Salkantay: our graduation trekk
- meganagathe
- 2 juin 2018
- 4 min de lecture
We decided that this would be our graduation of treks : 4 days, 90km, tent and food on the back. We left Cusco with our bag filled with cooked pasta in ziplock bags and many cans of tuna and cereal bars - we where ready for this! As we had read in many blogs about the trekk before we left, we knew the first day would be the hardest as you are climbing to 4800m of Altitude in a very steep ascent. Although we were pretty mentally prepared for it, our bodies felt slightly less physically prepared whilst carrying our incredibly full bags (estimated at 12kg)! The pathway up was not only tiring , but very cramped with mules pushing there way past carrying all the bags from the tour groups. On the positive side we where getting cheered on by the many guides calling out ‘chicas, muy bien’ and having some even stop to chat to us and tell us how impressed they where of us doing the trek alone ( we where feeling really smug!).
The amazing thing about this trek is that in a short amount of time you get to experience very different ecosystems and so even on the first day, whilst coming down from the Salkantay glacier we got to come down in a much more humid jungle like climat. We found a lovely campsite to stop at on the way, where they had build little domes out of straw and we could try and keep our tent dry for the night! This was also a good move to ditch all the tour groups and have the trail to ourselves for the next few days!
The next morning we woke up really happy as according to our knowledge the hardest had been done and we where pretty much in for a walk in the park! Turns out, we had put such a big emphasis on the first day that we where very unprepared for the day ahead of us, which also included a lot of going up and down, up and down. However to our excitement a lot of the path was many wild strawberries growing and called for many picking/eating brakes! After walking 22 km, we decided to pitch our tent next to a river and have a freezing swim for Agathe and an intense feet wash for me! We also managed to get our hands on two beers and a bag of chips which made for the perfect aperetivo !
We woke up the next morning ready to smash the last 24km to the town before Machu pichu. Today again, we got to experience a whole new ecosystem by starting our morning walk through coffee plantations . We stoped off at a little hut which called itself starbucks (not sure how legit that was!) and got given some freshly grown avocados by the owner. Avocado and coffee tho start the day = a very happy Megan (my two biggest addictions in one place!!).
The main goal of this day where to go see some inca ruins situated on a mountain facing Machu pichu. Although the ruins where not much to write about, the whole path to get there, even though really difficult was amazingly beautiful. After an incredibly long day of walking we finally made it to our last campsite before joining the ‘city’ again. The next day was only a two hour flat walk to the town of aqua calientes, where we let ourselves have a day off from all the walking and mainly sat in a french bakery stuffing our faces with quiche and coffee!
The next morning we woke up at 3 o’clock in order to finally make it up to Machu Pichu. We thought we where being really clever waking up so early in order to leave ourselves plenty of time to walk up the mountain before the site opened at 6…however when we arrived at the start of the trail a man informed us that we would only be allowed to start at 5, what?? So at 5 we found ourselves at what felt like the start of a marathon running up the steps to Machu Pichu, panting like maniacs. After the first 15 minutes we looked at each other and both thought we where going to puke. But little by little we realised that we had managed to create a big gap with the people behind us and got to climb at a steadier pace! We where in the first 15 to make it!! However once at the gate, we realised that the first buses had managed to arrive before us…what ever happened to the early bird catches the worm?! But anyways, we finally made it to Machu pichu and the views where absolutely stunning. The way it was built is incredibly impressive, with stones carefully piled on top of one another surviving the test of time and the many earthquakes in the region…
All in all we came back from our trekk exhausted but with a feeling of incredible accomplishment!
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