Machu Picchu, In The Footsteps of Incas
Who’s never heard of that mystical site? The Machu Picchu is the highlight of many travelers in Peru, for a reason. Just picture one of the biggest ruins in the world on top of a peak!
There are three ways to reach the mountain. Public transportation to the hydroelectric power plant (10 km walking from the entrance), a fancy train or by using old Inca trails. The first option is boring, but cheap at less than $10. The second option is expensive… like $130 both ways 🤑 — although the train looks nice. So we went for the trails 😉. Here as well, there are multiple routes, one being the official Inca trail. BUT, you need a permit and we heard that it’s super expensive. Luckily there is a nice alternative: the Salkantay trail! It’s a 5 days journey of around 100 km. Cherry on top, it’s one of the 25 most beautiful trails of the world according to National Geographic.
Mollepata 👉 Soraypampa
The first day is a long walk of around 20 km. You need to get from Cusco to Mollepata ($5 with a collectivo, some shared transport) where the trail officially starts. It’s a 2–3 hours ride so we started at 4 am…
We cheated a bit in Mollepata. After 15 minutes of walking, a car was passing by and dropped us 5–6 km on the way 😝. It was a good choice as the beginning is not really interesting. You’re walking on the road. But then it’s nice 👍. The hike is well marked due to the high number of hikers passing by. And the elevation is low. You start from 2850 to finish at 3850.
Wait! When arriving at Soraypampa, there is an optional detour… to the lake Humantay! It’s one of the most beautiful like I’ve seen. Nestled around snowy peaks. The view is breathtaking. Sure the lake is at 4200 m and this extra 1–2 hours is tough, but it’s really worth the stretch.
Here, as well as all the other nights, we camped. No worries about the rain nor the wind though. They have shelters to put you tent under — for just $3 per tent 🙀. We really liked that. Plus we asked for cooking and had a nice two course meal for just $3. It was that cheap everywhere. So even if we packed food for the trip, we decided to go for the lazy option.
If you have more budget, there are observatories like domes at around $50 per night. Quite cool to see the stars, BUT you better be lucky because it’s cloudy.
Soraypampa 👉 Chaullay
The tough part! Although considering the extra at the lake, quite the same difficult. From the camp you have to reach a pass at 4629 m. Outch! And yes it’s cold up there due to the bad weather. But until 9 it was still clear and we could see the Mount Salkantay.
We started at 7 am. Reached the pass at 9:30 and we hiked down until 3 pm (1 hour to have lunch). So 7 hours for ~15km. Quite frustrating if you ask me because you finish at… 2850 m. Yup, right at the level you started 🐒. But incredible, as in 2000 m elevation the landscape changes profoundly. When reaching Chaullay, you start following the Rio Blanco 👍.
Chaullay 👉 Lucmabamba (around there)
A nice hike along the river. There is an option to go on the road or follow the trail. Good to know if you feel low 😉. Overall, it’s a short day. Around 15 km of going down. The previous village (La Playa) is at 2050 m. We continued a bit and slept at the start of the coffee plantations.
Lucmabamba 👉 Hidroelectrica (and a bit further)
Again? Ark yes, but it’s the last one. Just a shy 500 m elevation to see some ruins and down again to reach the hydroelectric power plant. There are viewpoints to see the Machu Picchu, but the weather was so bad that we did not anything 😞.
The hydroelectric plant is right at the enter of the National Park and is also the last stop of the train. Furthermore, it’s here that you can get transportation back to Cusco.
From the plant to the Machu Picchu entrance or the classical stop of Aqua Calientes, you can walk along the rails. Careful here as the path is sometimes narrow. If you open your eyes and don’t do stupid things, no problems. On the way, we had our first view of the Machu Picchu! The train track is actually quite scenic for that as you go around the mountains and have multiple shots at the ruins.
We called the day off just before reaching the entrance of the Machi Picchu mountain itself. There is a nice campground. There are still constructing, but there open.
To Machu Picchu
We are finally there! The ruins are just 45 minutes away. There is a bus if you don’t feel like walking the stairs. But $32 up and down 🧐. We hiked up, but sadly we had to take the bus down ($12 just for going down) as I had a weak knee. I don’t like going down too much and this truck is really hard on that. I will use trekking poles next time…
To get in, you need a permit. As on low season, we did not struggle at all and bought it two days before. Guides? They are NOT compulsory. We took one not to miss anything, but he was not good and we would have had even better information with the “Lonely Planet”. Try to choose better than us…
But who cares!? Because it was amazing. I was surprised by state of conservancy and the size of the site. But hey normal, this site was just rediscovered in 1911. Overall, we really enjoyed the visit and stayed something like 4 hours.
Finished for the Ruins
With this trek, we closed our archeological tour of Cusco — not to say Peru. The Machu Picchu was a magical visit and the perfect way to start the year. Yes, believe it or not by accident, we were there on the 1st.
