Monday, October 17, 2016

Salkantay Trek and Machu Picchu

There must be thousands of travellers who have Machu Picchu on their list of Things To See, and it has certainly been on mine for a while. Indeed Machu Picchu was the first thing I planned properly when I knew I was going to be able to go travelling in South America, so expectations were high for the trip.

I spent a lot of time researching the different options available. The Inca Trail is the best-known trek to the site and has the advantage of allowing you to walk right up there. But it's also extremely busy, and when I go walking I like to be able to get away from crowds. After looking at all the common treks, I eventually chose a five-day, four-night walk known as the Salkantay Trek run by local operator Alpaca Expeditions. This walk takes you up over a high, 4,600m pass close to the Salkantay mountain before going down into cloud forest. You sleep the last night in Aguas Calientes, the town close to Machu Picchu, and spend the last day there. It sounded great and after almost five days of acclimatisation in Cusco I was ready to go.

Day one

Day one started early. I was picked up from my hotel at 4.30am and our team of seven other trekkers, our guide Wilson and our wonderful porters and chefs, headed out on a bumpy road towards the mountains.

I hadn't been sure who else would be on the trek. By the end we all agreed that we had been extremely lucky with our fellow trekkers, who were a cosmopolitan group of Americans, Australians living in America, and another Brit who currently lives in Colombia. We were all pretty like-minded, keen to get out there away from the crowds and embrace whatever the trek threw at us.

Meanwhile Wilson was an extremely experienced guide, originally from Cusco although he's also spent a fair amount of time guiding in the Amazon. He spoke good English as well as his native Quechua and Spanish and was brilliant at spotting stuff for us to look at - birds, plants, historic sites - and generally keeping morale up when the going got tough.

First day's lunch
The first day's walk, after a breakfast of bread, fruit, and incredibly scrambled eggs, took us up from a starting altitude of 3,900m to 4,620m as we crossed the Salkantay pass, and then down to 3,800m where we camped. As we started walking there were some clouds but it looked like clearing a bit - but as we climbed up it got cloudier and cloudier and it was raining when we got to our lunch spot. Here the porters had already set up a tent to cook in and a tent to eat in, and we were treated to soup followed by some delicious trout, rice, vegetables and so on. At 4,400m. That quality of food was to continue over the next four days; we had beef stir fry, chicken, tortillas, chips, and twice freshly-popped popcorn as a completely unnecessary pre-dinner snack!

The rain eased off as we finished lunch and prepared for the last climb up to the pass, but the weather didn't clear and the first four of us to reach the top shivered in sleeting snow for a little while until the others arrived. We couldn't see a thing, but we'd made it! At this point Wilson challenged us, taking us off the path and into the rock field closer to the mountain. It was difficult walking over uneven rocks, my hands were cold despite my new baby alpaca gloves, and we couldn't see the glacier properly. We could only hear it, as the rain caused avalanches thundering down in the distance.

Wilson stopped us, and asked us to find smaller rocks and make a heart shape on a flat rock. He then got us all to find another small rock, and handed out three coca leaves each, pouring a few drops of a sort of floral alcohol on our leaves. Then, and this sounds really corny but actually was very moving, he asked Pachamama - Mother Earth - for blessing and guidance. And the clouds started to clear. Within about half an hour we could see something and the sun had come out. We spent a good two hours from arrival on the pass to leaving it, watching the clouds clear over the mountain. It was quite magical.


As we began the descent the clouds rolled in again, and Wilson hurried us up as it got foggier and foggier. We reached the camp just as it was getting dark and visibility dropped. The team had already set up our tents, each under a shelter for added warmth, and dinner was almost ready. We fell exhausted into bed before 8pm!

Day two

We woke to clear skies and the view we'd missed the night before, of mountains all around the campsite, and had breakfast outdoors. There were even pancakes. Before we set off walking Wilson introduced us properly to the porters - chef Cassilios, sous-chef Pancho, and porters Gregorio and Washington (who is Cassilios' son!) We also met the two local guys who were steering our team of horses - or mules - up the mountain with our gear, David and Arnold. It was nice to find out more about the team, who throughout were unfailingly cheerful and energetic and made us feel quite inadequates as they hurried past us with all our things.

Going down ...
And then began what turned into the toughest day of walking. It was beautiful countryside as we descended from mountain to cloud forest, with flowers and birds and butterflies all around and lots to look at. Wilson pointed out various things to look for and it was a good walk down to lunch, but our feet and legs were already aching by the time we'd demolished a feast of lomo saltado (the local beef stir fry) and corn fritters, plus lots of rice and veggies.

Hummingbird
After lunch we descended almost to the glacial river running through the valley we were to pass along, and then climbed up again to the trail. It went up and down, but mostly down, for the rest of the afternoon, and due to erosion was much longer than advertised. We stopped a couple of times in campsites which were buzzing with insects, although they also grew fruit and some of the group bought fresh passionfruit to eat. We were very grateful to finally reach the trail end and a rough road, where Wilson had organised a truck to pick us up for the final few kilometres to the campsite.

At our request he'd also organised a side-trip, 45 minutes in a minibus with the cheesiest soundtrack ever to take us to some nearby hot springs. The springs were a complex of clear pools, outside surrounded by mountains, where we lay and eased our legs for a while before heading back for dinner tired but less achy. That night we slept to the sound of the river rushing by next to us, and woke to more blue skies.

Day three

Freshly-roasted beans
Day three was a shorter day, but involved another tough climb from 2,100m to 2,700m along the 'other' Inca trail, which once ran from the Amazon to Machu Picchu. These days you can't walk much of it, although they're trying to clear more. The path runs uphill past banana groves and coffee farms and we stopped at one of the family-run farms to learn about how you make coffee. In fact we had a go ourselves, first harvesting some beans, then using the machine to take the skins off, then roasting some beans which had already been dried, and finally grinding them. Locally they use the grounds to make a sort of coffee essence which is then mixed with water to produce a smooth, dark brew. We all bought bags of beans or coffee to take home, and such was the organisation that a porter was on hand to rush them back to the road so they could be transported in a van instead of anyone having to carry them.

The path then wound its way uphill, and although the gradient was occasionally tough it was lovely walking with shady patches, great views and lots to look at. After a last steep climb we reached the top of the pass, where the vegetation changed abruptly to a mossy forest and the path descended again to the Incan site of Llactapata. Here a small temple faces the east and you can see the 'back' or western side of Machu Picchu clearly. We spent a while looking at it through binoculars and taking pictures before the last 10 minute descent to our campsite, almost directly below Llactapata with similar views and a really amazingly cute puppy.


The afternoon was ours so we lazed around, looking at the view through the tent mesh and listening to the mules chomping at the grass. Before dinner, and over the obligatory pre-dinner snack we totally didn't need, Wilson talked to us about Inca history so we'd be ready for Machu Picchu. We went to sleep hoping for a bright sunrise.

Day four

Sadly no sunrise was forthcoming, and it rained heavily overnight, but we got some atmospheric cloud effects in the morning instead and the team had baked a cake - yes, really - for breakfast as it was the last morning camping. As you do.

Morning view
It rained most of the day, but it wasn't too bad as we dropped down to the valley floor for about two hours and then walked mostly on the flat for the rest of the day. A lot of it was along the railroad which runs from a hydroelectric station to Aguas Calientes - you can't drive to Aguas Calientes, so anyone who's failed to get on a train to Cusco or Ollantaytambo from there has to walk back to Hydroelectric. All of a sudden it seemed as though there were hordes of people, as we'd barely seen anyone on the trail save for a young Czech couple walking independently. The railroad was nice to walk by, with a river on one side, but with three days' walking in our legs already it seemed an interminable way to Aguas Calientes. It was great to finally reach the town and find the fastest walkers already having a beer by the road!

Our hotel had hot hot showers and soft soft beds and I spent the afternoon mainly lounging, having found a channel showing films in English on the television and not really being bothered to do anything else. We had dinner cooked by Cassilios and the team but in a restaurant and they outdid themselves with a veritable feast. We thanked them and said goodbye, as they were all heading back to Cusco that evening.

Day five

Machu Picchu day! Another hideously early start as we joined Wilson in the bus queue shortly after 4.30am. Although you can't drive to Aguas Calientes, there are buses running you up to Machu Picchu - if you don't want to face the 1.5km hike straight up the mountainside to it! The buses start running at 5.30am but you need to be in the queue earlier to have any chance of making it up there by dawn, when the light is simply incredible.


We were inside shortly after 6am, so the early start was worth it. Already there were lots of people but we did manage to get some group and individual shots without too many others in the background. Weirdly I got asked by one guy for a selfie with him because he wanted to take a selfie with someone from the UK.

Wilson then gave us a comprehensive three-hour tour of the site, including a continuation of the history lesson from the other night and tidbits about what we were seeing. He really knew his stuff and we all learned a lot about the Incan culture, the reason why they made more effort with the architecture and finish of some buildings compared to others, how the buildings were constructed, what historians believe the site was used for, and so on. The Incans did an incredible job building on Machu Picchu and the skill of their masons is extraordinary.

Mostly we managed to find spots slightly away from the worst of the crowds but there was one point, going up the small hill with the Incan 'sundial' on top where it was basically a slow queue - which some people seemed to think they could jump. 

Incan bridge
By just before 10am Wilson had exhausted most of his stories and half our group had tickets to climb the vertiginous Huayna Picchu (the mountain in the background of the photo above). I had decided not to as I'm not good with cliff edges; a decision which the others said was sensible! The remaining four of us split up and I spent some time contemplating the view and also visiting the Incan bridge, which is along a lovely little trail that is actually the end of the Incan trail from the Amazon which we'd walked a bit of on day three. Currently it vanishes on the cliff face after the bridge, but Wilson says that they are working to try and join it up.

By noon we'd been there six hours and it was time to head back into town for lunch, and later the train to Ollantaytambo and then a bus back to Cusco. I slept quite a lot of the way but was awake enough later to catch up with most of our group for celebratory pisco cocktails. It was a fabulous, fabulous trip.

Tips for Salkantay and Machu Picchu
  •  I booked my trek way way in advance but some of the others booked much closer to the time. October is off-season and the Salkantay is a trek which is more likely to have space than others. You can't get away with this for the Inca Trail - that must be booked well in advance!
  • I did extensive online research over my tour operator and was really happy with the ultimate choice, Alpaca Expeditions. They weren't cheap but they were very professional and they say they look after their staff. Wilson showed us a picture of a tour he guided of Machu Picchu for the porters' families (in Quechua), and he said the families all get Christmas gifts. Senior porters are in charge of coordinating groups of porters from their areas to ensure a fair allocation of work and adequate time to go home and visit families.
  • You can walk the Salkantay independently but I'm not sure I'd recommend it - there were points where the track was unclear or the direction unclear, especially when the weather got bad. If you go independently find a good map! 
  • For Machu Picchu: a) book your bus tickets in advance (as well as your general entry tickets); b) join the bus queue early; c) take gear for all weather conditions and wear decent shoes; d) have your passport handy because everything's tied to your passport number.

1 comment:

  1. Wow, looks amazing! It makes me nostalgic about when we walked the Inca Trail - the three things that really stood out for me were the incredible views, the unbelievable food (how do they do it!) and the porters trotting past us carrying our bags, the camp and the food, while wearing flip flops!

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