Salkantay was a dream My fiancé and I began planning our trip after spontaneously... read more buying flights to Lima 7 months in advance. I worked with Sophia on the planning and she was so friendly and helpful despite my million questions and revisions. We did a couple treks but my favorite, by far, was the Salkantay 2day trek with overnight stay in the domes. Machu Picchu was enjoyable but, as expected, touristy. Not my favorite. Salkantay was the true experience we hoped it would be. Other reviews talk about the hike being difficult due to altitude- and it was. I’m moderately athletic and do cardio exercise regularly - it was still hard. However! I love horses and took the opportunity to enjoy one trek in a saddle. SO WORTH IT. No sense of regret going this route- it gave us the chance to really take in all the scenery through the entire trek instead of watching our step on the very loose rocky path. But either way- our guide, on this trek and others, walked at a slow pace. This isn’t normal for me as I preferred to “go go go.” But I eventually picked up on why (breathing techniques) and enjoyed the hikes much more thereafter. Further, if you’ve looked up Salkantay I hope you’ve seen the domes. Yes -they are as cool as the pictures. With the weather we had, the dome got a bit foggy after being in it a while but... My fiancé and I began planning our trip after spontaneously buying flights to Lima 7 months in advance. I worked with Sophia on the planning and she was so friendly and helpful despite my million questions and revisions.

We did a couple treks but my favorite, by far, was the Salkantay 2day trek with overnight stay in the domes. Machu Picchu was enjoyable but, as expected, touristy. Not my favorite.

Salkantay was the true experience we hoped it would be. Other reviews talk about the hike being difficult due to altitude- and it was. I’m moderately athletic and do cardio exercise regularly - it was still hard. However! I love horses and took the opportunity to enjoy one trek in a saddle. SO WORTH IT. No sense of regret going this route- it gave us the chance to really take in all the scenery through the entire trek instead of watching our step on the very loose rocky path. But either way- our guide, on this trek and others, walked at a slow pace. This isn’t normal for me as I preferred to “go go go.” But I eventually picked up on why (breathing techniques) and enjoyed the hikes much more thereafter.

Further, if you’ve looked up Salkantay I hope you’ve seen the domes. Yes -they are as cool as the pictures. With the weather we had, the dome got a bit foggy after being in it a while but the stars were very visible before. We just set an alarm around midnight to crawl out of the dome to star gaze for a bit. I loved them- I also enjoyed watching my 6’4 fiancé crawl in and out of the tiny door.

Tips:

-Take your own snacks.

-Pack a bottle of wine (lol you have to trek with it to the camp but was cool drinking wine under the stars)

-if you’re not accustomed to high altitude, do as they say and drink so much water. Also- the coca leaves aren’t THAT bad. Grab a bag and keep replenishing your mouth.

-wear layers & comfortable boots More read less