plant itself all the way until it reaches a cup. There are tons of coffee plants in this part of Peru, and our guide was telling us a story about getting bitten by a snake that blends in perfectly with the tree (crazy!). Ethan and I don’t really drink coffee, but it was really interesting to see the process from beginning to end, and it gives you such an appreciation of all of the work that goes into just one cup of coffee.
After the coffee farm, we went to our accommodations for the night, jungle domes! This hiking day was a bit shorter, so we had a pretty wide open afternoon. We settled in and had a delicious lunch and great conversation before getting ready to go to the Cocalmayo hot springs. This is an additional 20-ish dollars a person for the transport there, and it is totally worth it. We hopped in a van for an incredible 45 minute drive through the Santa Teresa Valley on remote dirt roads. We finally reached the hot springs around golden hour, and it was absolutely incredible. There are about four pools carved into the rock in between lush green mountains. We enjoyed the warm pools and views and took in every moment. We chatted with Holly about her travels and her choice to pursue a year of travel. She told us about her college trip to Kilimanjaro without any hiking experience, and how Snickers saved the day (as it always does!). I asked her how she decided to travel for a year, and she talked about how it was something she had always wanted to do, and she had to follow her dream. It was honestly such an inspiring conversation, and I think I’ll always partially have her to thank for making full-time travel seem possible. Ethan and I swam around, enjoying every moment, and honestly it felt magical. We hopped out and met our group at one of the outdoor shops at the hot springs while waiting for our van. We ate watermelon gummies and played with a little puppy while getting eaten alive by little bugs (after this day, my feet were COVERED in bug bites thanks to my flip flops).
The drive back to our place is somehow one of my favorite memories, it was sunset and we were driving with the windows down through the Peruvian jungle and I felt so at peace. We made it back in time to get some much needed rest before our last day of hiking before Machu Picchu.
Day 4: Lucmabamba – Llactapata – Aobamba – Hidroelectrica – Aguas Calientes
Walking time: 8-9 hours
Walking distance: 15.53 miles
Min elevation: 5,906 ft
Max elevation: 9,186 ft
Campsite: Hotel
It felt like every morning, our guide would say that it was the hardest day of hiking for people. But I think after all of it, I can easily say this was the hardest day for me. Quite simply, it’s the day with the highest mileage, and you’ve already had three full days of hiking. The day began with a delicious breakfast of pancakes, fruit and eggs. Then we were off for the first ascent of the day. This section of the trail was part of the historic Inca trail, and it was so cool to see some steps and remains of the path.
We went up, up, up for a few hours, coming up out of the Santa Teresa valley, to get our first glance of Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu in the distance.
We walked along the mountain’s ridge a bit until we came upon the ancient Inca ruins of Llactapata. This site is thought to have been a stop along the ancient Inca trail to Machu Picchu, as well as an important astronomical site. It was completely empty while we were there, and it was so cool to experience such incredible ruins without the crowds.
We had come two hours up one side of the mountain, which meant an inevitable few hours down to our lunch spot. This downhill section felt long and it is sometimes surprisingly challenging to navigate loose rocks on a downhill slope. Ethan and I passed the time with talk of all the places we’d like to travel one day. Eventually, we made it to a small house near the base of the mountain for a yummy lunch of soup, rice, and chicken. They had a bunch of hammocks on the patio, and it was the perfect way to relax for a minute. We each bought an ice cream for the road and powered on to Hidroelectrica.
Hidroelectrica is known as an entry point to Aguas Calientes (the tourist town at the base of Machu Picchu). There is a train station, where for an added cost you can skip the 6 mile walk to the town. Of course, we had to push through this last section on foot.
It was quite soon after lunch, so I was feeling good as we began our long walk along the train tracks. The walk is quite flat and scenic, and you can watch the trains pass by which is pretty cool.
While it is a nice walk, it is LONG. It felt like every time I thought we were getting close, I was then told we had another three miles. Ethan and I had fun chats and a few snickers/popsicle breaks, along the way. We finally made it to the end of the train tracks, but the final mile or two to our hotel was TOUGH. I will give full credit to Ethan for getting me through that section. He said “we’ve got this”, held my hand and practically pulled me all the way to the hotel (thank you forever Ethan, don’t know what I would do without you!!).
We finally arrived and had a much needed shower and rest before a final dinner together at a nice restaurant in town. I had a delicious pesto pasta, but lots of people got the Alpaca burger, which they said was delicious. We went over the plan for the next day. You can either get up extra early for the walk up, or get up normally early (around 5 am) to catch the bus up for our 6 am entry. Everyone in our group opted for the bus up. This is definitely a big misconception about hiking to Machu Picchu, the only way to actually hike into the ancient citadel of Machu Picchu, is to do the Inca trail and walk through the Sun Gate. There are, of course pros and cons to this option. It is cool to get to go through the iconic Sun Gate and truly hike to Machu Picchu. However, you still have to go through the tourist entrance to actually enter the citadel, so it’s not exactly like walking straight into the ancient city without tourist hub-ub. Plus you actually arrive to Machu Picchu later (around 7:30-8), when the city is already busy with tourists, versus the Salkantay 6 am entrance. All that to say there are pros and cons to every option, we all took the bus up, and it did not make our Machu Picchu experience any less special!
Day 5: Aguas Calientes – Machu Picchu – Ollantaytambo – Cusco
We caught our bus and arrived at the entrance of Machu Picchu in thick fog. We entered, and finally got to see the incredibly preserved archeological site. We began the tour in the agricultural sector of the citadel, complete with farming terraces and alpacas roaming about.
It was so cool, but the fog was still thick, and everyone was a bit nervous when we reached the classic view over the residential sector of the citadel, but couldn’t see much through the clouds.
We took pictures, enjoyed what we could see, and just kept hoping the sea of clouds would pass. Finally, after about 30 minutes of waiting at the overlook, the sky cleared and we had a perfect view of the city below empty of tourists. It was amazing and everything we could have hoped for.
We took pictures and stood in awe before heading down into the city to learn more about the history of the site and its specific buildings.
Honestly, while our guide was a great hiking guide, and incredibly knowledgeable about Inca history and the site of Machu Picchu, he was almost too knowledgeable. Instead of getting a cohesive story and overview of the site, he tended to get caught in the smaller details, which was interesting, just not quite what Ethan and I were hoping for. But we still really enjoyed our experience walking around and just taking everything in!
Then, around 10:30, Ethan and I had our tickets to hike Huayna Picchu: the peak just above the archeological site. You have to book these tickets way in advance, and the numbers are limited everyday. Ethan and I were both tired, and not necessarily feeling ready for a steep technical hike. But we pushed through, and honestly had so much fun. The hike was scrambly and steep and a bit exhilarating at points. The view at the top was out of this world, and it felt like we were on top of it.
It also gave us an appreciation for getting to see the city free of tourists earlier in the morning, because by 10 am the citadel is bustling with day tour visitors. We eventually headed down and made our way back into Aguas Calientes on the bus.
We met up with our group for lunch at a restaurant called “Macchu Pisco” and ate some much needed burgers before heading to the train station. It was so nice to share a final meal with our friends before heading out. We rode the train to Ollataytambo and enjoyed the views of the peaks around us and the lush valley. In Ollantaytambo we transferred into a van that took us back to our hotel in Cusco, where we got Indian take out, enjoyed long, hot showers, and rested before our flight back to Lima.
Overall, the Salkantay trek was a once in a lifetime experience that I will treasure forever. Seeing the wonder of the world that is Machu Picchu was amazing and definitely a check off the bucket list, but more than that I am so grateful for the five days of spending time with Ethan in nature, meeting new friends, and learning more about the incredible history and culture of Peru. It was a trip filled with highs and lows and the joy and simplicity that comes with the daily goal of simply putting one foot in front of the other. I am forever thankful for this opportunity and those who made it possible, including our guide, chefs, porters, and horsemen.
If you’re considering the Salkantay trek, I can do nothing but recommend! If you are worried about the physical challenge, I would say the hiking is nothing incredibly technical, and as long as you are determined, I’d say it is definitely doable for many people. It is challenging, but nowhere near impossible. I would also recommend really doing your research on guide companies, because the guide, accommodations and support can make or break your trip. If you have any questions about our experience, please comment below!
Check out our other blog posts on Peru and head to our Youtube channel for other travel/hiking vlogs <3
Love always, M+E