Salkantay Trek 4 Days: The Ultimate Andean Challenge

Distance: 14km

You will be picked up from your accommodation early in the morning (4:30am aproximately) and driven to the town of Mollepata, about 2.5 hours away from Cusco, where you will have the option to have breakfast. During this time you can provide us with a bag that weighs between 5kg-6kg, which will be carried by a horse. From here we will drive to Marcocasa, the starting point of the hike where we will walk for 4 hours until we reach Soraypampa our lunch stop.

After lunch and a little siesta, we will start the one hour hike to Humantay lake, located at 4,200 m.a.s.l. Here you will have time to visit and explore the place and take in the incredible view of Humantay mountain (5450 m.a.s.l), which is part of the Vilcabamba chain of the Andes. We will then return to Soraypampa where we will have dinner and spend the night.

Distance: 20km

Breakfast will be served early at around 6am and then start the first part of our hike (around 6km) passing by beautiful scenery of rocky mountains, switch back trails, and rivers and see local animals including alpacas and llamas. We will hike to the highest point of the trek, Salkantay pass, that has an altitude of 4615 m.a.s.l, Our guide will give us a detailed account of Salkantay pass explaining the mysteries of the mountains and sacred significance to the locals. From here, we will hike another hour downhill to Huayramachay, where a well deserved lunch will be waiting for us. After lunch, we will continue our hike for another 3 hours until we arrive to Chaullay, located at 2900 m.a.s.l.,where we will spend our second night. You will have time to relax until dinner and even have a hot shower that you can rent for 10.00 soles.

Distance: 15km

We will have breakfast at around 6.00am ready to start hiking by 7.00am. You will note that the environment has changed from mountain conditions to more tropical/jungle. We will walk down to a river where we will follow the trail for around 6 hours. We will pass beautiful landscapes and natural plantations of passion fruit, papayas, coffee plants and avocados, until we reach La playa. After a long morning walk you can enjoy a nice cold beer while we wait for lunch. After lunch we will drive to Hydroelectica from here we will walk for 2.5 hours or 8 km to aguas calientes for those who don’t want to walk this part , there is the perfect option and it is to take the 4.35pm train to Aguas Calientes for 40 min ,where we will spend the night. (it is possible to buy this train tickets directly at hidroeléctrica for 35.00 USD )

Very early after breakfast (approximately 05:00 a.m.), we’ll begin our hike to the citadel of Machu Picchu, which will take around 1.5 hours. We will arrive around 7am and have a two-hour guided tour of the most important buildings of Machu Picchu including the Inka temples and palaces.

At the appropriate time, we’ll descend from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes where you will be able to have lunch before boarding the train back to Ollantaytambo and from there, a shuttle bus back to Cusco.