Peru. Salkantay trek

   After exploring the Inca city, we began our next hike along a very popular route that passes by the highest mountain in the region - Salkantay (6270 m). What made it special was that we were hiking in the opposite direction from the classic route, allowing us to avoid large groups of tourists heading towards Machu Picchu...

  Map of the route...

 For the first night, we stayed at a campsite overlooking the Inca city... But as soon as we started setting up our tent, a heavy rain with thunder and lightning began...   

  However, half an hour later, the rain clouds moved away, the rain stopped, and visibility improved...

  From there, we had a good view of the ridge where Machu Picchu is located, a nice way to end the day... In the morning, we walked around the Inca city again, and in the evening, we admired it from another mountain... 

  The place for camping was simply fantastic...

 The next morning, we continued along the route, climbing up the mountain through a forest past small settlements Lucmabamba with coffee plantations...

  Coffee grown on this mountain is very popular among tourists, so locals host large groups of tourists and treat them to their coffee... As soon as we spotted coffee bushes growing around, we started looking for a 'local café'...   

  Seeing the first sign with 'Cafe' written on it, we immediately entered through the gates into the coffee paradise...  

   Walking towards the main building of the locals, we saw places where coffee was gathered and met the hosts... 

  We asked if we could have their coffee, and they gladly invited us inside their mountain café...

 The woman and her husband started brewing this divine drink for us...

  Along with the coffee, they offered us freshly picked avocado, which paired fantastically...

  It was just a wonderful morning and a great start to the day... After savoring a cup of freshly brewed coffee, we felt a rush of adrenaline and our spirits soared... The coffee was delicious, especially combined with the tasty avocado... So simple, yet so cool... 

  After chatting with the host, we learned that there was a collective taxi from the village below to the settlement located higher up, where we planned to reach by the end of today... 

  We didn't quite like the part of the route that passed between the settlements, so we decided to follow the café owner's advice and use local transportation to get to the upper village...

  We traveled part of the way by collective taxi and the rest in the back of a pickup truck...

  Arriving at the last settlement, where a dirt road led further up, we began the ascent to the next lodging place... 

  We stayed at the Wayramachai camping site at an altitude of over 3800 m...

 We decided not to set up our tent and instead spent the night in one of the large tents on wide tables...

  In the morning, we started climbing to a pass at 4600 meters above sea level... A dog joined us almost from the beginning of the climb and accompanied us throughout the day...  

 Since this route is heavily frequented by tourists, local guides actively use horses to transport goods and food...

 

  Approaching the pass...

  After climbing the Abra Salkantay Pass , we reached an altitude of 4630 meters for the first time on this trip... From the pass, Mount Salkantay wasn't clearly visible because clouds covered it... 

  So we decided to sit down, wait a bit, and drink coca tea from a thermos...

  The clouds partially revealed parts of the mountain, but didn't completely allow us to see it...

   Descending a bit from the pass, we found a nice glade where we decided to spend the night...

 The place for the tent was simply perfect...

  We were accompanied by a mountain viscacha - a rodent from the chinchilla family that we saw nearby...

  The next morning, we started descending into the valley... 

  Here, houses and llamas started to appear...

  Descending to the Soraypampa settlement, we turned towards the Humantay Lagoon and, gaining altitude, found ourselves in a fantastic place... 

 This lagoon is probably the most beautiful location along the Salkantay route...

  The Humantay Lagoon is so popular that separate tourist groups are brought to it... Although reaching the lake from the bus stop still required a considerable walk... 

  Descending from the lakes down to the village, we reached a stop for tourist minibuses and arranged a transfer to Cusco with one of driver. This way, we didn't have to walk almost 20 kilometers to the nearest village, Mollepata, where a collective bus (colectivo) to Cusco runs, which was very convenient...   

  Since the minibus that picked us up was touristy, we also stopped to have lunch with everyone else, making the day even better...

 Arriving in Cusco, we got off right by our favorite hostel located on the hill... This trek concluded the first week of our stay in Cusco. We had already acclimatized to the altitude and were ready for the next hike along the Ausangate trek route...