Salkantay Trek, Peru

I completed the 5 day, 4 night Classic Salkantay Trek with Salkantay Trekking in Peru. I went in mid June 2024 and had an amazing time. It was definitely type 2 fun, that was very difficult while doing it but an amazing experience. Here is an in-depth day by day look at what the trek was like. I know I did a lot of research before deciding on this trip and was looking for some more detailed info on what it was like. This was my first multi-day hiking trip so I had a lot of questions. Hopefully this helps if you’re in the same boat! Click Here for the link to my packing list for the trip.

Day 1:

Bright and early at 4:30am a 15 passenger van pick us up from our hotel in Cusco. We drove for 2 hours before stopping for breakfast. After breakfast we drove 1.5 hours more to the starting point of our hike. This first half of this drive had some pretty serious switch backs that made me a little car sick (I suggest some dramamine before setting out this morning). It was very cold when we reached the starting point, we were all able to get out put on the appropriate amount of clothes and use a restroom one last time.

We started out hiking up hill for about 10 minutes then stopped to do introductions and talk about the plan for the day. Then we continued to hike up hill for about an hour- This hike will make you question everything you just signed up for. This is your first taste of hiking at elevation and you get out of breath FAST. Don’t worry, you are fine! After this initial up-hill, the trail flattens out for the rest of the day until you hit your camp for the night, Sky Camp. We stopped at camp, got our duffles, settled in our camping domes and had lunch. After lunch we hiked up to Humantay Lake. This was a HARD hike, it was about a mile and a half with just under 1000ft of elevation gain with an ending elevation of 13,780 ft (your highest point for the day). This is considered a “test hike” to see how hiking up to Salkantay Pass the next day will go. We were told generally 1 hour for this hike is good, 1.5 hours is okay, and 2+ hours is bad. Myself and the last 5 people of our group make it in just under 1.5 hours, which we felt pretty good about. After a pit stop at the top to enjoy the lake and take photos, you head back down to camp to enjoy a happy hour (tea, coffee, juice, and snacks) and then dinner.

There are no showers here at sky camp, but there are toilets (you just have to bring your own TP with you). Tonight you can do a quick wipe down with some bath wipes before bed. This was THE COLDEST night. I wore base layer leggings and long sleeve, my sleep t-shirt and sweatpants, wool socks, my fleece jacket, puffer jacket, hardshell jacket, gloves , and beanie. AND I WAS STILL COLD. I tend to run cold and also came right from a hot/humid North Carolina summer where I wasn’t used to it being that cold at night. I didn't sleep well this night due to the cold and the elevation (some altitude sickness symptoms can be difficultly sleeping).

Daily Totals: Hiking- 7.5 Miles, Elevation- Starting: 12,467 ft, Sky Camp: 12,795ft, Humanity Lake: 13,780.

Accommodations- Sky Camp (toilets (but bring your own TP, no showers)

Difficulty- Challenging

Day 2:

Every morning our Guide woke us up with a hot cup of coca tea (to help with altitude sickness). Bright and early at 4:30 we woke up and got dressed for the morning. Breakfast was at 5:00 (none of us ate too much because it was so early and we weren’t that hungry yet). Our guide told us it would be 3 times harder today than the lake hike yesterday. Based on this information and my lack of sleep I opted to take a horse up to the Salkantay Pass. With this only being day 2 I didn't want to ruin my whole trek but pushing myself too hard. 6/10 people in my group actually opted for horse this day. It was an extra 120 soles and we left about a hour and a half after hour our group took off to hike. We also had the option to get off the horses with about 30 minutes to go from the top so we could finish the final push on foot. 3 of us including myself took this option- for me it felt like the best in-between option where I got to hiking up to our highest elevation point for the trek but save myself for the other 3 days. Once we all reached the top, we took some time for photos, had a snack and some cocoa tea, and took a break. It was cold up top but more than anything it was windy. Then we started making our way down the mountain towards our second camp.

Honestly the second half of this day was probably one of the hardest portions on my body. It was a steep down hill on a rocky/dirt path for the rest of the day. We made one quick pit stop for lunch, but it was about 6 hours of just down hill trekking. My knees felt trashed after this day. I was relieved to have the slightest bit of flat before reaching a short but steep uphill portion to our camp. We reached camp about 6:30 this night.

We had the opportunity for a quick shower then dinner. There are hot shower in each room this night, but keep your expectations low for a hot shower this night. We had to find someone to help us because our shower wan’t heating up (it eventually did, but rotated between scalding hot and freezing cold). I think there was really only one couple in our group that had a nice hot shower. A shower was better than no shower but it was not the hot shower I was hoping for.

Daily Totals- Hiking: 13.5 Miles, Elevation: Starting: 12,795 ft, Salkantay Pass: 15,190 ft, Mountain Sky View: 9,678 ft

Accommodations- Mountain Sky View (toilets & hot showers)

Difficulty- Challenging

Day 3:

Another 4:30 wake up call and 5:00 breakfast. Today we descended deeper into the jungle terrain. This was our only moderate hiking day with slightly downhill or flat terrain. We did all 11 miles of our hike in the morning with some small pit stops for snack at the snack huts along the trail. Today was a nice warm day- my REI sun shirt and buff were a lifesaver! We finished off our hike at a coffee plantation where we were able to see the process of making coffee from bean to cup. We even roasted and tasted our own coffee. Then we took a quick van trip to the Jungle Domes where we were staying for the night.

After we made it to our camp we ate lunch then had the option to go to the Cocalmayo Hot Springs or have some free time in the evening (which we really haven’t had thus far). 8/10 members of our group opted to go to the hot spring to help our tight muscles. There are also no showers at the Jungle Domes, so the hot springs felt like the next best option. 1 Hour drive to the hot springs, then we spent 1.5 hours there before the 1 hour drive back. It cost 50 soles for the hot spring expedition (which majority went to our driver). The hot springs were nice but all of us agree it wan’t HOT like we wanted it to be, they were a little above warm. But after having sore muscles for days it was nice to be able to move around in the warm water without hurting.

After getting back to the hot springs we had dinner then headed to bed for the night.

Daily Totals- Hiking- 11 Miles, Elevation- Starting: 9,678 ft, Jungle Domes: 6,562 ft

Accommodations- Jungle Domes (toilets, no showers)

Difficulty- Moderate

Day 4:

Today we got to sleep in just a little until 5:30 with a 6:00 breakfast. This is the last day meal we would have with our chefs because today, we would finish out our day at Aguas Caliente. It was a tough day, starting out with a steep uphill section of the Inca trail. After having a moderate day, going back to a challenging hiking day was mentally challenging. We had some rain in the morning (which turned out to be amazing because once the sun did come out, it was HOT). We hiked uphill for 4 miles before reaching LLactapata Pass where we had our first view of Machu Picchu from afar. After a quick rest there we hikes another 3 miles to our stopping point for lunch at a local restaurant along the trail. WE then continued on another 1.5 miles before reaching the Hydroelectrica (train) to Aguas Calientes. The train was an extra…. soles but was completely worth it to sit and relax for a little bit. If you did not want to take the train you could hike the last stretch which was another 7 miles on rocky terrain. The couple members of our group that took that option said their feet hurt so much from walking on rocks and they were looking for any spot that wasn’t rocks to step on for relief.

After a ___ train ride we arrived in Aguas Calientes and walked over to our hotel for the night. THIS WAS A DREAM. We immediately took a long hot shower and changed in to clean clothes. We had a little free time so we walked around the market by the train station to grab some souvenirs. We met up with our group for a dinner at a restaurant in town before heading to bed.

Daily Totals: Hiking- 9 Miles (if taking the train), 15 Miles (without the train), Elevation- Starting: 6,562 ft, Llactapata Pass: 9,186 ft, Aguas Calientes: 6,693 ft.

Accommodations: Hotel In Aguas Calientes (Hots showers & toilets)

Difficulty: Challenging

Day 5:

We woke up at 6 for breakfast at the hotel before meeting up with our group in the lobby. We walked over to the bus stop and took a bus up to Machu Picchu. After a windy ride up hill, we arrived at Machu Picchu. They checked our passports and tickets multiple times before we finally entered our assigned circuit (circuit 2). To maintain the crowds and pathways visitors are given a circuit (1-4) and are not allow to go backwards once you have moved on throughout your circuit. We started out with gorgeous views of Machu Picchu from above then proceed down into the ruin. Our guide was with us and did a great job of talking to us and sharing the history of this land as we went through. Two members of our group had extra tickets to hiker further up one of the mountains around Machu Picchu , but ended up not doing it because they were so exhausted/sore from the trek and an extra hour uphill trek didn’t seem appealing.

After finishing our circuit we bought our bus tickets for the way down and headed back to Aguas Caliente. With Salkantay Trekking a one way bus ticket is included, (I guess incase you wanted to hike up or down from Machu Picchu- our group truly thought it was a joke, the only path we could see going up was straight stairs up the switchbacks we were driving on). Either way all of us bought bus tickets for the way down. We sat down for one last group lunch before we headed out of town. It was a 2 hour train to Ollataytambo, and a 1.5 hours bus back to the hotel in Cusco and we were officially done with our trek!

Daily Totals: Hiking- 2 Miles, Elevation- Starting: 6,693 ft Machu Picchu: 7,972 ft, Cusco: 11,155 ft

Accommodations: Back to our hotel in Cusco (Ninos Hotel Meloc)

Difficultly: Moderate

Stays:

For this trek we had Glamping domes for the first 3 nights, and one hotel in Aguas Caliente on night 4. Part of the reason I picked this trek was because I wasn’t keen on doing a long multi-day hike like this then tent camping each night.

On the first night in the Sky Camp, we had access to outlets, separate bathrooms (where you need to bring your own TP), but no showers. We were given a pillow and extra down blanket to help keep us warm.

For night two at Mountain Sky View Camp we had our own bathroom with a shower in our Glamping Hut. A Pillow, sheets, and outlets were available to us. Majority of people had problems with their hot water in their showers but at least it was a shower.

For night three we were in the Jungle Domes, where we had separate bathrooms (once again you needed to bring your own TP) and a plug at the bottom of our bed. No showers were available this night, but there was an option to go to the Cocalmayo Hot Spring (which was our substitute for a shower).

Night 4 we were in a hotel in Aguas Calientes which felt like the nicest accommodation in the world. We requested two separate beds and ended up with bigger rooms than most of our group members because of it. Two people stayed at a different hotel because they booked the trek with an external travel company (which I would not recommend), they had a hotel that they said was dirty and has issues with. They also were at a hotel in lima were they had bedbugs, so definitely not recommended.

All the accommodations through Salkantay Trekking were aesthetically pleasing, clean, and comfy. If you need a hotel it cusco I would highly recommend Hotel Ninos in Meloc, it was conformable with a delicious restaurant on site, free coca tea, a 10 minute walk from the main square, and even had massage options!

Along the trail:

There were lots of snack stands along the trail that have water, Powerade, soda, chips, candy, and fruit. My favorite was the fresh Passionfruit popsicle I got on our 3rd day hiking thought the muggy jungle. There were also bathrooms at a lot of these stop but it usually costs a couple soles.

Food:

We had soup everyday day for lunch/dinner, and it was perfect when not feeling very hungry. The food was fabulous and chefs were great in accommodating food allergies- we had someone with a nut allegory, someone else with a gluten allergy, and then three pescatarians who were all very happy with the food options. We had dessert every night (oddly enough my favorite was the fresh strawberry jell-o on night 4).

Rainbow Mountain Add on:

The one day Rainbow Mountain Add on with Salkantay Trekking was $100. We were picked up at our hotel in Cusco at 4:30 and drove for about 3 hours with a put stop for breakfast until we reached out starting point for the hike. It was a 1.5 mile hike with almost 1000ft of elevation gain. So it was STEEP. As popular as this hike was it was challenging. There was an option to take a horse for 70 soles one way or 90 soles round trip.

Even though this was a tough hike at a high elevation, because we had been hiking for the past 5 days I felt like I was well acclimated to the elevation and this was one of the best i’ve felt while hiking. We had plenty of time up top to take pictures and rest up top. There were a ton of people but everyone was very patient taking turns getting photos. Our guide suggested hiking a little further up the mountain to take photos because our bodies (and llamas) would block out all the people below. There were assortments of llamas to take photos with (you just give the owner whatever amount of soles you would like for photos). There are also some little vendors up top with snacks, keychains, and patches. None of these items were anything special that you couldn’t get in town, but I bought a patch and it’s fun to know I got it up at the top of Rainbow Mountain instead of in town. The crowds grew as the day went on, so the earlier you can go the better.

We headed back down the mountain then hopped in our van for the trip home. We stopped at the same spot we had breakfast at for a lunch then finished the drive back to our hotel in Cusco. We got home around 6pm, with plenty of time to grab dinner before having to pack up to leave Peru the next day.

It is very cold & windy up on top of Rainbow Mountain- Make sure you bring a hard shell jacket and some gloves. It even snowed the day after our one day trek!

Daily Totals: 3 Miles, Elevation: Starting: 15,190 ft, Rainbow Mountain: 16,732 ft.

Accommodations: This was just a day trip so we were picked up and dropped off at our hotel in Cusco (Ninos Hotel Meloc)

Difficulty: Challenging