Salkantay Trek

The last six days of my life have been absolutely incredible.

My trekking group consisted of 17 lovely individuals from Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, and Uruguay. We were picked up at quite literally the ass crack of dawn and driven to the start of our first hike. We had about a three hour walk before arriving at our campsite. Our lodging was surrounded by magnificent snowcapped mountains, with small glacial streams running in every direction. I truly wish I could say it was real camping but glamping is a much better word to describe our accommodations; our tents were popped under shelters, we had two inch thick mattress pads, our food was cooked by a professional chef, tea brought to our tents in the mornings, there were toilets and running water, you get the point… After an amazing lunch, we hiked up to a glacial lake and proceeded to go skinny dipping. There was another group there watching us and questioning our decision to run into freezing water naked but we ignored them and continued our naked tirade. I should also probably mention that the hiking wouldn’t be too hard if it weren’t for the altitude; being above 3,500 meters makes you unable to breathe, let alone walk uphill quickly. We all struggled but we all survived. After another amazing meal, the rain began to pour down and lightening was striking left and right. It was beautiful to watch under our tin shelter.

Day two started at 5 AM; just a friendly reminder that I am NOT a morning person and can barely open my eyes before 8 in the morning. The storm had rained itself out and we were blessed with a perfectly clear day. We had clear views of all the mountains before making our departure. Our hike started with three hours of uphill to reach 4,500 meters where we took a much needed break and learned more about the Incan civilization. Two hours downhill to another glamourous lunch then three more hours to our campsite. During this five hours of downhill, the terrain switched from snowy mountains to complete jungle; it was a complete 180. We ate, some people showered, played cards, and passed out.

The following day, we were allowed to sleep in until the lovely hour of 6 AM before taking a four hour walk along a road. Because it is rainy season, the trail we would normally take was closed due to landslides. We ate lunch on an open air balcony, equipped with hammocks and guacamole. Because it would take forever to walk to our next campsite, we drove an hour and were brought to another shelter with two adorable puppies. Our afternoon was spent relaxing in hot springs with a drink in our hands. We headed home, ate dinner, and then had a party. We had all drank more than intended when our guides pulled out a bottle of Inka Tequila and proceeded to pour it down our throats. The entire shindig was over around 1 AM but it was sufficient to ensure hangovers for those over 23.

Luckily, we had the option of going zip lining the next day instead of walking. We were driven into the mountains and then hung in every direction across canyons. We were upside down, partnered, “super condor,” the works. After lunch, we had a three hour walk along train tracks to Aguas Calientes, the base city for Machu Picchu, and were put up in a lovely inn and fed lovely food.

Now here is the real kicker, the homerun, the cream of the crop: Machu Picchu.

There are two options to get to the top: walking up 140 flights of stairs or taking a bus. For both, you need to leave your accommodation around 4:30 in the morning to wait in some form of line then begin to climb the mountain. Being cheap, I opted to climb the stairs. When I arrived at the entrance gate to the Park, there were probably 100 people in front of me however, that didn’t stop me from beating all but 6 hikers and the buses to the top. Despite the altitude and the four previous days of hiking, I ran to the top – I was passing people left and right, sweating through my shirt, and not stopping for even a drink of water. I made it to the top before almost everyone else. Here’s the catch: upon getting inside the park, the fog was too thick to see anything and I had to wait twenty minutes for the rest of my group to get inside. It took a few hours to really be able to see anything because Machu Picchu is essentially in a bowl and collects fog. Around lunch time, when the fog began to clear, the majority of the tourists had already left because they had been in the park for six hours. We had the park semi-to ourselves. We went everywhere we possibly could: the sun gates, the Inca Bridge, everything that didn’t require an extra ticket. 

Our tour guides had advised us to bring bananas for the llamas that roam the park and keep the grass short so of course we did. We fed one llama, got some good snaps, and then proceeded to the second llama, where we realized they also like the peels. I fed the peels to this llama and when I ran out, began to walk away; the llama didn’t like that and proceeded to chase me through crowds of tourists and through the ruins. One of the proctors stopped the llama and shooed it away, saving me from the inevitable llama spit.

I stayed an extra night in Aguas Calientes then took the bus back to Cusco exhausted and incredibly happy with the previous days.

Besitos.