After spending over a week acclimating to the high altitudes of Cusco, we were woken by our 3:45 am alarm. We finished packing up the rest of our stuff and went sleepily downstairs to wait for our tour operator to come pick us up for our 5D4N Salkantay Trek. We had decided skip the much more popular (and expensive!) Inca trail to do the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu with KB Adventures instead. The Inca trail is so popular that it generally books up months in advance, and we wanted the flexibility to decide which tour operator to go with when we arrived in Cusco. We had met a bunch of friends along the way that had said the Salkantay was absolutely beautiful, so we were excited for our trek.
We had been told that our driver would pick us up around 4:30 am, but they showed up late. Our trek guide, Vidal, ended up calling us at 4:50 am telling us he couldn’t find our hostel in the car, and was coming to look for us. He finally stumbled into our alley on foot, and told us to follow him to the car. It ended up being a 15-20 minute walk UPHILL to where the car was parked and waiting… I guess our trek would be starting a little earlier than everybody else?
We hopped into the van with our trekking cohort and Vidal told us it would be a 2 hour drive til breakfast. We tried and failed to nap in the aggressively uncomfortable van seats, and watched as we drove up the windy roads into the mountains.
Around 7 am, we arrived at our breakfast spot. As we disembarked our van, we realized that part of our trek group looked familiar… it was Nicola (Italian) and Selma (Norwegian), a couple that had set up their hammocks right next to us on our 3 day cargo boat down the Amazon River! We had chatted with them on our 3 day journey down the river, but had been so tired and flustered the morning we arrived in Iquitos that we hadn’t managed to get their contact information or even names. It was such a coincidence that out of all tour providers in Cusco, of all the Machu Picchu treks that they could’ve chose, and of all the dates that were available they just happened to be on our exact tour! It was such a nice surprise and felt great to already have some friends on the tour. I guess the backpacker route through South America is a well worn one!
It was freezing cold up in the mountains, as we huddled into a small concrete building, waiting for breakfast and warming up with coca tea. The breakfast was actually pretty good, with a big spread of bread, butter, jams, as well as omelettes and pancakes. We filled up, knowing that we would need the energy for the long 5 day trek we had ahead of us.
After breakfast, it was another hour or so drive to the trailhead. The sun had finally come out, so it was much warmer and nicer when we arrived. We were in the foothills of these absolutely stunning, snow capped mountains. It was one of the most beautiful place I had ever seen. We were given a few minutes to use the bathroom and get our bags sorted. The Salkantay Trek package we had gone with included a horse porter that would take our sleeping bags and clothings ahead to camp every night, so we only had to trek with our day packs. We were given a strict 5kg limit including the sleeping bag (which we did not realize was almost 2 kg), and Vidal came over and told us our bags were too heavy (oops!). In our defense, we had packed a lot of snacks so the load would lighten as the days continued…
We did our best to spread the weight between our bags and carry as many snacks as we could, and the horsemen loaded up our bags. Vidal had us do a little ice breaker introduction exercise, and we set off on the trek.
The first section was a steep set of switchbacks, and the view was absolutely breathtaking (no literally, it was so hard to breath). We took it slow, taking lots of breaks to take photos, drink water, and listen to Vidal talk about the various tradition medicinal plants in the area.
After that steep section of switchbacks, the rest of the trek to basecamp was fairly flat and easy. It took about 2 hours to arrive to our first basecamp. It was so cute! We got our own cabin with 2 little beds and a glass roof. It was very basic but cozy and we rested our sore legs as we waited for lunch. They served a delicious lunch of fish, quinoa, salad, and rice around 1:30 pm. We hadn’t eaten since 6:30 am, so we absolutely demolished our food.
We were given about a 45 minute break after lunch to rest and nap, before we started our trek up to Humantay Lake. We started the steep uphill trek around 2:45 pm, and it was drizzling and misty up in the mountains. From the angle we were at the lake was blocked by a huge glacier, but it was still magical being surrounded by so many snow topped peaks. It was basically straight uphill, but we made it up to the lake in exactly 1 hour. The lake was the most brilliant turquoise colour, and with a stunningly white glacier as the backdrop. It was INSANELY beautiful.
We were given loads of free time at the top to enjoy the lake, and took our time taking lots of photos. I was able to fly the drone on our way down, to capture some of the unreal landscapes from above.
We hiked back down to camp just in time for the 5:30 pm teatime, which included coffee, hot chocolate, coca tea, and popcorn! Our entire group sat in the dining hall chatting and getting to know each other, as we waited for dinner to be served.
As the sun went down, the temperature started getting very chilly. We all huddled in the dining room, delighted as the hot food was finally served. They made us pasta, chicken, and quinoa soup. Vidal gave us a rundown of our schedule for the next day – it was going to be a brutal one. The morning would be trekking up 8 kilometres to the top of Salkantay Pass (4630 metres) and then another 15 km downhill to our camp site for the evening for a total of 23 km.
As we mentally prepared for the tough day ahead, Vidal served us a nightcap of piping hot muna tea, a local tea great for gut health and digestion. We left the dining hall, changed into our jammies, got cozy in our little hut, and went to bed early.
We got woken up the next morning with a 4:50 am hot coca tea delivery to our doorstep from Vidal. It was much appreciated, as it had been a COLD night. We quickly got changed in the freezing cold hut, and packed up our bags.
We ate a quick breakfast with bread, pancakes, coffee and tea, and then got mentally prepared for our big trek. The beginning of the trek was a gradual incline, and we could see the towering mountains of Salktantay pass in the distance. It took about 1.5 hours to reach the beginning of the steep incline up Salkantay Pass.
We took a group break, drinking some water and taking some photos. Vidal told us there were two options for the next section – you could take the normal path up or take a “shortcut” up a set up switchbacks which would cut 10-15 minutes off the climb. Saz and I both decided the normal path looked almost as steep as the switchbacks, so we might as well take the shortcut. We put our headphones in, blasted some recession era pop music, and started the steep trek up section 1 of Salkantay Pass.
It was challenging but not as horrible as we expected. We just kept powering up, one step after the other, as we scaled the first steep pass. The air was thin at such high altitudes, so we took many breaks to catch our breath and drink some water. It started drizzling as we reached the top, which made us even colder than we already were. When we finally got to the top of the pass, we realized that we didn’t remember where Vidal had told us to wait. We couldn’t see anybody from our group around, and didn’t know if we were ahead or behind the rest of the group. I sat with our bags under a rock as Saz double backed, looking for our group. After just a few minutes she ran into other members of our group and we they roasted us for being so fast we had to do the hike twice. #speedy!
Although we were proud of ourselves for getting to the top very quickly, we soon came to regret our decision as we had to wait on top of the completely unprotected, rainy, freezing cold mountain pass for everybody else in our group to catch up. We tried to huddle behind a boulder to break the wind as we waited for everyone to join. Vidal passed around some coca leaves and snacks and told us there was just another 40 minutes up until we reached the top of Salkantay Pass.
The last portion wasn’t too steep, and it felt good to be up and moving again after being so cold in the wind. It took us about 20-30 minutes to reach the top, and we were on top of the world! One of the guides handed us a small of mysterious liquid to drink… it was whisky to warm up. I had 2.
We took a bunch of group photos at the top, celebrating our accomplishment. There wasn’t much to see as it was very misty and rainy, but we felt accomplished nonetheless. We didn’t dawdle too long at the top and started our trek downhill shortly after. Little did we know, we would be begging for the uphill portion of the day after a few hours..
It was around 9:45 am, and Vidal said our next rest stop was lunch. He told us the landmarks to look for, and let us go on our way down the hill. The path was quite steep with lots of loose rocks, and the rain made everything slick. We walked for hours and hours in the rain down the hill, hoping the lunch restaurant would be around every corner…but it didn’t come for soooo long.
We were already absolutely pooped by the time we reached lunch. We were starving, wet, cold, and our feet were blistered. We didn’t even want to think about the additional 4+ hours we had to camp. They served some rice and alpaca meat with potatoes for lunch. We were still feeling low energy so we bought a bag of M&M’s and a few gatorades from the local stand to get our blood sugar back up, and continued the long trek ahead.
Vidal had not sugarcoated our situation – we were still a solid 4 hours of hiking away from our camp, and we had no options other than to put one foot ahead of the other and trudge along. We didn’t take too many breaks, only quick stops for water and snacks every now and then. Morale was pretty low at this point, but it had at least warmed up quite a bit the lower down into the valley we got.
We finally arrived at the campsite shortly before 5 pm. I have never been so happy to sit down in my life! There were showers available but apparently quite cold, so we opted to just continue our dirty girl era. We had a quick dinner and everybody very quickly retreated to their tent to rest after our brutally long day.
The next morning we were again woken up by Vidal with some hot coca tea at 4:50 am. We had breakfast and were on the road again by 6 am. The itinerary was a lot more chill today, thankfully. We only had to trek 12 km on a slight decline, and we were getting to our campsite before noon so that the people on the 4-day trek could catch the bus towards Machu Picchu that evening.
Vidal introduced some of the local flora and fauna, and told us how much knowledge the Incan people had of all the medicinal plants in the area. As we continued downwards on the trek, we had to cross several perilous looking cliffs that had been wiped out by recent landslides.
There had been really severe rain the previous few days, so Vidal told us that many of these landslides were brand new. It did not inspire a lot of confidence as we quickly but carefully crossed these narrow cliff paths.
The hike was warm and pretty and most importantly, easy. Vidal explained that the entire valley was very fertile for coffee production, so we would be getting a tour of a local plantation before we headed to the campsite! They showed us how they grew, roasted, and grinned the beans in a traditional grinder. They made us a super strong espresso and gave us a cup to try. It was VERY strong.
A van came and picked us up for the last portion of the journey to our campsite, because the 4 day trekkers were running a bit behind schedule. We arrived at camp and it was the nicest one we had been to yet! The cabins looked brand new and had electricity and wifi, but it was the middle of the day and cabins were deathly hot inside, so we all chilled in the courtyard as we waited for lunch. The lunch was actually so good, they went all out. We had stuffed avocados, lomo saltado, rice, salad, and quinoa soup. It was really filling and much needed after 3 days of straight hiking!
We said our goodbyes to the 4day trekkers who were leaving for Aguas Caliente, and got ready for our afternoon activity – visiting the local hot springs! The hot springs were beautiful and much needed on our sore bodies. We spent the whole afternoon relaxing in the beautiful hot springs, enjoying chatting with different hikers, having a few drinks, and taking in the gorgeous sunset.
Vidal explained that the plan for tomorrow was a difficult and steep trek 12 kilometers from our campsite to a town called Hidroelectrica, and then a flat 10 km walk from Hidroelectrica to Aguas Caliente, the town at the base of Machu Pichu. It was going to be another long trekking day so we mentally prepared and headed back to the campsite for an early night.
That’s when things started going downhill for me… I had started to feel a little upset stomach at the hot springs, and it took a hard turn for the worse when we got back.
I was curled up in fetal position in bed all night, with a fever and terrible stomachache. Another hiker gave me a nondescript package of antibiotics to take, as well as some electrolyte packets that I hoped would kick in and help me feel better quickly.
Saz ran out to ask Vidal for help when he told us the news that there had been a massive landslide that took out part of the path between Hidroelectrica and Aguas Caliente, the town where Machu Picchu is. It wasn’t guaranteed that we would even be able to make it to the town the next day because of it. He suggested that we take a bus to Hydroelectrica instead of the planned hike, so that if we got turned away due to the landslide we didn’t just waste 7+ hours trekking. The news could not have come at a better time because the idea of doing another full day of hiking while I felt like absolute shit sounded unbelievably horrible.
I had a pretty brutal night, constantly waking up for bathroom emergencies and having a fever. But the antibiotics had helped a bit and the pain wasn’t as severe as before.
The next morning we were yet again woken up with coca tea at 4:50 am and got our stuff ready to go. It was pouring rain and had rained all night so we were super stoked that we did not have to hike through these conditions. We heard through the grapevine that a local had just died in a landslide a few weeks earlier, and we did not want to be part of that statistic. I was still feeling pretty poopy (pardon my pun) but we loaded up into the bus and I tried to sleep to erase the discomfort in my body.
It took about 1.5 hours on the bus to reach hydroelectrica and all I could think of was how grateful I was we didn’t have to trek. The only thing between me and a doctor was a 10 km flat walk along the train tracks to Aguas Caliente. The train used to be active but a portion of the tracks had been damaged due to a landslide, so our only option was to walk.
Vidal told us that the part of the path that had been destroyed by the landslide was about a 1.5 hour hike onwards, and we would only know if we could cross once we arrived. We sent out some positive energy into the ether to hope that our hike would not be for nothing, and set off on the trail. I was feeling rough. The hot sun was shining down, my body was aching all over, and my stomach was all out of wack. But I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other and tried to stay positive.
We finally arrived at the meeting point saw the landslide. It was bad. A huge portion of the path and been completely wiped away and in it’s place was a fast roaring river. But to our surprise, the local Peruvian military had set up a zipline where they were zip-lining people across! We waited in line as the military members expertly strapped us up into harnesses and pulled us across the roaring river.
We were only about an hour away from Aguas Caliente but I was feeling very worse for the wear. The sun was blazing down and everything in my body felt so heavy. Saz carried both backpacks for a while to relieve some of the weight, but nothing was helping. The last 30 minutes felt like 5 hours. We finally made it to Aguas Caliente and Vidal immediately took me to a clinic near our hotel. Of course, our hotel had to be on top of an extremely steep hill, so I had an agonizing 10 minutes up before I finally arrived at the doctor.
The doctors couldn’t speak any English but Vidal did his best to translate and they immediately gave me an antibiotic IV drip. They put a painkiller or something into the mix that made me extremely sleepy, so I passed out as Saz took care of our insurance paperwork. The IV drip took about 2 hours but I felt better almost instantly! I was so relieved that the medication worked quickly and effectively and that our trip to Machu Picchu the next day wouldn’t be ruined. The nurses were so cute and kind and told me that I would need to finish out the antibiotic course by coming back to the clinic the next day, and then do 3 more days of IV antibiotics at their sister clinic back in Cusco.
We were discharged from the clinic and checked into our hotel. It was so nice to be in a proper hotel after camping for the past 3 nights, and because I was still a bit loopy from the medication, I took a nice hot shower and passed out hard.
Saz woke me up in time for dinner as I groggily got out of bed. I hadn’t eaten in quite a long time so although I felt exhausted, I thought it would be best to still join the group for dinner. I was feeling MUCH better and we had a nice group dinner at a local restaurant. Saz and I had pre-booked our Machu Picchu tickets beforehand, but everyone else from our trek had been stressing about whether they would be able to buy the last minute ones in Aguas Caliente. They happily reported back that all of them had managed to snag 7 am tickets for Machu Picchu the next morning, so we were very happy for them. Our tickets weren’t until 3 pm though, so we would be solo exploring Machu Picchu without the rest of our group. We said our goodnights and went to bed early.
The next morning, we had a lovely sleep in until my 9 am appointment to get another round of antibiotics. I napped as I waited about 1.5 hours for the IV trip to complete, and went back to the hotel to pack up our stuff. We decided to explore the town a little bit and get lunch at a local restaurant before our visit to Machu Picchu. The town was super cute and way more fun to explore when I wasn’t dying of a stomach infection. However, it was super overcast and rainy so we were really disappointed that we probably wouldn’t have good weather at Machu Picchu.
We were killing time at the hotel when we saw the rest of our group returning from Machu Picchu! They said that they had terrible weather and everything was sooo cloudy they could barely see anything. We were not hopeful because the sky was still extremely overcast and rainy.
Around 2 pm, we decided to head towards Machu Picchu. Because it was raining, we decided to pay for the shuttle instead of hiking up. The shuttle was a total rip off ($12 USD per person one way for a 20 minute ride) but we decided to fork it up anyways. We bought our bus tickets and hopped on the shuttle. As the bus drove up and up and up the windy mountain roads, we were busy throwing a little pity party for ourselves over the bad weather when all of a sudden the clouds parted and we were hit with a beautiful blue sky! The views of the mountains and the valley were absolutely breathtaking.
We got to the entrance of MP around 2:30, and our tickets were for 3. We told the guard that we had an early train back to Cusco (Vidal’s cheeky piece of advice) and he graciously let us in early. It was completely empty when we first got in, and the clouds were parting more and more. We were so in awe of the gorgeous surroundings. Because the guard had let us in before the usual time, we had at least half an hour exploring the beauty of Machu Picchu completely to ourselves, it was magical! We followed the paths down the different terraces, and took hundreds of photos of the beautiful scenery. There were chinchillas and llamas all over the grounds, and even a newborn 1 day old llama with his mom!
The lighting was absolutely magical as we explored everywhere we could on the beautiful grounds. It was so amazing to see the clouds rolling in over the mountains and the ancient city, and the aura of the entire grounds just felt magical. It’s easy to see why the Incan Empire chose this beautiful spot to be such a pillar of their society.
We finished up around 5:30 pm, right as it was closing, and decided to hike back down instead of paying another 12 dollars a person. The hike down took about an hour, and we made it into town just before dark. We picked a random restaurant to stop at for dinner as we waited for our 8:30 pm train back to Cusco.
We took the Inca Rail train back to Ollaytatambo, where we would hitch a shuttle back to Cusco. We had booked the cheapest/least luxurious train, so it was incredibly cramped and uncomfortable. But we were still riding our high from the incredible Machu Picchu experience so we put on Emperors New Groove and watched that iconic movie the whole ride back. When we arrived in Ollaytatambo, there was a man with a sign waiting for us to take us in the van back to Cusco. It was another 2 hours back to Cusco, so we didn’t make it back to our hostel until after midnight but we couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful MP experience!
We spent the next few days just relaxing in Cusco and enjoying the city. We stuck around long enough for me to complete my antibiotics course, and I had the most incredible medical experience there. The clinic staff offered to come to my hotel to do the IV, and also proactively ran a few urine and blood tests to make sure I didn’t have salmonella or anything more serious. I was already feeling 100% better but it still felt really good to have such top tier medical care!
We spent our time exploring every little alley and side street that Cusco had to offer, and made a rough plan for the rest of our time in South America, including exploring Lake Titicaca, the Atacama Desert, and the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia.
We had such a magical experience in Peru, and it was easily our top destination in South America. Everything from the food, the culture, the people, and the nature was top tier. We cannot wait to go back!
