Chat on WhatsAppI first found out about the Salkantay trek through a friend of my sister who reccomended it for people with a sense of adventure, telling me that he thought the Inca Trail was too commercial. I found that the Salkantay trek offered exactly what I wanted from my time touring Peru.
Day 2 in particular was a great challenge, hiking up to 4,600m above sea level, the highest I´d ever been. Our tour guide, Herbert, was an excellent guide, he knew the answers to almost all the questions we asked and had both a great sense of humour and really wanted the entire group to enjoy the hike as much as possible. The only downside to the hike was that the group that I hiked with was not at the same fitness level as I was, nor did they really want to challenge themselves as much as possible, and so I found that I occassionally missed out on some of the great experiences, such as the day 4 hike to some Inca ruins seperate to Machu Picchu, or the first day hike to a lake about one and a half hours from the camp site. Nevertheless the hike gave some truly amazing views, and there was hardly a point in the trek which did not offer some breath-taking mountain scenery. After four days hiking in the sun with no shower, Aguas Calientes was a welcome relief, and the Santuario Hotel was excellent at providing everything I needed.
The tour of Machu Picchu was very interesting, and hiking both to Huayna Picchu and the Sun Gate in the same day, as well as choosing to walk both up and down to Machu Picchu was exhuasting, but definitely worth the effort.
The Salkantay Trek was an amazing experience, one that I am definitely glad I chose to have, and I would reccomend it to any fit person who wishes for some spectacular views with one piece of advice: be prepared to challenge yourself and always try to get the most out of the trek. thank you Salkantay.org!
