Peru: Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu

Posted byrkrontheroadPosted inPeru, Photography, South America, TravelTags:, , ,

Cusco sits high in the Andes mountains of Peru, a charming city of tan adobe structures with red tiled roofs, old Spanish churches, winding cobblestone streets up steep hills. My traveling partner, my son Adam, and I met at the Lima airport in the middle of the night. I was coming from Guatemala where I was teaching, and he from Colorado during summer break from university. After a day of sightseeing in the city, we flew up to the high country. Lima’s cloudy skies were hazy white, but the Cusco sky mirrored the clear deep blue of Colorado mountain skies, as dazzling as the altitude. At 3,326 meters (10,900 ft), we took it easy the first few days to acclimate before strenuous hiking at even higher elevations.

Cusco, Peru
Plaza de Armas, Cusco

Hotel Los Niños was started by a Dutch couple who adopted many Cusco street children. There are two clean and attractive hotels in Cusco that finance care of dozens of children, their medical and education expenses, and feed hundreds of local school children two meals a day and provide help with homework after school. The rooms are named for children—ours was named Luis. We had the pleasure to visit one of their living homes and meet several cheerful young students first hand. Niños Unidos Peruanos Foundation has since expanded to serve 600 children in Peruvian villages.

Los niños

We missed the window to book an Inca Trail trek in advance, the reservation system had just started and was already a months-long wait. As in Antigua (Guatemala), however, the streets were lined with travel agencies anxious to sell you a trip that starts the next day. We booked a five-day trek by way of Salkantay Mountain, ending at Machu Picchu. Although there were not ruins dotting that trail, the scenery was spectacular, small villages appeared here and there, and it was undoubtedly a road less traveled. If I had seen pictures of some of the more difficult spots beforehand, I might well have chickened out—narrow rocky and eroding trails etched into mountainsides with precipitous drops. I gratefully accepted our guide’s steadying hand more than once. But it seemed like an opportunity not to be missed, and I found the courage to commit, taking things one step (literally) at a time.

Our last afternoon in Cusco, we chatted with a young man in the park. He taught us a few words in native Quechua, asked Adam about his interest in Cusco girls, and we compared life in the US and Peru.

“Remember the land of the poor when you are a professional,” he advised Adam when we parted.

At the market

The trek

We started our trek with a pre-dawn bus ride to the village of Mollepata, the jumping off point for the Salkantay trail. Elvis, our guide, introduced himself with the words “and I can sing too! Only kidding!” He gathered our small group for breakfast in a restaurant. Our trailmates were mostly European—a Belgian couple, an American/British couple (that we would later visit in London), a woman from Argentina, a German couple who discovered later that they were actually with another group but they joined us on the trail for part of each day. Johanna, a guide in training, joined us as well. After we secured our pack horses, Elvis grabbed my day pack, grinned, and said “I’m young.” I looked around and realized I was the oldest in the group. Armed with just my camera, I began walking.

Mollepata

We climbed steadily the first day. Like Guatemalan volcano hikes, there were few switchbacks; the trails were steep and relentless. Elvis kept us entertained with details about the flora and stories from Inca lore of gods and battles and myths. We camped at the dramatic base of Salkantay (Goat Mountain) in the shadow of the 6,270 meter peak (20,565 ft), our coldest night. Our support team, four Peruvian men, had tents pitched and dinner cooking when we arrived. Three substantial meals a day kept our energy up, with cookies and popcorn to occupy us while cooking, delicious soups, a typical Peruvian main dish, and mate de coca or tea from coca leaves, which helps ward off altitude sickness.

First night campsite
A family says hello along the way
Elvis and Adam at canyon

During dinner we talked about Peruvian and Argentinian politics. Conversation turned to the limits on the Inca Trail, which most of us had come expecting to hike. Treks must be booked at least thirty days in advance and the trail limited to five-hundred people per day including porters, guides, and cooks, limiting the number of tourists considerably and understandably helping to slow the damage to historic areas. The changes had been especially detrimental to small tour guide agencies and effectively closed them out of that trail. The larger companies mentioned in the guide books and on the Internet have better access to advance bookings and have larger support teams in their entourage.

Our most demanding day began with mate de coca delivered to our tents. The Germans appeared with packs ready to join us for the day’s trek. The towering white, rugged peak in the not-too-distant vista was ours to conquer. We hiked up the steep west shoulder in the snow. One of our party suffered from altitude sickness and needed a guide to lead and support her, another struggled with a pulled leg muscle. Blocking the snowy trail was a horse down with a hurt leg; the porters worked at moving his equipment to other animals and getting him on his feet. We had to break trail across the switchbacks through deep snow to get past.

Setting out, Day Two
Salkantay peak
Horse down on trail

As we neared the last few turns in the trail, Elvis handed us each a rock to carry to the top, to ask the goat Salkantay for permission to cross. At the top of the pass (4,600 meters, 15,088 ft), amid misty snowflakes, were dozens of cairns, little rock piles that mark trails, sitting on top of larger rocks like so many offerings to an Inca god. We added our stones to the diminutive sculptures in the snowy mist. Elvis had us each throw a handful of coca leaves into the wind for luck on our journey.

At the top!

The trail downhill was steep and sharp, we hiked on and on for two hours after dark until we reached the pampa, or meadow, filled with tents. Dinner conversation had a lighter note that night; we were exhausted but feeling good about having made it this far. Elvis and Johanna told folk tales of children kidnapped by dwarves, a dog in the form of a woman, and more, with strong morals.

Day Three took us through the village of La Playa along the Salkantay River, with a stop at a fruit stand selling grenadias that kept us eating the sweet yellow fruit for the rest of the hike. We reached a point beyond which the horses could not continue, so they headed back and four local porters, including two small women, carried our bags. Each was trained to carry up to fifty kilos (110 pounds), and made light of our load.

At one point we hopped a ride on a truck bed to Santa Elena. Railings outlined the back of the truck. Our friends draped themselves over and around every rail, hanging limbs bouncing over a bumpy dirt road ride along cliffs, called out to lower our heads when passing branches, and pointed out farms, “cafe!” “bananas!” “platano!” “palta!” (avocados), reaching out trying to grab fruit. There was a local party planned in the field where we were to camp, so we set up tents in a schoolyard. After a failed attempt at finding a trail to a hot springs, we dined late and several members of our group went in town to check out the party.

Grenadias
Platanos
Butterfly

At breakfast we played a language game, naming things on the table in Spanish, each person repeating the list each time. The school children lined up to watch us take down the tents and hungrily gathered around to finish the remains on our breakfast table. When the bell rang, they ran in and we listened to their sweet voices singing the national anthem as the flag was raised.

Taking down tents at the schoolyard

That day we crossed the river in a tiny open cage way above white water. Two or three of us in the cage at a time, the first half of the ride was a slide down the cables to the middle of the river, then we were yanked across to the other side by a rope pull. There was no way around it; I had to cross. Without looking down, I climbed in and held on tight. Further up the trail we marveled at a powerful waterfall rushing out a hole in the rock under the road ledge, arriving there from some mysterious underground place. We were walking along a dirt road then, and a truck passed loaded with standing passengers; we waved to our German friends as they went by. The massive back of Machu Picchu rose in front of us as we approached, its treasures hidden from view, stalls lining the sides of the trail offering lunch.

River crossing

Walking down the railroad tracks, we stopped at Mandor. Elvis negotiated with a woman who owned the land so we could enter. A cool, tranquil pool lay at the base of a tumbling waterfall. Some took a swim, others dipped our feet in, so refreshing, then walked back out to catch the train to Aguas Calientes (hot waters), the town closest to the ruins. We soaked our tired muscles in the natural hot springs pool and stayed in a hostel.

Waterfall at Mandor
Machu Picchu looms ahead

Watch for my next post: Machu Picchu and Inca ruins

Please do not download or reproduce images from this site. ©

Your comments are welcome!

Popular posts/stats/categories

Email me at: Ruth@RuthRosenfeld.com

Follow me on: Facebook Instagram Twitter Blog

Published by rkrontheroad

Writer, photographer, traveler

55 thoughts on “Peru: Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu”

  5. Photos are so lovely, they really set the mood and transport one to Peru. Your article reminds me just how much I miss travel, the adventure of new and unfamiliar. I love the idea behind the hotel you stayed in. As always, thanks for sharing. Hope you are well.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. I trekked the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu over 30 years ago. It was an amazing experience. The ruins along the route were very interesting but Machu Pichu is the crowning glory. Your photos are wonderful and I look forward to your next post.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I don’t know. I was not aware of any when I went in 1984. I am always worried about horse activities in countries where there is a lot of serious poverty as the owners may not be able to feed or look after the horses well enough. When I went to Peru I had been travelling in Chile and Argentina for two months before getting to Peru and Peru was by far the country with the most serious poverty. I hope perhaps it is better now.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  8. A fabulous adventure. Doubt I will ever make it there. My son and his wife hiked the Inca trail in 2017, but ended up with a less than satisfactory tour provider. As Vegetarians, they did not eat well and ended up hiking a lot of the way in the rain. Still, they enjoyed the experience. Thanks for sharing. Allan

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I don’t eat meat these days, actually I’m a pescatarian, seafood ok but mostly veggie. When I travel though I agree to eat what I’m served (within reason!). The tour guides and company can make a huge difference, I’m sure. Thanks for your comment, Allan.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  13. I really enjoyed reading about your journey to Machu Picchu. I had the opportunity to do the shortened version of the Inca Trail hike which took just one day, but it was still probably the most physically draining activity I’ve done while travelling. That altitude is brutal! I would have loved to take a dip under the waterfall like in your photos.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you! I didn’t know there was a one day trek. I imagine you had to cover a lot of ground, or left from a closer starting point. I live at 8,500 ft in Colorado and had just returned from visiting there so I was somewhat acclimated, but still, it’s a stretch!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  15. What a thrilling adventure, Ruth! Congratulations on completing such a daring trip. Your images are wonderful- I am especially drawn to your portraits which show your connection to your subjects. Terrific post.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  19. Pingback: Peru: Machu Picchu and Inca ruins – Ruth Rosenfeld

  24. The husband and I completed the 4 day Inca Trail Trek in 2017, and absolutely loved it. Though, I’m a little biased since he proposed on day 1 of the trek, so it had special meaning to me! Loved seeing your experience with the Salcantay Trek… it’s so different!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. What a romantic trek that must have been! I’d love to have experienced the Inca Trail as well, but I know I won’t ever go back. Too many new places to explore. But no regrets, it was quite the adventure and a wonderful group of people, especially Elvis.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment