Day 456 – Colcapampa to Aguas Calientes
Salkantay Trek: Foothills of Machu Picchu
Colcapampa
Today we woke up at the camp site, Camping Florentino. There was actually a hole in our tent that meant cold air was blowing inside all night. Luckily our sleeping bags were amazing at keeping us warm. I was also happy to actually be using our sleeping bags!
The wake up time was 5.30am so that everyone could pack before breakfast. Breakfast was delicious and filling as usual.
We started hiking before 7.00am and the entire journey was pretty much downhill. The scenery was nice, but nothing compared to yesterday’s views. The path followed a river, which meant the path was mainly flat.
We stopped for a break near a soccer field. Most of the group ended up playing soccer here. After a quick game, we continued. Our guides told us that we were still ahead of schedule, so we could take a dip in the water. The current was super strong and the water was freezing, so most people only dipped their toes into the water.
Afterwards, we continued for less than half an hour to awaiting vans. The hike was so much shorter than I was expecting. The donkeys were nowhere to be seen, but the luggage was on top of the van.
Santa Teresa
We drove to the town of Santa Teresa, for lunch. This would be the last meal prepared by our chefs for the entire group, so they went all out. It was a the best meal of the entire trek and resembled a feast.
After stuffing our faces, the 4 day trekkers (which we were a part of, due to using a modified 5 day schedule) and the 5 day group separated. We would continue to Aguas Calientes today with one guide, while the 5 day people would stay here with the main guide. They would also have a chance to visit optional hot springs.
Hidroelectrica
We drove to the start of the Machu Picchu Perurail train in Hidroelectrica. There was a train waiting here, but not for us. The train is a super expensive option, so we were walking instead.
We were guided into a restaurant for a pit stop. The rest of the group left their luggage here for a small service fee. Since we were spending an extra night in Aguas Caliente, we opted to take all our backpacks. If we were doing the standard itinerary, we would have left our bags here.
The hike to Aguas Caliente followed the rail way tracks. My wife had both day packs and I took the large backpack. We stopped for Ice Cream along the way with the group. The hike took around 3 hours.
Aguas Calientes
As we approached Aguas Calientes, we were shown the entrance to Machu Picchu, or more accurately, the entrance to the base of Machu Picchu. This is when we found out that the guide would not be coming with us tomorrow. He promised to explain what was happening at dinner.
We reached the town of Aguas Calientes at 6pm. We walked through the touristy town to a hostel. Everyone was given keys to their private rooms. Once we entered our room, we were disgusted to find poo in the toilet. When I went to reception to complain, they seemed to already know it was there!
After a cleaner had actually cleaned the bathroom, we finally had hot showers! This was the first hot shower in 3 days. It was much needed.
Then we went out to a restaurant for the last dinner as a group. We were introduced to a local guide, who would take up our group. Since we had purchased additional Montana Mountain tickets, we were not expecting to get a guide on site. This fact was mentioned when we purchased the Salkantay Tour package. However, the local guide told us that we can join another group from a different company that he was doing at 6am. Then we could re enter the site to do the additional Montana Mountain climb.
A different couple, had tickets for the more popular additional Machu Picchu Mountain, which sort of screwed the rest of the group. The rest of our group would start their guided tour at 8am instead of 6am with us.
After everything was finalised, the guide handed us our entrance tickets to Machu Picchu. A lot of the details on the tickets were incorrect like ages and gender, but the guides said this is normal. We left the tickets safely in the hostel room before we went out for more drinks with the group.
As we went around town looking for somewhere to have drinks, we were disappointed that most places were closed or closing. There was one restaurant that was advertising 4 drinks for the price of 1. The owner wasn’t overly friendly and we drank into the night despite the early start tomorrow.
Once the bill came, we realised that it was a massive scam. One large beer was priced at a whooping 40 PEN (~$19 AUD)! Since it was 4 beers for the price of 1, each beer was technically 10 PEN (~$5 AUD). This was the towns standard price.
As we came back to the hotel, reception stopped us. We were given the bad news that we would need to change rooms tomorrow. This meant we needed to leave our backpacks in the hotel’s storage, which meant we needed to wake up even earlier to pack.
Travelled November 2019
Expenses and Transport
- Tour – Salkantay (5 days / 4 nights) with optional Montana Mountain – 600 PEN (~$276 AUD) per person with Carlos Guest House