Cocalmayo Hot Springs on the Salkantay Trek
After crossing the Salkantay Pass and descending for hours into the cloud forest, your legs will be begging for a break. The Cocalmayo hot springs, just minutes from Santa Teresa, are the stop many travelers look forward to from day one. Hot pools at the foot of the mountains, beside the river, as night falls […]
Salkantay Trek Transportation: How to Get Around the Route
The Salkantay Trek is done on foot, but not for the entire journey. Between leaving Cusco and returning, you will board a vehicle before dawn, travel along road sections through the high jungle, take a train or walk beside its tracks, ride a bus up to Machu Picchu, and return by one of two very […]
Salkantay Trek on Horseback: Routes, Options and Limits
Yes, you can do part of the Salkantay Trek on horseback, but not the entire route. Horses are common in the high section of the trail, right where the hike is most demanding: the climb to Humantay Lake and the ascent to the pass, above 4 600 m s. n. m. For many people, having […]
Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes: Train or Walk
You arrive at Hidroeléctrica station after four days of trekking, with the afternoon sun over the jungle and a decision ahead. On one side, a group is getting ready to walk the remaining ten kilometers to Aguas Calientes. On the other, a few travelers wait for the train that covers the same stretch in a […]
Food on the Salkantay Trek: What You Eat Each Day
While the group sleeps, the cook is already awake. At four thirty in the morning, they fire up the stoves in a separate tent, boil water for tea and to fill the day’s bottles, and prepare breakfast for ten or fifteen people at nearly 3 900 m s. n. m. Everything they will cook over […]
Salkantay Trek Food: Traditional Dishes and Fruits
It is six thirty in the morning in Mollepata, it is cold, and a deep bowl of chicken broth appears on the table: clear broth, a piece of chicken, noodles, potato, and chopped mint on top. For most travelers, it is their first taste of the cuisine they will encounter over the following days. From […]
Special Diets on the Salkantay Trek: Vegan and Allergy Options
If you are vegetarian, vegan, celiac, or have a food allergy, the question before booking the trek is always the same: will I be able to eat well during five days in the mountains? The short answer is yes, but it depends almost entirely on one specific moment: the day you book. Food is purchased […]
Where to Eat on the Salkantay Trek Independently
Between ten and twenty soles. That is the cost of a full set menu at the family-run eateries you will find along the route, with soup, a main course, and a drink. It is one of the reasons why doing the Salkantay Trek independently is affordable: you do not need to carry five days’ worth […]
Salkantay Trek Flora: Plants from the Puna to the Jungle
In five days of trekking, you go from 4 600 m a.s.l. at the mountain pass to 2 000 m a.s.l. in Aguas Calientes. That descent of more than two and a half vertical kilometers is equivalent, in terms of vegetation, to traveling thousands of kilometers in latitude. You start where only tough grasses and […]
Salkantay Trek Local Fruits: What to Buy
What you find along the trail depends on the month you hike. In some months, the small farms are full of citrus fruits; in others, ripe mangoes fall from the trees, and between April and September, activity centers around the coffee harvest. The one constant on the stretch between La Playa and Santa Teresa is […]