Itinerary

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Day One.
We will depart very early, around 5.00 am. We pick you up from your accommodation in Cusco and drive to Mollepata, where we will make a short stop for you to buy breakfast and any personal supplies for the trek.  We will then drive to Cruzpata where we will organize the horses (who will carry the supplies and backpacks).  From here we will start the hike - around 3 hours of walking and then a stop for lunch at Challabamba.  After lunch we walk around 4 hours more before the valley broadens and flattens out and the beautiful conical snow-capped peak of Nevado Salkantay comes into view.  Here at Salkantay Pampa (4000m) we will have dinner and camp our first night.

Day Two.
Nevado Humantay (5917 m) dominates this morning’s views.  Today is the hardest day as we will be climbing up to a pass close to Nevado Salkantay – the highest part of the trek.  A spectacular day! From here we will descend into the upper cloud forest where the climate changes towards semi-tropical and we stop for lunch. After a total of 7 hours of hiking we arrive at our second camp in Colcapampa (3,200m).

Day Three.
After an early breakfast we start our third day of hiking. We will walk for around 5 hours, descending 2,000m down through the changing vegetation to the warmer camp at the village of La Playa.  Much of the path follows a small river with waterfalls, and we may see parrots, hummingbirds, orchids, bamboo and much more in the tropical forest.  The Playa is the biggest village on the way, where we can find some small shops to buy snack etc.  In this area we can see small plantations of coffee and bananas.  On arrival to The Playa we have two options:

Option 1: spend the afternoon in the The Playa and camp there.  On the morning of Day Four, catch a public bus to Hidroelectrica.

Option 2: Take local transport to Santa Teresa, a beautiful village in the cloud forest, where we spend the afternoon and camp.  On the morning of Day Four we walk to Hidroelectrica on a recently discovered Inca trail.  This trail originally was used to transport agricultural products to the population on Machu Picchu and it takes us through an area with coffee plantations and subtropical fruits and crops.  We see for the first time the impressing Machu Picchu on a mountain saddle further into the valley.  We have lunch at Llactapata enjoying the views of Machu Picchu and the beautiful mountains before continuing to Hidroelectrica.

* You will decide which route you take this day with your guide as a group, either at the pre departure briefing or during the trek itself.

Day For.
After arriving in Hidroelectrica (time of arrival depends on which above option chosen) we hike from Hydroelectrica to Aguas Calientes and spend the night there in a hostel.
It is also possible to take the train from Hidroelétrica to Aguas Calientes instead of hiking, but you will have to pay for the cost of the train (about $10).

Day Five.
We get up early, at 5.00 am, to take the first bus (at 5.30 am) to Machu Picchu. We will have a guided tour of about 2.5 hours. After that you can explore the site yourself, or climb up to Wayna Picchu (you will need about one hour to climb up). We need to be back in Aguas Calientes by around 2.30 pm to catch a train back to Cusco.