I’ve traveled enough this summer that I’m slow getting my family’s Peru Trek posted. Our first day, we spent hiking toward Salkantay. Check out my first day post. Our second day, we hiked over Salkantay Pass to Sisaypampa. We hit the climb to the pass early so we could get the hard part done. At 4600m, just over 15,000 feet, I was happy to get to the pass and start the descent. While I didn’t find the hiking particularly hard, I struggled with altitude sickness the first night and had a headache in the morning.
The trail after the pass is a gentle downhill. It descends through a large grassy area with plenty of water along the way. The trail was wet and a bit slippery in spots but nothing we couldn’t cross over easily while keeping our shoes dry. As we descended, my head slowly started feeling better. The sick feeling in my stomach even made way for hunger growls and I was able to stop for a snack along the way.
Day 2 was supposed to be one of the hardest days of our trek to Machu Picchu. At 11 miles it certainly was the longest hike of the week but the trail was relatively easy compared to the Inca steps we would encounter over the next few days. The trail was rocky at first but as we descended into the greenery, the trail also got easier. I had no trouble using trail running shoes instead of hiking boots though most of the Peru guides will recommend hiking shoes or boots. I blister a lot less with trail running shoes and had no trouble at all with my feet rubbing the entire trip.
The views of the Andes Mountains are absolutely stunning along the way.
I was the slow one in the group and everybody kept encouraging me to keep moving so I didn’t get as many pictures as I wanted. Luckily, my husband stopped long enough for me to snap a good photo of him.
As we neared our campsite, we caught a glimpse of our first Inca ruins. It’s amazing how much of the Inca Empire survived.
Big Willy and his team at Auqui Peru picked a great campsite for us. We had a nice grassy area for our tents and were close to a bathroom. We were still at a high altitude, about 11,000 feet, so it was a little cooler at night.
Our horsemen left us at this point and we had new porters join us. Our fabulous cooks stayed. I would definitely recommend using the same tour company we went through as the food and company were amazing. I have to admit, it was nice having somebody else carry some of the heavier stuff as I ended up having a head cold by the time we got to our second camp.
Post contains affiliate links.
