Setting up for Salkantay
Trip Start
Sep 27, 2009
1
9
19
Trip End
May 31, 2010
Mollepata, Apurímac, Peru
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Food: 25 dollars/person for entire trip
Transportation:
Cusco - Mollepata - 15 soles/person
Playas - Santa Teresa - 10 soles/person
Santa Teresa - Hot Springs - 10 soles/person round trip (entrance fee: 10 soles/person)
Aguas Calientes - Machu Picchu by bus - 14 dollars/person round trip (can be hiked, good luck)
Aguas Calientes - Ollantaytambo by train - 31 dollars/person
Ollantaytambo - Cusco by public transport - 15 soles/person
Mule Driver:
Driver - 30 soles/day for the group (3 days, normally)
Mule - 30 soles/day (weight limit unknown, 3 days, normally)
Machu Picchu entrance fee: 42 dollars/person
After all was said and done, we were tacked onto a group run by Joel Figueroa, a 26-year-old proprietor of his own agency, called Best Andes Travel www.bestandestravel.com. I thought Joel did a great job taking care of his chartered group and also incorporating us into the mix. The pace was grueling, and while we tried to avoid this from the get-go, there was no real alternative. In the end I sold him the tent we'd brought at a heavy discount in exchange for his generosity; a quick fix to help his operation grow.
The first day started at 8:00 and we arrived to camp at 5:00, with a one-hour stop for lunch. We were always at the back of the pack of Frenchies who would gradually grow on us, teaching us obscenities in French and generously incorporating us into their drinking/smoking circle.
(Mollies Notes: uh... I didn't like the French people. They left us in their dust and drank and smoked ALL OF THE TIME. Not my idea of a good time after a day of getting my ass handed to me by mother nature.)
The majority of the hike was along a dirt road leading to the base camp of Soraypampa. We switched between walking the cliffside gravel and huffing up shortcuts between switchbacks. The views were incredible, richer with every turn, and we saw a very happy looking pig at one point. The first day was the only day we'd cook for ourselves at each meal, being too tired after that point to refuse the generous offerings of Joel and his camp cook, Wilefredo, when the rest of the group sat down to a catered meal.
(Mollies Notes: First day of hike...I said "phew" and grunted a lot. And I got a pretty bad sunburn... I forgot to put on sunscreen... Our hike ended up being 30 to 45 mins prolonged since we were about an hour behind the group and had NO IDEA where our endpoint was. We couldn't see the group campsite among the rolling foothills, and ended up walking through cow/sheep pies, streams, and hopping around mud patches. At one point we had to backtrack and crawl over a stone wall, and I sliced my knee open. It wasn't too bad, but it bled... and the first thing Nate said was, "goddamnit Mollie"... It wasn't a very good day for me. I went to sleep at 7 while Nate stayed up.)
