The Salkantay Trek and The Machu Picchu

There are few ways to see the famous Machu Picchu. The nicest way to do it is by trekking. There are at least 3 different treks that end at the MachuPicchu. The most famous is the Inca Trail, that follows the ancient (few hundred years) path of the Incas. Since it is that famous, you have to book it few months in advance. We took the alternative route, the 5 days Salkantay trek.
The first day of the trek started so early that you can say that it started the night before. We gathered together with about 30 other tourists in Plaza San Fransisco. Fortunately enough, we soon found out that only 8 of them will be in our group. After few (maybe 3, maybe 6) hours of very bumpy road our bus got stuck. Luckily enough it got stuck at the entrance of the village we were aiming to get to. After breakfast we were introduced to our "family group", or at least that is what our guide Reinaldo called us. After that we started the slow climb (19km) towards our first camp at an altitude of 3900m (the village was at 2900m). The view of the first day wasn't too breathtaking, so we used the time to get to know our "family group". The group was very diverse once again. There was one Australian couple (Kate and Ben), one Scottish couple (Lisa and Eddie) one Brazilian couple (Thiago and Ana Lucia), a guy from Quebec (Christian) and one Peruvian guy (Fernando). All of them were really nice and very interesting.
The great thing about the Salkantay trek is that they feed you and take care of all you need all the time, all you need to do is walk... and a lot. Everyday there is a big breakfast, including eggs and pancakes, a big lunch, with soup and meat, and even bigger dinner.
The first night was quite cold, but only outside. Our tents were placed inside a big tent that protected us from the cold wind. In the morning, when we woke up (by the cook which brought us a hot cup of tea to the tent) we saw a lot of ice everywhere, even parts of the river was frozen.

The second day was the longest (21km). We started the day by climbing to the high pass (4600m). The climb turned out to be less hard than the climb to the Santa Cruz pass. Maybe it were the new walking sticks we purchased for the trek that made it easier, or maybe it was the fact that we got used to those kind of altitudes, or maybe both. Unfortunately, this pass was also less impressive. The rest of the day we spent down-climbing to 2900m. The interesting part was to see the landscape change from glacieral to a vast jungle in less than 5 minutes walking. The new climate was completely different too, so the second night was very worm. We spent the night in a very small farm surrounded by many farm animals. We even got to pet a small and very spoiled pig.

The third day was supposed to be a "botanical day", but it turned out to be a bit boring walking day. At least it wasn't long, about 14km. After that we had lunch and said goodbye to the nice mules that carried our main equipment for the last two days and a half. From this point we had to be our own mules. A minivan took us to Santa Thereza, a small town somewhere on the way. In the afternoon we even went to a natural hot spring, where we were cooked and served to the suicidal bugs, that covered us even at the cost of drowning. In the evening we had another great dinner, but this time a new member joined the group. As part of the attractions of our camping site there was a small and a very cute monkey, named Pancho, running free between the dinning guests. After running around and amusing everyone, Pancho got tired, he jumped into Lilya's lap and fell asleep until the end of dinner. You can imagine that Lilya didn't eat much that night (but she didn't mind).

On the fourth day we didn't walk much. We skipped the first boring walking part and got a ride with a minivan straight to lunch. From there (a town with the romantic name Hidroelectrica) there was about 11km until Aguas Calientes, which is a very touristic town next to the Machu Picchu. The trail followed the train rails, but it wasn't boring at all. It was deep in the jungle, which made it very unique. At the end we got to a hostel, and took a most welcomed hot shower. Not all the members of our group were that lucky, it's a bit ironic not to have hot water in a town called Aguas Calientes (Hot waters). We visited the reason this town is called that way (thermal springs) later together with Thiago and Ana Lucia. The place was full with tourists just like the rest of this town, but we had a great time just enjoying a good conversation in the worm, murky water. Later that evening we went drinking with all the group. Even though there are tourists everywhere, there are a lot of empty restaurants. Those places will do absolutely everything to get costumers. They extended the Happy Hour for all day long and they compete with each other for the amount of cocktails you will get for the price of one. At the end we went to a place that offered us 8 drinks if only we will pay for one. The problem is that all the 8 drinks shared the amount of alcohol suitable just for one, so we weren't very drunk at the end of the process.

The next morning (or should I say night) we woke up at 3:30 and started the climb to the Macchu Picchu. The climb was very intense and included more than a thousand stairs, some say 1600, but we didn't count them all. Since it was dark we were not aware to the amount of people climbing together with us. When we got to the top we realized that there were few dozens of people there before of us. After more than half an hour of waiting they opened the site and let us in. The few hundreds of people that entered were a drop in the sea when the people from the Inca trail and the tourists with the buses started to come. They say that about 3000 visitors enter the site every day. But we managed to stay away of the crowd most of the time.

One of the special things about this site is that it wasn't destroyed by the Spanish like rest of the Incas' places. It's not like the Spanish appreciated its beauty and wanted to preserve it, they simply didn't find it. The Incas destroyed the paths leading towards this town, so it was lost until 1911. That's why it is very well perserved. We also learned few things about the Incas. First of all, they were in great shape, just to go uphill to your neighbor you burn your dayly amount of calories. More important, the Incas understood that in realastate its all about location, location, location. The location is the really the amazing part of this place. Everywhere you look there are very high pointed mountains covered with evergreen rain forest.

Since we got there early enough, we got the opportunity to climb enother cliff, the Huainapicchu. That is the steep (very steep) cliff at the background of the Machu Picchu in every photo. The climb takes another hour and is quite exhausting, but the view is worth it. The way down is not for the weakhearted. At some parts the stairs are really nerrow, high and steep.

We spent at the Machu Picchu half a day and then returned to Aguas Calientes. From there it was a long way back to Cusco.

Most of the next day we spent with our new friends from the trek, and the morning after that we took the bus to Puno on the shores of Lake Titikaka.

Tip 1: The Machu Picchu site is probably the most touristic place in South America. It is better to get to this area after trekking, then the over-tourism won't bother you as much. Even if you can't do the whole trek you can at least do the 4th day of our trek, from Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes.

Tip 2: If you are interested in climbing to the Huainapicchu (the mountain at the background of all the famous Machu Picchu pictures), you have to get to leave Aguas Calientes at least at 4 am. Only the first 400 "lucky" tourists get permits.

Tip 3: If you are planning to climb to the Machu Picchu bring an extra T-shirt. You get to the top all wet at 5am, and then you have to wait in line in the chilly morning at least half an hour until they let you in.

Tip 4: You can get a cool Machu Picchu stamp in your passport next to the entrance, so don't forget to bring it.