Salkantay- Day 3 & 4

Day 3: 5 am wake up with coca tea!

I thought this day was going to be easier since the toughest part would have been dealing with wet, cold, fog and soroche. I was wrong. We crossed over a few deeper rivers, one where we either walked across a few rocks at the edge of the waterfall or rolled up our pants and took off our shoes. It was cold and fresh! The next challenge in the morning hike was crossing two pink coloured landslides that were very soft and had nickel in it, leaving your hands and body covered in fair dust! I may have hung onto a tree root and threw my body against the landslide to cross instead of walking across on the narrow path looking down on what looked like the slide of death. I felt so alive after this part of the trek and ticked off a few more bucket list boxes I didn't even know existed.

1- walk across TWO giant landslides
2- cross a waterfall on giant rocks in the midst of it all

We hiked about 9 km to lunch in Sahuayacu Playa where we'd say goodbye to our big family and split up between the five day trekkers and four day trekkers. On the way we were greeted by all the students who live and study there most of the year. They don't see foreigners often, so when they do, the classrooms empty and high fives were given all around. Some of the boys were too shy to high five the girls and it was sweet of them to come out to meet us.

After lunch, we had beers to celebrate the toughest half of the trek and farewells as a van came and to bring us to the town of Santa Teresa. We pitched in a building on the second floor with the family living above and below us. There was a toilet outside our tents without a door, I guess for the late night emergencies.

In Santa Teresa, after unpacking and grabbing our swimmers and soap we all headed to the hot spring at the bottom of the town. It was a natural hot spring, surrounded by mountains, where the heat came out of the rocks and into the pool. In one giant pool were different temperatures depending on how far you were from the rocks. There was also a smaller pool where all the locals and children could hang out after school, have a warm wash and have fun! It was also a relief for trekkers who hadn't had a shower in three days. The showers was a run off of the natural water with great pressure to massage our muscles and wash our bodies!


Day 4: 7 am wake up

There is an option on the morning of day 4 to walk the first 9 km along the dusty road with traffic or have the van take us. We all opted for the van and thoroughly enjoyed the last 9km into Auguas Calientes, the town where everyone starts their Macchu Picchu entrance. The second half of our 9 km was along a train track with dogs as escorts. They often get fed by travellers along the track, so they followed us all the way too. We walked across a giant part of the track that was made with planks and a raging river beneath. It was a big adrenaline rush!

Through a few dark and wet train tunnels and a few train on coming scares, we made it to the very touristy town of Aguas Calientes. A buzz is always in the air here and there is a beautiful mix of indigenous, locals and tourists alike. A lot of life in this little town as the trains run straight through the middle of town and you need to look both ways whenever you cross the road at all times!

This night was a celebration for our group, that we had made it to the town as a group, semi injured and in great spirits. Pisco Sours all around at dinner and a few more with a game of cards in the hostel (with hot showers and beds!) and we called it a day as day 5 would be a 3:30 am wake up to get up to Macchu Picchu for sunrise.