On a sunny day in Cusco I was having a drink in my hostel with Dermot (this crazy Irish guy) and talked about my future plans of hiking towards Machu Picchu on my own. As he also hates organized hikes because they go slow and cost a lot, he wanted to join my so far non-existing team! A little later John and Brendan (USA and Canadian guys) joined the table. Brendan already visited MP, but only by train and John was still unsure of how he would get there. After a couple of beers, team G or G-Unit was formed! I organized the whole thing: bought the maps, found transport to the starting point and made the menu, while they rented the necessary gear.

The hike would be quite intense, because we planned on doing it in three days, while most groups do it in four to five days. The total distance to hike was 75km, which would be perfectly divided in 25km a day! If you walk flat, this would not be too hard, but the Salkantay trek involves a pass to cross that has an elevation of 4,600m and another pass with an altitude difference of 1,000m. So basically I warned everyone that walking was not an option and that we would be speed-hiking if we wanted to make it in three days. In the summertime this can be attempted, because the days are long, but in this time of the year the sun comes up around 6am and goes down at 5:30pm. If you remove the necessary time to dismantle and build up the tent, make food and have lunch, there is already a lot less time for hiking.

On the first day we woke up around 4am to take our ride towards Molepata, starting point of the hike. There we had a last nice breakfast before starting our full day of uphill hiking towards Soraypampa. Groups take the road that gradually goes up over a long distance, but we went for the pretty little mountain path that was a bit shorter, but much steeper. It was definitely not the easiest way, because the path constantly gets crossed by other paths created by cows. We had to take the compass out a couple of times to find the right path to follow when there were no locals around to help us out. If locals were around they were always very friendly and willing to wait at a cross-point to show us the right way!

The weather was not amazing during the first two days. After dinner, which was an amazing spaghetti, it started raining, so we all retired to our tents around 7pm after this first insane day. In the morning we thaught that waking up around 6am was early enough to start hiking around 7, but that Salkantay pass was more intense than expected! After the pass we were lucky and the weather in the other valley was way better! The path went down for the rest of the day until Collpabamba where it started pouring down rain at 5:15pm for the next five hours! In a little shed, next to our tents we made our hot dogs and waited for the rain to stop, so we could finally go to sleep! That day we hiked faster than Sherpa's and than some US Marines that were trying to do the same as us, so a night of sleep was definitely deserved! Because we woke up that late, we were not able to cover the required 25km, so on the last day we had to wake up before sunrise and start hiking straight away with our head torches. At 5am we woke up and 15 minutes later we were already packed and ready to hike.

The last day we decided to split up, because Brendan wanted to make it to Cusco the same day, so he needed to catch the first train we thaught left from Santa Teresa and John, who was suffering from his bad knees could not walk that fast anymore, so I sent him also to Santa Teresa, which was only downhill for 27km. Dermot and I wanted to go to Hydroelectrica to catch a train at 4:30pm which was separated from us by a 1,000m high pass that we had to climb in 8km. We first had to cross a river to get to the right side of the valley, but apparently the bridge had been washed away during the last rainy season, so our topographical map that was more looking like a Disneyland map, became suddenly totally useless. Luckily we found some locals that were working on their steep corn-fields on the mountain hills and they told us that there was another bridge a couple of kilometers downstream we could use.

Once across the river we started our final climb, which were the toughest 8km of the whole hike! I still felt good in the beginning, but near the end, my legs were just dying with every step I took. Around 12:30pm we finally made it over the pass. Going down was as painful as going up, and not any easier because of the muddy, slippery and steep path. After a while we got our first sneak peek of Machu Picchu in the distance, this was definitely an awesome moment! We finally saw what we came for! A bit lower we encountered an Inca site called Llactapata which also had an amazing view over MP, so we decided to settle down and have the first solid food of the day!

After lunch, we kept on hiking downwards to Hydroelectrica where we arrived at 4pm! We hoped to be there an hour earlier so we could hike to Aguas Calientes, (town where all tourists stay before going up to MP) but now it was too late to hike the last three hours, so we decided to take the train. In the station we found Brendan and John again who both were waiting for the same and apparently only train of the day. Together we set down and compared the different routes we took that day and had a good laugh before realizing we bloody did it in three crazy days!

Once in Aguas Calientes we went straight to a restaurant for a cold beer and a massive pizza! We could not celebrate too much yet, because John, Dermot and I had to wake up the next day at 3am to hike up to MP! We arrived in time at the entrance to get a stamp that gives you access to Huayna Picchu. (The mountain in the back of every MP picture) At 6am the doors opened and we ran to the highest point on the site to get a good spot to see the sun rise over the mountains. This was definitely a magic moment, and those who have seen the pictures already probably can confirm the beauty of what we saw. For a second the world got silent and we had no words for each other to describe our happiness! After three intense days, we finally saw what we came for and it was a 1000 times more spectacular than expected!

We eventually spent a whole day on the site walking around, we ran up Huayna Picchu in 21 minutes (the record is held by a Sherpa in 17!) and worked a bit on our tanning next to some lama's. Back in Aguas Calientes that night we could not leave for Cusco, because there were no spots left on the train. (This is the only way out of AC..) So we were forced to stay another night in AC. We spent the night chatting about our adventure and the beauty of the hike we just finished! We walked through jungle, pampas, rivers, rain, sun, snow, hail, over rocks and Inca steps. It was the most varied hike I've ever done with the best team I could ever imagine! Especially the fact that we did it on our own, gave us so much more satisfaction afterwards!

We saved quite a lot of money by doing so, because if you book it online (http://www.salkantay.org/salcantay/salkantay-5days.html) you would end up paying between 485 and 1025USD. Our food + transport + entrance did not cost more than 75USD!!!! For those who want to attempt it without a guide or an organization, feel free to mail with any kind of questions! Back-country hiking experience is required though.

Up to the next adventure!!

G. on the road!

The pictures from this adventure can be found here:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=175946&id=634868429&l=9c957a4904