Salkantay
Nevado Salkantay rises 6271m above sea level, making it one of the highest mountains in the Cusco area. The Salkantay area is where I completed a 5-day hike to Machu Picchu, going through jungle, pastures, and swampy valleys along the way. It's a beautiful and starkly majestic area, and it manages to be both pristine in its wilderness qualities, and intriguing with its hardy locals and their traditional lifestyles, all at once.
The mountains of the Salkantay range.
Salkantay highway
For the groups of gringos that regularly do it, the Salkantay hike is a fun and challenging trek through the remote and exotic mountains of Peru. It's an adventure. But the hiking path isn't there for us. All the way along this seemingly middle-of-nowhere path, there are people (and animals) living and working. For these locals, the path is their main thoroughfare. For them, leading a pack of horses and donkeys along a winding mountain path for 5 hours straight, is like driving along the freeway to the CBD for us.
The Australian-Belgian salute
In Australia, we have a tradition that when you reach the highest point in a hike through mountains, you acknowledge the occasion with a (shall we say) "special" kind of salute. Being the true blue Aussie that I am, I was obliged to salute my fellows atop Paso Salkantay, at 4,600m asl. But what I didn't expect was for the boys of the Belgian Front to join me in performing the salute. Great sports, those Belgians. And apparently quite capable of being as big a bunch of bogans as us Aussies.
1km ascent in one morning
I knew that today, day 2 of the Salkantay hike, was going to be tough; but nothing could have prepared me for the massive ascent that we made this morning, from Soraypampa to the edge of Nevado Salkantay. We literally walked almost 1000m uphill, in less than 3 hours. By the time we reached Paso Salkantay, at 4,600m asl, we felt pretty damn proud of ourselves. Although a little more oxygen would have been good.
Soraypampa hostel: coming soon
Just as we were leaving our campsite from the 1st night of the Salkantay hike, we saw a big building under rapid construction. A building that looked very much like it could be a hostel. And judging by its progress, I think it will be ready in just a few months' time. Are we one of the last groups that will get to do this hike as it's meant to be done, with camping? If so, then I count myself very lucky, and I feel sorry for the people ahead of me, who won't get the same experience that I enjoyed.
Jasmine America
When I arrived in Mollepata this morning (starting point of the Salkantay hike), there was a little girl running around inside the restaurant there. I asked her: "¿Como te llamas, chica pocita?" (lit: "What's your name, little girl?"); and she replied without hesitation: "Jasmine America". Oh-kay, whatever! Jasmine was eager to show me her puppies (in the back yard), and her set of barbie dolls. Very sweet girl — she reminded me of my little sisters back home. But, oy: if that's her real name, she's gonna score a few laughs in her lifetime!
Salkantay hike begins
Today I started the 5-day Salkantay hike, which is an alternative to the (massively overbooked) Inca Trail hike, and which also ends at the Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu. The journey started with a 5am pickup from the Loki hostel in Cusco, and a 2-hour bus ride to the starting point of the hike, the village of Mollepata.