Peru Part One - Salkantay 5 day Trek and Machu Picchu

After an epic beach month around central america and the coasts, we were not fully ready for what was about to come as we made our way to Cusco, Peru on four flights overnight.

Soroche (altitude sickness) was quick to take over our sea level bodies while we walked 50m up to our hostel. Thank goodness we met an Irish pharmacist on our flight who kindly gave us her stash of Diamox. Combined with the never ending flow of coca leaves and teas at our hostel, we spent our first day mostly in bed.

Pirawana Hostel is one of the best I've ever stayed in, it's not just a hostel but it's a community of everyone who checks in! They have a massive weekly board of activities like Monday night salsa lessons, beer pong tournaments, weekly BBQ dinners, movie nights and MORE. It's almost like you're back in university during frosh week. They also had very helpful staff, who would kindly assist you stash your bag in the storage room or get what you needed. The hostel itself is located in a well kept building, clean, hot showers and very, very, VERY comfortable beds with LOTS of pillows. We booked ourselves into a private room and we even had towels and soap.

We had Sunday to explore and went straight to Pisaq market which is about 45 minutes away in another town and people gather there every Sunday from 5 am to sell their goods, fresh vegetables, meat, art, juices and other crafts. It was a quaint little town in the valley of lush green hills and lots of friendly faces. I couldn't resist a photo with the children and their little alpachas, lambs and puppies. When we got back to the hostel we also decided that we would endure the 5 day Salkantay Trek over the Andes to Machu Picchu. This is the reason we came to Peru and we didn't want to waste any time and with our mate de coca and diamox, were ready to climb to 4,600 meters above sea level.

Day one:

3:30 am wake up and pack up ready for the bus to pick us up by 4:45. 15 travellers from Germany, Holland, USA, Quebec, Guatemala and Ireland along with two local guides sat down at our first meal in Mollepata before setting off for the first part of our trek. We were a big group that would break up after day 3 as half the group was only doing a four day trek while the rest would do five days. If I could stress one "luxury" item to bring on ANY back packing trip, it would be a deck of cards. DO NOT LEAVE WITHOUT A DECK OF CARDS. We had two decks to play shit head in the evenings with everyone, a bottle of rum and some other goodies we picked up at the tiendas (little shops) along the way.

Our first day we walked 21km through mud and the path with a lunch break in Sayllapata. Each person
was allowed 5kg for the five days that would be transported by horse on a separate route. They also carried the propane, food, cutlery and dish ware needed for all our meals. When we finally arrived at camp in Soraypampa, 3900m above sea level, we were initially greeted by a luxury villa for 6 people that run for $600 that includes power, a hot tub, hot showers, cable and internet. Needless to say, this is not where we were staying, we were behind the property camping out in tents under a tarp area to keep us dry from the rain. It was foddy, rainy and cold and having a constant flow of hot drinks kept us warm.


When we were woken up at 5 am to hot coca tea in our tents, it was the start of the most challenging day. Stepping outside to clean up, we were greeted with a clear sky and snow capped mountains on either side of us. It was worth the first day's trek!

Our Guides:

Nico is 28 and has lead over 400 treks in the last four years as a guide over the Andes. He loves his job and wants to help preserve the indigenous culture of the Incas and share it with everyone who comes on the journey. He is open to answering any questions and has a vault of knowledge about Pachamama, the Inca history and checks in with everyone to make sure they're all feeling fine.

Veronica is 25 and in her first year as a guide and loves learning about the environment as she goes and is always practicing her English and encouraging us to practice our spanish. She is a gem and I had the utmost pleasure of being at the back of the pack with her on occasion and we had language exchanges while picking wild berries for everyone to try.