All prices discussed in this post are as of May 2023. Remember prices will fluctuate, ESPECIALLY during HIGH season (June – August/September).
yes, it's totally possible
AND WITHOUT A TENT TOO!
You may be thinking…”Wow, I didn’t realize you could hike the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu without a guide…” because I definitely was, until we met an awesome travel couple from France who had just completed it a few weeks prior and said it was AMAZING.
# OF DAYS: 5 DAYS, 4 NIGHTS
TOTAL LENGTH: ABOUT 50 MILES/80.5KM
worth it? Absolutely
Snacks, Snacks, More Snacks
I definitely can’t speak for you but if I don’t eat snacks during a strenuous hike I will get SO tired, grumpy, start second guessing all of my life’s decisions, etc. haha. AND NEWS FLASH you will be sweating A TON = which means you loose a lot of electrolytes. SO, that being said I’d HIGHLY recommend to stock up on snacks prior to departing to Soraypampa. (There will be snacks to purchase at the hostels buttt they will definitely charge the “convenience” price). Below is a list of snacks I’d recommend you bring.
- Nuts! Go to the large market (San Pedro Market) in Cusco and find one of the many ladies selling nuts and buy yourself a mix of nuts to take with you (1/2 a kilo is what we ended up buying)
- Dried Fruit (without sugar). At the same market and even the same lady selling nuts you will find an assortment of dried fruit (Apples, mangoes, pineapple, etc.) and buy some to take with you! They are great source of vitamins and the natural sugars will give you a boost of energy!
- Something Salty: For us we chose salted plantain chips as we get both the salt AND protein in one type of snack.
- Chocolate: I definitely always crave something sweet after a long day of hiking and having some type of chocolate on hand is a game-changer.
- Electrolytes: There are some hiking shops (Tatoo Adventure Gear) around cusco that sell powdered or gel electrolytes and I highly recommend you bring some with you as this will replenish some of the electrolytes lost in all the sweat.
!!Bring Cash!!
Yes, I understand it would be WAY more convenient to pay everything with card. BUT in most places along the Salkantay Trek this is NOT possible. AND cash gives you power to negotiate prices.
How Much? I’d recommend at least 250 sol p/p ESPECIALLY in high season. Better safe than sorry!
Also: Try and break up your large bills that you got from the ATM as some hostels/shops won’t have enough money to break up your 100 sol bill. (10, 20, 50 sol are way better)
our route:
day 1: Cusco > Soraypampa > Humantay lake > soraypampa
- Start Time: 4:30am
- Transportation: We decided to ask a local travel agency if we could reserve 2 seats in their van that will be traveling to Lake Humantay the next day as Soraypampa is the town at the base of the lake. After haggling a little on price we were able to bargain 2 seats for 50 sol per person (Total: 100 sol) (as we of course would not be needing the guide or included breakfast/lunch/return trip that they offer for the Lake Humantay Tour). That being said though we did have to wake up at 4:30am as that is when most tour agencies leave for Lake Humantay. We didn’t mind as we knew this would mean we would be at Soraypampa early to scout out potential hostels to sleep for the night (as we didn’t book anything in advance). Total trip time (with a breakfast stop for 45 minutes) took about 2.5 hours. We reached Soraypampa by 9:30am.
- Accommodation: After walking past a few hostels/campsites that you will see when you are dropped off by the shuttle we came across Soraypampa Hostel (At the start of the trail to Humantay Lake). After a quick tour of their available beds (both private and dorm style) we opted for the private 2 bed A-frame hut. The beds felt comfortable, looked clean and had 3-4 layers of thick blankets on each. The bathrooms were clean and they offered a free cold shower (hot water was 10-15 sol more)
Original Cost- Private: 50 sol per person, Dorm-style: 25 sol per person. BUT we haggled! - Meals: Dinner and Breakfast were NOT included (Original Cost: 17 sol per person/per meal). They were kind enough to serve us breakfast at 5:30am as we wanted to start hiking before 5:45am. AND We definitely wanted both so we decided to…
Bundle our accommodation and meals to get a discount!
total cost (meals + accomodation):
- Accommodation = 45 sol p/p (90 sol total)
- 4 Meals (2 dinner + 2 breakfast) = 30 sol p/p (60 sol total)
- Total: 75 sol p/p (150 sol total)
All prices discussed in this post are as of May 2023. Remember prices will fluctuate, ESPECIALLY during HIGH season (June – August/September).
Trail to Humantay Lake
– Distance: 3 miles (out and back)
– Elevation Gain: 1,100ft
– Difficulty: Hard but SO worth it.
– Option: You do have an option to take a horse up for a price! But this is a great hike to prepare for the elevation on Day 2 so I’d recommend using this as a training hike and to help your lungs acclimatize faster. BEAUTIFUL views at the top!
DAY 2: SORAYPAMPA > CHAULLAY
- Wake up: 5:00am
- Breakfast: 5:30am
- Start Hiking: 5:45am
- Total Miles: 14 miles/22.5 km
- Total Hiking Time: 6-12 hours (yes…it does vary THAT much)
- This is definitely the MOST strenuous day as you will have about 2,500ft of elevation gain in a matter of 3-5 hours and about 6,000ft of elevation loss from Abra Salkantay to Chaullay (over 4-6 hours). And this is the highest elevation you will be hiking at, starting from Soraypampa at 12,631ft/3850m to Abra Salkantay Pass at 15090ft/4600m over the course of 3-5 hours. SO make sure to listen to your body, STOP, BREATH, rest, HYDRATE, breath some more.
- Water Situation: You will be following a river/stream for most of the hike so I’d HIGHLY recommend bringing some sort of water filtration system (tablets, steripen, filtration tube, etc). There are lots of donkeys, horses, llamas in the area so please do not drink the water without filtering it first. There will NOT be places to buy water along the trail until you reach Chaullay.
- Accommodation & Meals: There are multiple lodging options in Chaullay (some private for tours only and others public). We got there early enough that we had first pick of lodging so we chose the first accommodations to the LEFT (El Mirador, found on Maps.Me) when you first arrive into town. They had about 6 A-frame huts with 2 beds in them each. Beds were super comfortable, clean, with LOTS of blankets. AND HOT showers and strong Wifi included. The woman who runs it is super nice. The lodging included dinner AND breakfast.
Price: We negotiated everything for 60 sol p/p (120 sol total)
Breakfast time: 5:00-5:30am (depending on what everyone decides on)
Recommend? YES!
Booking your next hostel: We decided to contact a hostel in Lucmabamba to “book ahead.” We found Lia B&B by Fredy and Esther on google (with GREAT reviews) and sent them a whatsapp message asking if they had accommodations available for the next night and asked price. They got back to us within minutes with a reply and price so we decided to book with them! You don’t have to do this (especially if you’re a fast hiker) as there a many lodging options. We just heard GREAT things about this hostel AND it comes with an incredible coffee tour with Fredy. (Whatsapp number is: +51984001114)f - Wildlife: If it’s a sunny day keep your eyes open to little fuzzy rodents hopping amongst the large rocks before you summit to Abra Salkantay! These little guys are part of the chinchilla family known as Viscachas! There are also wild llamas known as Vicunas that can be seen amongst the shrubbery along the trail. They have longer necks and tinier heads then your average llama and are ALOT more skittish.
Day 3: Chaullay > Lucmabamba
- Wake Up: 5:00am
- Breakfast: 5:30am
- Begin Hike: 5:45-6am
- Total Miles: 12miles/ 19.3km
- Total Hiking Miles: 6-12 hours
- Today’s Moto: Just Keep Descending.
2 Trails: Explained Below
1. Safer Option: just follow the gravel dirt road all the way to Lucmabamba! This trail will keep on on the RIGHT of the river. Not as scenic and challenging BUT it is much safer and is a MUST if you are afraid of heights or not confident on navigating trails on your own.
2. AllTrails/Maps.Me Salkantay Trail: This trail will stay to the LEFT side of the river. If you’ve gone over the metal bridge then you’ve missed the start of the trail. VERY beautiful trail will a mix of ascending and descending through beautiful flowers and trees to keep your long day of hiking interesting. You will pass over a handful of small bridges (well maintained) where you can break and enjoy the beautiful mountain waterfalls. This trail is NOT common amongst tourists so therefore it is NOT maintained (besides the bridges). To be honest we did have to cross a few landslide sections that were a bit sketchy (one wrong step and you’ll be sliding hundreds of feet to the river below). SO that being said if you are surefooted and have technical hiking skills then you should be fine. I think the locals still take this route and force their mules down this route as well so if you get lost or unsure of the trail then try and look for hoof tracks in the dirt AND make sure that you’re little blue dot or arrow on AllTrails or Maps.Me is ON the actual trail.
Water: If you decide to take…
Option 1: you will pass by small stores where you can purchase water as this trail does NOT have access to the river.
Option 2: will be ALOT closer to the river and streams where you can use water filtration to filter the river water as you go.
- Accommodation: There are multiple lodging options in Lucmabamba. As written above we decided to book a room the previous day (while in Chaullay by contacting Fredy/Esther through Whatsapp) at Lia B&B by Fredy and Esther. AND we are SO glad we did. Esther was SO kind and made us lunch when we got there as we were starving. Lia, their adorable 3 year old little girl was so playful and welcoming. Fredy was also so kind to answer our questions about the area and show us the room. The room was spacious with comfortable beds and a private bathroom. They offered hot water in one of the external showers which was great. Beautiful hostel on a coffee plantation with a trail leading to the start of Day 4 super close to the room. At 4pm we had a fantastic coffee tour where Fredy took us from the harvesting to roasting and drinking cycle of coffee with some fruit and vegetable tastings thrown in (All in Spanish as their English is not very good BUT he has lots of facial expressions so it was great). Tour was included in the price. Dinner and breakfast were included and delicious! Felt like a home away from home for just 1 night. Would definitely recommend staying here. (Fredy’s Whatsapp number is: +51984001114)
Price (w/ coffee tour, dinner, breakfast): 70 sol p/p (140 x 2 people). We tipped them for the coffee tour as it was awesome!
Day 4: Lucmabamba > Hidroelectrica > Mandor or Aguas Calientes
The Final Stretch!!!
At this point, your feet may be tired…your legs may be screaming at you, your knees may be a little pissed and alls you hope for is FLAT ground. Well! Sorry to break it to you you need to conquer 12-14 more miles today. YAY! You got this. It will be worth it in the end.
- Wake up: 5:00am
- Breakfast: 5:30-5:45am
- Start Hiking: 6:00am
- Total Miles: 12-14 miles
- Total Hiking Time: 6-12 hours
Hike Information: Alright…This hike starts with around 3,500ft. of elevation gain right off the bat! That’s why I highly recommend getting an early start as it can get very warm very quickly. It is a beautiful hike but make sure to take breaks, listen to your body, hydrate! After 3-5 hours you will make it to Llactapata. This marks the highest point on today’s trek (It’s all downhill from here)! You can opt to visit the Mesa Pata Inca Observatory and Camping (there will be signs) at the top for INCREDIBLE views of the mountain range and catch a glimpse of Machu Picchu from far away. It’s definitely worth the extra 1/4 mile to get to the view. You will also encounter some beautiful old ruins in Llactapata so make sure to spend some time looking around as you will probably be the only ones there. Once you pass the ruins and Llaqtapata Lodge you start your descent until you reach the river (Rio Ahobamba) where it finally flattens out! Then proceed on to Hidroelectrica where you will meet back up with civilization. There is TONS of snacks/beverages/restaurants here if you are hungry or thirsty. Hidroelectrica is also where you’ll catch your bus back to Cusco if you decide to go that route (we did).
Water: You may have access to water along the way but it would be very small mountain streams (I wouldn’t rely on this). The next gauranteed water spot would be when you reach Llaqtapata Observatory and Camping OR Llaqtapata Lodge but that is only about 3.5-4 miles from the start of the hike so you shouldn’t have any issues if you filled up at the start of your hike. Then from there after a quick 2-3 hour descent you will reach Hidroelectrica where there are LOTs of vendors selling snacks and beverages!
Accommodation: (We did NOT book this in advance) We decided to hike to and stay at Mandor Camp (formerly known as Gea Lodge) as this would give us a place to stay for the night WITHOUT having to walk an extra 1-2 hours to Aguas Calientes then backtrack on Day 5. AND we would be able to leave some of our heavier stuff at the hostel and pick it up on our way back to Hidroelectrica. We HIGHLY recommend this unless you are determined to stay in Aguas Calientes. The rooms were nothing special, bed was comfortable. Hot shower was included. Dinner and breakfast NOT included but they have a restaurant on site with “menu del dia” for lunch and options for dinner available. Breakfast doesn’t start until 8 or 9am, which would be too late for us, so they were SUPER nice and prepared us a To-Go breakfast with breakfast sandwiches and snacks (which we were so grateful we did as we were starving when we got to the top of Machu Picchu).
We were the only ones there the whole night. They have camping spots available if your are tent camping!
Price: 50 sols p/p for a queen bed w/ shared external bathroom. Yes!! Hot showers included 🙂
Meals: Meal pricing will vary but it was definitely reasonable.
Happy Machu Picchu Day!!
Day 5: Mandor Camp/Aguas Calientes > Machu Picchu
Leave your hiking sticks at home as they are NOT permitted in Machu Picchu (unless for medical purposes or over the age of 65). ALSO, There will be a Check-in station where they will ask for your Passport and Machu Picchu Ticket. So make sure you have BOTH.
Depending on where you are coming from, there are 2 ways to get to Machu Picchu (bus or walking). If coming from Mandor Camp Lodge then plan to walk 45-60 minutes along the train tracks to the start of the steps to Machu Picchu. This is where you will check-in for the start of the hike up to Machu Picchu.
Details
We reserved our Machu Picchu Entrance online at 6:00am – 7:00am as we knew we had a LONG day of hiking ahead of us AND we were hiking to Huayna Picchu or Waynapicchu (same mountain) and had to be there anytime between 7:00am – 8:00am.
Wake Up: 4:00am
Start Hiking: 4:20am
Get to Check-point (start of steps to Machu Picchu): 5-5:10am (checkpoint opens at 5:00am)
Arrived at Entrance to Machu Picchu: 6:00am
Check-in to Machu Picchu Entrance: 1 mile (Elevation gain: 1,784 ft/543m)
Bring: Passport, Entrance Ticket, Snacks, Water (You CAN bring food and beverages into the park)
Other: Recommend bringing a head lamp for the first start of the trip as you will be hiking before sunrise and it is DARK. Make Sure you are at the entrance at of between the times you signed up for as they WON’T let you enter at times outside your reserved entrance time. So plan accordingly. There IS a cafe at the entrance to Machu Picchu if you need food/coffee (Looked like it was open at 6am when we arrived) but otherwise no food within the park.
Time to Head back to Cusco
Machu Picchu > Hidroelectrica
Details: About 6.2 miles (3-4 hours)
Other: After enjoying the incredible ruins of Machu Picchu it’s time to hike BACK down the steps and back along the train tracks to Hidroelectrica where buses back to Cusco await. You can either book the bus in advance with one of the MANY tour agencies in Aguas Calientes OR just Show Up at the buses and one of the MANY bus recruiters will find a spot for you on their bus. (They all work together to shuffle tourists into their buses). You shouldn’t pay more than 50-60 sol.
Bus Time: 6-8 hours (Yes, it is a longg bus ride when you are tired but it’s budget friendly and in the next few days you will forget it even happened)
I hope this guide helps you to plan your Self-Guided Salkantay Hiking Trip to Machu Picchu!! Have a GREAT hike and remember these prices are based on end of April/beginning of May 2023. So prices will definitely change, especially during HIGH season! So plan accordingly.
Comment below if you have any feedback and/or questions!!