So you want to hike the Salkantay Trek in Peru with Mountain Lodges, but don’t know what to expect? Here’s my entire experience in Peru with the hike so you’re ready for what will potentially be the hardest vacation of your life!
This summer, my family and I went to South America for the first time so we could do a big hike. The big hike turned out to be a HUGE hike, but it all worked out great! I was a little underprepared for the hike, mostly because I didn’t know what to expect. SO, I’m here to give you all the details so you head over as prepared as possible!
You can read about our entire Peruvian adventure on the blog here with more info about the cities we visited!
Hiking the Salkantay Trek with Mountain Lodges
I want to start with the fact that I live in Edmonton which is at approx 2,000 ft altitude. If you live higher, congratulations, you already have a leg up on me! The altitude is 100% what made the hike so challenging. Everyone reacts differently to the altitude, but usually everyone has some sort of reaction to it. It’s something you should be prepared for when you go.
The hike is a total of 6 days but the trip from Cuzco to Cuzco is 7 days.
On the 7th day, you’re taking a bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu to view the ruins.
Online, hiking the Salkantay Trek with Mountain Lodges makes it seem like the hike is 4 days. They say that the first 2 days have optional hikes. This is NOT true. All the hikes are required, and honestly, all should be required because they really help with the hike you need to do to get over the Salkantay pass.
Each lodge is better than the last. The lodges are 100% what kept me from backing out of the whole trip. I am not a huge camper, and neither are the rest of my family, so obviously this is why we chose the lodges instead of tents. Each lodge had more food than you could possibly eat, stunning views, great service, and the most amazing hot tubs I’ve ever seen in my life.
If you want the short version of this and aren’t interested in the day by day, this is it. It was AMAZING and SO challenging. It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life.
Would I recommend doing this? Absolutely. Would I ever do it again? Not a chance.
Now for a day-by-day breakdown:
Day 1: Lodge 1
Online, the information made it seem like this is an optional hike. It is NOT. Basically, they drive you up the sides of mountains to get to the starting point of the hike.
Along the way, you stop at a few scenic points for history lessons and eat an awesome lunch at a small town. This is the build up to the hike. I remember thinking that if we got these views for the next few days, we were going to LOVE this hike!
Now for the hike part.
It’s approximately 45 minutes straight uphill and then smooth sailing until you reach the lodge. I really liked this hike because you’re walking along an old Incan water thing (I have no idea what it’s called, basically a small shoot that transports water), and the views were amazing! After the first uphill part, the rest of this hike was easy as cake.
Make sure to wear good socks this day! It’s the shortest hike you’ll do, but it also sets the tone for the next 5 days. I made a big mistake and decided to wear my bad socks, and I paid for it with huge blisters for the rest of the trip.
You reach the first lodge and get comfy because you’ll be staying for 2 nights. The first night is tough to get acclimatized to the altitude, I’m not going to lie.
Day 2: Lodge 1
The next day you’re hiking up to a lake about 2.5-3 hours away. It’s a lot of uphill this day on the way to the lake. Our guide took us up a 200ft hill instead of to the actual lake because he said that’s where the views were better. He was SO right.
I couldn’t believe the sense of accomplishment I felt when I got to the top.
This day housed some of my favourite photos from the whole trip.
This day is super important because it really gets you ready for the biggest day of the hike: Day 3!
Day 3: Lodge 2
Day 3 is the day that almost killed me. I’m not going to lie, at one point I was pretty convinced I wasn’t going to make it. This hike brings you over a pass that reaches 15,092 ft or 4,600 meters. And that’s REALLY high.
When we got to around 14,700ft, I started to feel really gross, so that’s when I really started to slow down. It was a tough hike to the top, but getting to the top was amazing. I couldn’t believe people actually get all the way up there with their entire camping backpack strapped to their back. I had to get the mule to carry mine once I hit my rough patch!
The decent is definitely better, and the lunch on this day was by far my favourite. You’re fed in a tent on the side of a mountain, literally. It felt like a picture from one of my wildest dreams.
Lodge 2 was amazing, if only for the fact that you can’t get there any way other than by foot. The views are spectacular as was everything else about this place. Maybe I was just so happy to get there after the day we had had, but man, a bed has never felt so good!
Day 4: Lodge 3
After day 3, everything else felt like a breeze!
I’m not kidding. Day 3 was definitely the worst, so day 4 was fun and nice and actually enjoyable.
This day was pretty much entirely downhill. Take that as you will, it could be easier or harder for you depending on how good your knees are. At the end of the day, I was hurting, but it wasn’t difficult, if that makes any sense.
Because you’re finally going downhill, the heat picks up and so do the bugs. It’s crazy how much you get used to being at a higher altitude without either of those things. Since I’m from Edmonton (Canada), I do much better in the cold than I do in the heat. This was definitely the day to pull out your shorts, sunscreen and hat.
Lodge number 3 was so beautiful. It was in its own little secluded area up a hill with gorgeous views of the lush mountains at that altitude. This lodge was the first one that you could see actual human objects from the lodge. AKA there was a giant power line cutting straight through the landscape. It was weird to see this after spending what felt like eternity so isolated, but also a little bit comforting to know you’d made it that far.
At this lodge, we had a Pisco Sour making lesson (the drink of Peru), and we got to try Cuy. Cuy is traditional food in Peru and in English, it’s Guinea Pig… Yup, that’s a staple in Peru!
Day 5: Lodge 4
This day was probably one of the least exciting days of the trek. Which, to be honest, is not saying much because it was still awesome! We hiked, mostly downhill and flat for the day and stopped here and there for snacks and lunch.
Randomly, we stopped at this thing that is used to take stuff over the river. It was kind of like a pulley system, if you will. We decided to get in it and see the view of the river from the middle of it! Everyone took turns to go out into the middle and be pulled back. A tad bit nerve-wracking but really cool looking back!
The last lodge was again, beautiful. It overlooked part of the Inca trail and a bunch of coffee groves.
Honestly, as much as I was ready to be done the hiking part (the blisters on my feet were killing me!), I was so sad that it was our last lodge. I would do the entire hike again just to stay in the lodges again. I could have spent weeks in them!
Day 6: Aguas Calientes
The first day we saw Machu Picchu! It was from afar but still. I’d say I almost liked this view more than actually being there. How could you not when you’re surrounded by stunning mountains, other ruins similar to Machu Picchu, and NO people?! Plus, we had lunch right on the side of the mountain and it was incredible.
As I write this, I’m taken back to that day and I still can’t believe I got to eat lunch there. That’s how incredible it was.
Finally, that afternoon we made it to Aguas Calientes. This is the spot to go to get to Machu Picchu. All the buses leave from here, or if you’re really crazy, you can walk up the mountain. We definitely took the bus.
We stayed at the Inkaterra hotel and it was so beautiful! Although it couldn’t beat the amazing lodges we had been staying in for the past week, it came close, which is saying something!
Day 7: Cuzco
Finally the day of Machu Picchu!
It was a short day since we were lined up for the bus by 7:30am and could only be on the site until noon.
To be completely honest, it was so weird to have that many people around when we had been basically the only people for the past 6 days. For me, it made Machu Picchu less exciting.
You were herded around a little like cattle.. had to move to the next spot, couldn’t stand for too long. In my Peru guide, I wrote a few tips for Machu Picchu and as amazing as it was, after such an incredible week, the actual site was good, but not great. I guess that’s what you get when you see the views we did!
Overall, like I said before:
Would I recommend doing this? Absolutely. Would I ever do it again? Not a chance.
Hiking the Salkantay Trek with Mountain Lodges was one of the best experiences of my life, despite how hard it was.
Have you ever hiked in Peru before?! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
xx Victoria
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