Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu 5 Days

Pick-up from your hotel between 04:30 and 05:00 and about 3 hours in our private transport. Breakfast is not included: you can order it at a local restaurant in Mollepata and support local businesses. Another 20 minutes by road to Challacancha (3,700 m), where the trek begins and we meet our horseman and his horses, who carry the food and camping equipment. About 4 hours of walking to Soraypampa for lunch, with panoramic views of the snow-capped Humantay and Salkantay (6,271 m). Soraypampa (3,800 m) is our first camp — the highest and coldest of the trek, where the temperature can drop to -5 °C at night. In the afternoon we walk up to Humantay Lake (1 h 30 up and 1 hour back) and return to Soraypampa. Distance: 12 km · Walking: 4 hours · Highest point: 4,200 m · Grading: 3/5 · Weather: cold.

Breakfast around 05:30 and the climb to the highest point of the trek, the Salkantay pass (4,630 m), between two huge mountains: Salkantay on the right and Tucarhuay on the left. From November to February it can even snow here. It takes about 4 hours uphill. At the pass your guide performs an Andean ceremony to thank the Pachamama (Mother Earth). Time for photos and a rest, then downhill through a dramatic cloud forest to Huayracmachay for lunch. We keep descending towards the jungle, past streams and waterfalls, with parrots, parakeets, hummingbirds and orchids, to our second camp, Chaullay (2,900 m). Distance: 21 km · Walking: 9–10 hours · Highest point: 4,630 m · Grading: 4/5 · Weather: cold in the morning, fresh at camp.

After breakfast, at 06:30 we walk down through the high jungle, crossing the Lluskamayo river and several streams, to Playa Sahuayaco, where we camp (5–6 hours). Valleys, waterfalls, tropical fruit and plants such as palms and orchids along the way. After lunch and a rest, transport to Santa Teresa (not included) to enjoy the natural hot springs for the rest of the afternoon (entrance S/10). Back at camp, tea time and dinner. Distance: 14 km · Walking: 5–6 hours · Camp: 2,064 m · Grading: 3/5 · Weather: warm and humid.

Breakfast around 06:30 and a short stretch of an original Inca trail: about 2 hours uphill, with views of the Santa Teresa valley, to the Inca site of Llactapata (2,760 m), right in front of Machu Picchu. From here you see the citadel, Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain for the first time, while your guide tells the history of the Incas who used and worshipped this land. Two hours downhill, always with Machu Picchu in view, to Hidroeléctrica for lunch. Then about 2.5 hours along the railway, past coca and banana plantations, to Aguas Calientes, where we spend the night in a hotel. Dinner at a local restaurant, with a briefing from your guide about the visit to Machu Picchu. Distance: 18 km · Walking: 6–7 hours · Highest point: 2,760 m · Grading: 3/5 · Weather: humid and hot.