Salkantay Trek – 5 Days

This 5-day tour starts with you getting picked up from your hotel/hostel in Cusco and transferred to the small town of Mollepata, arriving at approximately 7:30am. We’ll have a quick stop to stretch our legs, use the restroom and stock up on last minute supplies. Then we continue our journey to our starting point for the trek, Soraypampa, where we’ll meet with our team, who will load the equipment on horses and mules.

Around 10:00am, we will begin our hike toward the Humantay Lake. This beautiful blue lagoon is hidden between two mountains and is one of the most spectacular destinations of the trek. During the hike we will have panoramic views of the majestic Salkantay Mountain, Humantay Mountain, other mountains covered with snow, and the Valley of Apurimac River. Around 1:00pm, we’ll have lunch, rest and finish the day with 2-hour hike to our first campsite at Salkantaypampa.

The longest and hardest day of the trek, but also the most beautiful. The scenery and terrains will change drastically from dry climate to snowy peaks to tropical areas.

We start off the day with a nutritious breakfast to get energy for the day that lies ahead. The hike toward Soyrococha begins at 7:00am which takes roughly 3 hours to get to. The walk upwards can be difficult, but the breath-taking views of Salkantay on the route are definitely worth it. Once we reach Soyrococha, we have one last hike up towards Salkantay Pass, the highest point of the whole trek. The feeling of satisfaction mixed with the views of massive snow-capped mountains, Salkantay, Humantay, Huayanay and the view of white rivers, and picturesque lakes is like no other.

Around 1:00pm. we will have our lunch, in the area called Huayracmachay. After a trek of approximately 3 hours, we will arrive to our campsite in Colpapampa (2,920 m). Around 7:00p.m. we will rest, recharge energies from the trek and eat dinner.

At 07:00am we start a 6-hour trek towards Playa Sahuayaco passing by small communities, waterfalls, fruit-bearing trees, varied flora, and birds. On arrival to ‘La Playa’, we will have lunch. At 2:00pm a local bus will take us to the Santa Teresa Hot Springs, where you will enjoy and relax at the hot pools. Here we’ll have dinner and also spend the night.

We start our day at 7:00am again, this time making our way to Hidroelectrica. We’ll hike through the valley and the Vilcanota river for about 3 hours until we reach the station. Once there, it’s a 10 km walk to Aguas Calientes. We walk along the train tracks close to the bank of Urubamba river where we’ll appreciate the holy mountains of Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain, and finally arrive to Aguas calientes, for an overnight stay at a hotel and dinner at one of it’s restaurant.

Zip lining is availabile on this day before heading to Aguas Calientes. Speak to your guide if you’re interested (optional).

After 4 days of hiking, we finally visit one of the 7 Wonders of the World, Machu Picchu!

We wake up early, have breakfast and take the first bus up to Machu Picchu to enter the site as it opens. Once we arrive our 2-hour guided tour of the Inca citadel begins. You learn all about the Incas while you visit all the important areas of the ruins.

After your tour, you’ll have free time to explore the site by yourself and to climb either Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu mountain if you had requested previously. In the afternoon, you will take the train back to Ollantaytambo from where we’ll take you back to Plaza San Francisco in Cusco on our private van.