Classic Salkantay
5 days

We start the day picking you up from your hotel at 05:00 am. Approx. in our tourist transport, we will travel about 4 hours, crossing Anta, Mollepata and ending in Challancha. During this tour in our tourist transport you will enjoy a beautiful landscape, where the snowy white mountains of Salkantay and Humantay, protective gods of the Incas, will clearly stand out. But also the spectacular scenery of the higher areas and low valleys with colorful landscapes. After two hours of driving there will be a quick stop in the town of Mollepata, where we will find sanitary facilities, souvenir stores and a comforting breakfast. When this short break is over we will soon continue to Challacancha, which is the start of our trek. There we will meet our support staff, who will organize all the equipment, horses and mules.

Around 9:30 am. We will begin our trek to Soraypampa (3850 MASL - 12631 feet). The first section of the trail is a hike over some deep valleys. In some parts of the trail you can still see the old water canal. The canal still supplies water to farmers in the lower valleys. The start of the hike is a 7 km walk in 3 hours to Soraypampa, where we will camp and have our lunch.

After lunch and a quick nap we continue hiking to Humantay Lake (4200 MASL - 13779 ft). This is a 5 km round trip that we will hike in a total of 3 hours. At Humantay Lake you can see the bottom of the glacier, and also the most spectacular views of the valley with sunset background. Soraypampa is located in the middle of the glacier valleys and at night the sky is so immensely clear that we can really appreciate the stars, constellations and even shooting stars.

As soon as you leave the tent, you will find the presence of the majestic snowy Salkantay; After a good breakfast, we will undertake the most difficult and also the most beautiful hike of the trip, leaving at 7:00 am. (7 to 8 hours walk) we will go through the site called Pampa Salkantay and then we will go to the left side of the snowy Humantay located next to the snowy Salkantay, at 12:00 p.m. we will be at the highest point (Salkantay pass 4500 m.a.s.l.). When we finally reach the top we will be able to appreciate the spectacular views of the mountains and the imposing snowy peaks of Salkantay known as the second highest peak in the Cusco region and one of the Inca gods called Apu (6264 m.a.s.l.), Humantay, Tucarhuay and Pumasillo. After passing the top of the Salkantay pass, there is a 5 km or 2 hour hike downhill to the campsite for our lunch. The hike down is a snake-shaped trail to reach the lunch spot at Huayracmachay. Then we continue our 10 km hike in about 3 hours to Rayanniyoc camp (2890 m.a.s.l.) or to Chaullay camp (2920 m.a.s.l.) where we will have our second camp.

From this day on the weather conditions are more pleasant because we are already in the jungle. After breakfast we will go for a walk at 7:00 a.m., we walk for 5 hours approx., we observe the village called Collpabamba, also called Cloud Forest or Ceja de Selva, where we can observe waterfalls and streams, fruit trees, variety of flora, coca and birds, here we can observe the banana harvest and the waterfall, if we are lucky we can observe the famous "Cock of the Rock" national bird of Peru. After lunch on the beach, we will hike for about 1 hour to our base camp called Lucmabamba (2400 m.a.s.l.) and we will explore the rainforest for a while. Here you can taste coffee prepared by the local people, coffee is the main agricultural industry of the population.

After breakfast at 7:30 a.m. we will start our hike. After a 2 hour climb with incredible views of the Santa Teresa valley, we will arrive at the Inca site Llactapata right in front of Machu Picchu. This will be the first archaeological site we will see of the Lost City of the Incas and a very special place to enjoy and spend time.

We will be able to see not only the Inca city of Machu Picchu, but also the Huayna Picchu and the Machu Picchu mountain, then we will descend 2 hours approximately to the Hydroelectric plant (1870 m.a.s.l.) which is our lunch place. Then we board the train that takes us 45 minutes approx. or walk 3 hours to the town of Aguas Calientes (2000 m.a.s.l.), which is located at the foot of Machu Picchu. Optionally, you can go to the thermal baths of the village, followed by dinner and accommodation in the hotel.

The highlight of the trek, Machu Picchu! We will wake up early at the hotel. This is best for visiting Machu Picchu, before the mass of people arrive. The Machu Picchu entrance checkpoint is open from 6:00 am. Until 5:00 pm. We board the first bus to Machu Picchu Citadel where we will arrive in 30 minutes or if you wish you can walk from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu. Here we will have a guided tour of 2 to 3 hours. We will visit temples, palaces, priests' houses, a sundial, the industrial sector and agricultural fields. After this guided tour, you are free to climb Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain (book in advance to get your tickets) or visit the sun gate, at the appointed time you will descend to the town of Aguas Calientes to board your train to the town of Ollantaytambo and then to the city of Cusco.