Salkantay Trail 5d / 4n
El Camino Salkantay es una de las rutas de trekking más impresionantes y gratificantes para llegar a Machu Picchu, y ofrece una increíble combinación de paisajes de montaña de gran altitud, exuberantes bosques nubosos y una rica historia inca. Esta aventura de 5 días y 4 noches es una alternativa perfecta al Camino Inca, conocido por sus impresionantes vistas del nevado Salkantay (6271 m/20 574 pies), uno de los picos más altos de los Andes peruanos.

FIRST DAY: CUSCO-, MOLLEPATA – SORAYPAMPA
We leave Cusco at 5:00 in the morning, in a private van we arrive at Mollepata (3850 m.a.s.l.), passing before Izcuchaca and Limatambo, we arrive at our destination by 07:30 in the morning. where it will be a 40 minute stop to have coffee in the morning and present the food and food that will accompany us on the next 03 days of the walk, here we start on our first day of the walk, we will have an hour and half of the walk at a place called Cruzpata ; stop to observe the majestic snow-capped Humantay (5480 masl), two hours after we will go to Sayllapata where you will have the first lunch, after a delicious lunch and a short rest we will continue walking for three hours to our first Soraypampa campsite (3900 masl) each approximately 17:00. We will have “cha time” where our passengers will be able to drink the famous coca tea to compensate for the altitude sickness and where our guide can explain a little more about the area we are in, then we will appreciate the night shift of the Andes to learn a little about it. Andean astronomy, followed by eating and resting so that we will be ready for the most difficult day.
SECOND DAY: SORAYPAMPA, CHAULLAY
After a delicious morning coffee we prepare for our walk doing different stretching exercises, this will be a very long and difficult day because we will climb to the highest point of our walk, we have a 4 hour climb from Soraypampa to Salkantay (4,600m) During the climb we will be able to appreciate different lakes and we will appreciate the moving of the floor ecological from the area of Quichua to the area of Puna, if the weather favors us we can appreciate the majestic Apu Salkantay (6,500 meters above sea level) which is one of the most important mountains of the region. The geography of the department of Cusco is one of the most important mountains within the Inka culture, after an explanation about the area by our specialized guide and giving you time to enjoy your snacks, we will begin with the decision for the city of Huayracmachay, place where we go to lunch, and após, a well-deserved rest. We will continue as we decide to the city of Chaullay where we will go to the second night in this last part of the day we will appreciate the geographical change between the cold and dry zone that we were in the previous days to the humid and tropical zone, we will also appreciate the change in the local flora and fauna , we can see different types of birds, like different orchids, we will go to the camping point by turns 17:00. As not the day before, we will have a chat time after lunch or dinner in the evening.
THIRD DAY. CHAULLAY - SAHUAYACO - SANTA TERESA
This day will be incomparable and unique, because during the walk we can see a great variety of flora and fauna, starting from CHAULLAY, passing through the community of COLLPAPAMPA and continuing through the local vegetation, observing hot springs in a valley, along the course of the Santa Teresa River, where there are also various varieties of orchids and large cachoeiras, We will also feel a big change in climate, because on this day we will enter an area called high jungle or high jungle, then we will go to Sahuayaco where we will have our last lunch with our road chef, after lunch, we will take a transport to the city of Santa Teresa, where will we spend the third night in a hostel? With double or triple rooms, all rooms have private bathrooms, hot water, and TV. In the afternoon the passages before the coordination with the guide can visit the thermal pools of Cocalmayo. The meal of this night will be given in a restaurant and you will have typical regional products.
FOURTH DAY: SANTA TERESA - HYDROELECTRIC - AGUAS CALIENTES
Our walk starts at 8:00 in the morning, in the round we will appreciate a variety of coffee in the morning: banana, coca and other plantations of tropical fruits. We will go to the hydroelectric station where we will have to register to enter the historic sanctuary of Machupicchu. From this point on, we will walk for an hour and a half to Inka Rakay where we will have lunch, after an interval we will go to the city of Aguas Calientes or Machupicchu, here we will have a fourth night in a hostel with private rooms, cool shower, cable TV and wi-fi. Around 7 p.m., we will meet and have the final coordination of the most important day of the walk, visiting the sacred city of the Inkas.
FIFTH DAY: HOT WATERS - MACHUCPICCHU – CUSCO.
Very soon (approx. 04:20) We are going to start climbing for an hour and half of the walk or we can go by bus with an additional cost of US$12 to get to the city. Once inside the park, your guide will provide you with a two-hour excursion to the most important ruins and temples of the ancient city. Afterwards, you will be free to explore Machupicchu and perhaps take hikes in Huaynapicchu or Machupicchu Mountain (previous reservations are required with two months’ advance notice, in addition to an additional fee of US$20. There are only 400 tickets per day to climb these two mountains). At your own pace, you will have to return to Aguas Calientes (by stairs or bus) in order to catch the train back to Ollantaytambo or Cusco.
INCLUDES:
- Transportation from Cusco to Soraypampa
- Biking equipment
- 03 breakfasts, 03 lunches, 03 dinners
- 02 ningt the camping
- Guide throughout the trek
- Entrance to Machu Picchu
- 01 night of hostel
- Return train from Machu Picchu town to Ollantaytambo
- Bus from Ollantaytambo to Cusco

DOES NOT INCLUDE:
- First breakfast and last lunch
- Bus up and down to Machu Picchu
RECOMMENDATIONS:
- 30-liter backpack
- Mosquito repellent
- Sunscreen
- Rain poncho
- Trekking shoes
- Trekking clothes



testimonial
EXCELENTE A base de 108 reseñas gloomypenguin2019-11-14Verificada Amazing value, very safe trip To get to Macchu Picchu by car, you will be taking a 6-7 hr colectivo van ride around to the other side of MP. Then you will need to walk in 9 km along train tracks - this is a safe, very used route and the trains are used to dealing with walking tourists. There are cheap, good places to eat after you walk past the actual train station if you're buying your own food (the lady with all the hammocks is awesome). There are a lot of different places to stay and camp along the train tracks if that's your thingI highly recommend paying for an extra night in Aguas Calientes or you will need to leave MP hours early (ticket is good for 5 hours entry) to walk out again to the colectivo van ride. If you stay in town longer, you can eat 6-8 soles meals at the mercado de abastos, by the train tracks and first bridge (fruits and veg are on the first floor, prepared comida típica is up the inside stairs). Aguas Calientes is very, very expensive for everything so bring in any alcohol, cigarettes, stuff. You will definitely want to bring bug spray and sunscreen (even if it's cloudy, even if you see no bugs). Only "extra" ticket purchase I made was $12 usd for a bus to the entrance of MP from Aguas Calientes but I did walk the way down... You don't need to do thatThing to note: some people in my van did have issues with their return ticket vouchers for the colectivo. I don't think it had anything to do with this specific company but just remember while traveling around like this, make sure you have contact info and resolve all issues as early and completely as possible. I personally had zero issues, though, and I really didn't understand what was going on with the other group(s) but I sure did feel badly for themSpecial thanks to this company for: the great private room with private bathroom and meeting me after office hours to arrange all this WAGNER-MARSON2019-01-07Verificada Excellent! I'm from São Paulo - Brazil, it was my first trip alone and I recommend the agency. Nancy was always helpful before, during and after the trip. I did all the tours with her: Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Humantay Lagoon, Colorful Mountain, quadricycle to Moray and Salineras. All of the travel guides were great. Nancy picked me up and took me to the airport when I needed her. Thank you to the staff. Peru has so many beautiful places that you can not get to know it in a few days. I would return and recommend Nancy and her staff. Thank you and see you soon! Zbigniew S2018-12-31Verificada Cheap and interesting way to get to MP Everything was well organized. Walk along railway was nice. Dinner also. Nothing to complain. Better than train as our friends spent there additional two hours for a high price. Andy H2017-08-09Verificada Great value for money, but the final pickup was a horrible and stressful experience We had read great reviews and especially with dealing with Nancy, so got in touch with her via WhatsApp. The experience was great and she answered our questions well. The start of the tour was great and we were picked up on time and even had time to have a coffee at a local shop which was recommend to us. The trip there was comfortable and the mini bus was nice and modern. Our driver was extremely good and didn't overtake other cars where it was dangerous. I did feel sick in the car, but that was due to a lot of corners and not due to the driver. We arrived in Agua Calientes fine and the hike was absolutely stunning. The dinner was extremely basic and for some reason was served at 8.30pm, when we had to be up at 3am the next day. Our tour guide told us we needed to buy our own food for the morning so we spent even more of the evening sorting this out, when we could have been sleeping. It would have been so much better to have dinner as early as 6pm so you could get a decent sleep (especially after how tired you are with the 3 hour hike along the train track).When we finally went to bed we were woken up at 11pm with our lunch for the next day (which we were told we wouldn't get). As you can imagine that was annoying. Machu Picchu is amazing and the hike up is difficult. But well worth doing. Our guide was scheduled for 7am even though we had asked for a 6am tour, so we wasted an hour at the top waiting for the guide and watching hundreds of people go in before us.Getting back to Cusco was a horrible experience. There's 50 different minibuses all in the same location, screaming the name of the tour guide and you're supposed to magically hear and then get in. Out of pure luck we managed to find out minibus and started the absolutely horrendous journey back. Unlike the journey there, the way back was in a minibus that was falling apart. I was sat on a seat that wasn't screwed in properly and meant going around corners almost tipped me over. The other two in the group had a similar experience.We stopped off at a hut in the middle of no where to clean the van. The food options were non existent if you're being careful about what you eat and we didn't understand why we stopped there (where as on the way we stopped off at a really nice hostel).We ended up arriving a few hours late and it ruined what could have been an amazing experience. I can only assume that on the way back they don't really care what you think and therefore you get a terrible experience.Overall I would do it again, as it's such a cheap way to see Machu Picchu and even though the journey back is abysmal, it's the best you can expect in a country that has no organisation generally. Willy L2016-08-23Verificada Great Choice, Nancy is the Best Nancy was a great travel consultant for us. She arranged everything for us at the very last minute. She trusted us that she bought all the train and entrance tickets before seeing us. Everything was thru whatsapp only. The value for money I think is very good. Total package that we paid was much lower than booking thru the various tour operators in Cusco. This is after I googled and browsed that she included a number of things which were add-ons for other operators. She personally picked us up at the airport and even arranged the taxi back to airport post our 4 days stay in Cusco. After every tour, she asked us if everything was okay. We could have leveraged her service as well for accommodation which we didnt do and we regretted because I think we could get better deal thru her. I saw some not so good stories here abt machupicchubycar.com but maybe because they were not handled by Nancy. So if u want to use this tour agency, make sure u choose to work with Nancy. Tina K2014-07-13Verificada Looking back: Go by your own rather than organized tour We booked a tour with one of the many agencies in Cusco to Machu Picchu (MP) because it was a cheaper and faster option since we did not have a lot of time nor money. We paid 125 dollars for the trip, which includes 1 night in Aguas Calientes, entrance fee to MP, train ride back from Aguas Calientes to hydroelectric station, and 1 lunch, 1 dinner and 1 breakfast.The bus picked us up at the agency around 7:15. After 1.30 hours we arrived to Ollantaytambo where we had a rest and the bus driver picked up 5 more people who were not included in the tour. Since there were only 3 seats left 2 people had to sit on the floor. The ride continued for 5 more hours to the hydroelectric station where we would walk for 2 hours to Aguas Calientes. This is a winding ride through mountains and a few people got sick. The driver did not make the ride more comfortable. We stop in a small village of which I don't remember the name for lunch. The lunch was very basic (pasta with tomato sauce or chicken burger) and we found out that it costs 5 soles! After lunch the car ride continued for another 40 minutes on dirt road before we finally arrived at hydroelectric station. From there 2 hours easy walk to Aguas Calientes where we would meet our guide at the main square. At the main square we waited for 1.5 hours before the guide showed up! And then it took another 30min to find everybody on the list before we could check-in at the hostel. Everybody was very annoyed and tired. Two girls on the tour got a dirty, damp and moldy private room so they wanted to change. The guide couldn't find another room for the girls so they got 15soles each back! Fortunately, our room was Ok. Dinner that was included was very basic, cost around 15 soles. At the restaurant we saw many cockroaches. Aguas Calientes is a small village pretty much built for tourism. There are only restaurants and hostels/hotels there. No cars allowed.We got up at 04:00 to eat breakfast (bread and jam). The bridge opens at 05:00, there they check your ticket and ID. Be there early, the queue gets very long! Then we hiked in the dark to MP. The flashlights were annoying and blinding because you could see fine without. MP opens at 06:00. We were there around 05:45. The hike took around 1h 20min from our hostel. The hike uphill is very steep and sweaty so don't wear too much clothes!MP is spectacular but very touristy. Around 10 a lot of people start showing up and it is crowded! I don't like the ways things are organized so going once to MP is enough for me. Because we were at MP so early we could take some photos without people in it. As I have written before, train tickets back to hydroelectric station were included in our tickets but because our guide is incompetent he brought our tickets too late so we had to walk back to the hydroelectric station. Because of this we arrived late at the station and missed our ride. We waited for 30min before another ride was available. Very annoying since our guide promised to tell the driver to wait for us. Overall, it is very easy to do MP on your own. The entrance fee costs 126soles and there are knowledgable guides waiting outside if you are interested in hiring one. If you don't want to hike you can take a bus up MP for 19 dollars return tickets. The train tickets are expensive, 26dollars one way to hydroelectric station. Don't take the organized tour. They are usually unreliable and you don't get what you paid for. Plus you are more flexible to choose your own hostel and food instead of feeling like you are on a school trip. Franniecliff M2013-05-24Verificada Machupicchu and Huaynapicchu with kids Exhilirating beauty ! I have to put in a good word for Guillermo our guide who was prompt ,knowledgable , organized and catered to what we wanted and at our pace.Traveled with 6 athletic kids ages 8,11,13,15,18 &21. We climbed Huaynapicchu.I was a little concerned with safety which you should (pictures below). My 8 year old and I climbed leisurely up to about 90% of Huaynapicchu stopping to rest after steep segments. The hike up to this point was not too concerning and good enough for us.( I did not want my 8 year old to get too tired to hike Machupichu ruins after) The rest went to the top at a faster pace with our guide. I felt better that my kids were with an expirienced guide that has hiked Huaynapicchu many many times and left the ultimate decision to my oldest daughter to turn back if she felt it was too dangerous. Well they conquered Huaynapicchu! She said the last 10% of the hike was the scariest she's ever done. At the top they pretty much stayed low to the ground and moved about on their "butt".Hope this review helps you decide if you would like to hike the optional Huaynapicchu. Machupicchu alone was quite the hike and spectacular. Lastly, I recommend guillermo If you need a guide in Cusco or Machupicchu email: guillerlavilla@hotmail.com yflavio2012-06-25Verificada Yay! Made it by car! This is the summary of my trip from Lima to Cuzco by car. Total of 7 days.First day: Arrived Lima by plane from Brazil, a driver welcomed us at the airport and drove us to the office rental. I got a unlimited mileague rental of a Grand Vitara 4x4 (both needed) at the National Rent a Car, local office by email. We left toward Nazca, good road, about 6-7 hours.Second day: After a good breakfast, we left at 08:30 am toward Cuzco and started the real adventure. Scenic, breathtaken views, montains, valleys, vicunhas, alpacas, lhamas, ice, many trucks and curves... 14 hours till Urubamba (our final destination). The road is a little dangerous but nothing impossible if you like to drive, the views worth for all. Better with a good car, I wouldn t do it with a compact, GPS is not mandatory but I had one in my iPhone and I used it a lot. Puquio, the first city, has nothing, Abancay doesn t have anything at all, keep the tank full as you can and have snacks and beverages cos there isn t any place I would stop for eatting. I barely felt the altitude effects, we have reached 4.436 meters. I think I would feel more if I had travelled by air, I definitely have no regrets of doing it by car.Be aware cos I am sure the things are worse in the rainy season, some pavement are lost near Limatambo but anything to worry about if you are on a SUV.If you want a safer drive, make it in 3 parts. There are some fair hotels in Abancay, but there isn t anything interesting there, the advantage is you are not losing the views cos your will be driving only during daylight.Not a good trip who feels sick in the car or with small children; The roads have tolls, have local money; There is no ice on roads.