Salkantay Trek 4D/3N

We will pick you up at your hotel around 05:00 am. We proceed to drive almost 3 hours to Anta – Mollepata. During the bus trip, you can observe the white snow-capped mountains of Salkantay and Verónica: the holy gods of the Incas. In addition, you will glimpse the spectacular views of the upper part and the lower valleys with colorful landscapes.

After two hours of driving, we will make the first stop in the town of Mollepata, where there are restrooms and an optional short breakfast. Then the trip will continue to Challacancha (the starting point of our trek). There we will meet our support staff, organize all the equipment, horses and mules and have an introductory meeting. At approximately 9:30 a.m. We will start our walk towards Soraypampa (3900 m.a.s.l). The first part of the trail is a paved rock trail. On the way, we will see the old water canal that still supplies water to the new inhabitants. The first section is 9 km long, which we will complete in 3 hours to reach Soraypampa, the place for lunch. This will also serve as our base camp.

After lunch and a nap, we will continue the walk to the Humantay Lagoon (4200 masl). This is a 5 km hike that will take 3 hours round trip. Once we reach the lake, we can observe the Humantay glacier and the impressive sunset. Soraypampa is located in the middle of the glacial valleys where at night it is so dark without ambient light which makes it a perfect place to appreciate the constellations in the sky.

Early wake up call at 5:00 am with coca tea brought to your shop. Then, we quickly pack up, enjoy our breakfast and immediately start hiking to the highest point of the Salkantay trail (4620 masl – 15,255 ft). The distance is 7 km that we should complete in 4 hours. During the ascent through the rocky valley, we can observe the magnificent Salkantay peak and we can even see chinchillas on the trail (6217 masl – 20,341 feet). Once we reach the top of the trail, we will enjoy spectacular views of the mountains and the imposing snow-capped peaks of Salkantay, Humantay and Pumasillo.

Salkantay is considered the second highest mountain in the Cusco region and one of the main Inca gods known as “Apu Salkantay”. Walking to the top is the hardest part of the entire hike. You will feel so accomplished! The next 3 hours are spent downhill on the snake trail along a rocky and gravel road to reach Huayracmachay, our lunch spot. In the afternoon we will reach the upper part of the rainforest, also called “cloud forest”. We will travel 9 km in 3 hours until we reach Challway Village (2900 masl – 9,514 feet) our base camp. The second half of the day during the descent, we will observe the thick forest that is decorated with colorful orchids and native plants. Most of the year the weather is warm and pleasant.

Around 5:30 am wake up call with coca tea! Next, we have breakfast and then we start walking directly towards the Beach; walking through the thick jungle and following the banks of the Salkantay river on a gradual path. En route, we stop at several family farms to enjoy local fruits and vegetables (passion fruit, banana, coffee, avocado, mango, orange, and papaya). If we are lucky, we will be able to observe the famous bird called “the cock of the rocks”.

The distance of the trail is 16 km and the walking time is 7 hours until we reach Lucmabamba, our base camp. Lucmabamba is a small town surrounded by coffee trees and can provide basic facilities (toilets, electricity, shopping and souvenirs) and serves as our lunch point. After lunch we take a local bus for one hour to Hidroeléctrica from there, we will continue walking along the train tracks until we reach Aguas Calientes. Once in the city, we checked into our hotel, went out to dinner, and then stayed overnight.

We will wake up at 3:30, very early, to take the first bus to Machu Picchu and see the sunrise over the ruins.

Your guide will spend around 2 hours explaining the highlights of Machu Picchu. You will then have time to explore the ruins on your own and hike Huayna Picchu if you have booked this option. (This is a separate admission ticket that costs $15 per person.) Finally, you will return to Aguas Calientes and take a train back to Ollantaytambo, and then the bus back to Cusco. Once in Cusco, we will transfer you back to your hotel.