As with the Peruvian trio and the HM3I'll try to update this page as often as possible, within the limits of our Wifi access, to give you news of my trip to Peru to help you discover Machu Picchu and Alpamayo.
The first part of the trip will take us to the Cusco region to discover Machu Picchu, via the Salkantay trek. This will also serve as a warm-up and acclimatization trek for the real objective of the trip: the Alpamayo.
On the second part, the Alpamayo, you may have news from Attitude Montagne, on their website. Facebook.
My planning for this trip
- July 5: departure from Montreal
- July 6: Arrival in Lima and flight to Cusco
- July 7: rest in Cusco
- July 8: Salkantay trek
- July 9: Salkantay trek
- July 10: Salkantay trek - Arrival at Aguas Calientes
- July 11: Visit Machu Picchu and return to Cusco
- July 12: Back to Lima
- July 13: Departure from Lima to Huaraz
- July 14: Visit to Huaraz (Happy holidays to the French!)
- July 15: Visit to Laguna Churup
- July 16: Trek to Llamacorral camp (3800m)
- July 17: Base Camp Trek
- July 18: Rest and preparation for advanced camp
- July 19: Portage to advanced camp
- July 20: Moraine Pass (4900m)
- July 21: Col Camp (5400m)
- July 22: Ascent of Alpamayo (5947m) and overnight stay at camp pass
- July 23: Return to base camp
- July 24: Reserve day
- July 25: Return trek to Cashapampa and evening in Huaraz
- July 26: Back to Lima
- July 27: return to Montreal
Travel diary of Machu Picchu and Alpamayo in Peru
I'll try to update the blog, but I also do a Polarsteps if you have the app. Link here.
05/07/2024: Preparations and departure.
Luggage preparation.
06/07/2024 - Arrived in Lima!
Safe arrival in Lima! I'm waiting in the departure lounge for my flight to Cusco.
The flight was more complicated than expected. Aircraft problems (the engines on the new airvus long-haul planes) meant that air transat had to replace planes on some routes, including mine. The planes don't have enough fuel to make the whole trip, so we have to refuel in the middle of the flight... Normally this would be in Jamaica, but with the hurricane, we end up refueling in Pubta Cana. This lengthens the journey by two hours... (they had warned us two weeks before that the trip would be longer).
I thought I'd have a good night's sleep, but the lights coming back on at 3am to land for refuelling... It kind of shattered my dreams.
But now that I've arrived in Lima, I'll be able to rest in Cusco!
06/07/2024 - Arrived in Cusco
Nice arrival in Cusco. The journey was quite tiring but I finally reached the hotel around 2pm.
Then I walked around a bit, I had a few missions to do (find water, local money...) then I went back to the hotel for a little nap. Then I went back to town for my pre-tour briefing and lunch. The hotel had recommended the cicciolina, where I had a very good osso bucco.
Then around 7pm, back at the hotel, I collapsed into bed for a long night.
The night was far from perfect, thanks to the altitude... But I did get a good night's rest. It's now 8am and I'm off to breakfast and a leisurely tour of Cusco.
07/07/2024 - Rest and visit to cusco
It took a lot of motivation to do anything other than sleep at the hotel.
But I finally went out to visit the town for about 3 hours. The city is very pretty, lots of colors, beautiful streets and mountains all around.
But it's a long way up! And with the altitude I get out of breath very quickly, so you have to take one step at a time.
I went to see the city market, an old aqueduct, the Christo Blanco, the san Blas district and ended up in a small restaurant close to the hotel with a Lomo saltado.
I go to bed around 8pm. Tomorrow I wake up at 4am for the start of the Salkantay trek.
08/07 - Salkantay Trek - first camp
We're off for the Salkantay trek. Waking up at 4 a.m. was a bit painful, as the night wasn't very good.
The bus picks me up at the hotel at 4:30. Then we pick up the other group members. There will be 5 of us, 2 Germans and 2 French, for the first two days. From the 3rd day onwards, I'll be alone with a guide for the trek, as I'm doing it in 4 days and the others in 5.
Then we set off for our first stop, breakfast. Then we start walking to our first camp. About a 2-hour walk.
At camp, we discover a local game called Sapo, in which you have to send large metal pieces into holes.
Finally Vincente, our cook, calls us to eat the first feast he has prepared for us.
Laguna Humantay
After lunch, we take a short acclimatization hike to the Laguna Humantay. A beautiful lake at 4200m altitude.
Then it's back to our camp, where we'll sleep in dome-style accommodation. I wasn't expecting such comfortable accommodation!
Then it's time for supper, with still too much to eat. Tomorrow we wake up at 4:30 a.m. for our big day of trekking.
09/07 - crossing the salkantay pass
Big day of trekking! We've got 25km to go. The alarm goes off early, at around 4:30am, and we start walking at around 5:30am. It's barely dawn and quite cold.
As time goes by, the sun starts to come out and it's almost too hot. But it doesn't matter, the scenery is magnificent with the beautiful Salkantay in the background.
At around 10am, we reach the top of the pass at 4600m altitude. This will be the highest point of the trek. We then descend to the next camp, where we'll have lunch.
The latter is in the middle of a plain surrounded by mountains, and we've had worse places to eat.
Arrival at Camp 2 in Collapampa
It's been a long day, and there was still a long way to go after our lunch break and the pass.
Fortunately, it was mostly downhill. After a 10-hour walk, we arrived at Collpapampa, where we had our camp. Once again, these are beautiful domes with real beds, so we're in luck.
We've barely had time to settle in before it's time to eat.
After another good meal of potato soup, spaghetti, fried Yuka and a kind of beef stew, we went to bed at around 8pm. No opportunity for stargazing, as the sky is cloudy.
10/07 - Camp 3 - Lucmabamba
Another king's breakfast, where Vincente shows us his talent as an artist as well as a cook.
Around 6am we start walking.
After a few hours we arrive at Lucmabamba, the third camp. This is where the group will sleep tonight. As for me, I'll be continuing on to Aguas Calientes, as my trek takes 4 days instead of 5.
We take this opportunity to take a team photo, as it's the last time we'll all be together.
Cocalmayo hot springs in Santa Teresa
After saying goodbye to part of the group, I set off by car with Paulino, the assistant guide, and the two Frenchmen, Victor and Colin, to a little paradise: the Cocalmayo hot springs.
The other members of the group preferred to stay at the camp.
We weren't quite sure what to expect, either from the venue or from the world it would be. In the end, it's a beautiful place, with several large pools with crystal-clear water and sand and pebbles at the bottom. There are also cold showers and deckchairs for relaxing.
We're lucky because we're alone with dozens of Peruvians. It's royal. We chat with some of them, who explain that these springs are renowned for their therapeutic virtues. The place has also been completely rebuilt, having been destroyed by a landslide a few years earlier.
After 1h30 of swimming, we would have liked to stay longer, but it's time to leave.
I say goodbye to Victor and Colin, and go on alone with Paulino to Aguas Calientes.
Hidroelectrica
After the hot springs, we take the car to hidroelectrica, where the last part of the trek to Aguas Calientes starts.
It's also a train terminus. It's possible to do this last part by train rather than on foot.
We're having lunch in front of a replay of France's defeat by Spain...
Aguas Calientes
After a 2.5-hour walk through the jungle, we arrive in Aguas Calientes, also known as Machu Picchu Town.
The town is very pretty, built into the hillside. And cars are banned (except for a police car and buses to Machu Picchu).
I arrive at the hotel where I can finally take a hot shower - it feels so good!
We eat at a restaurant where I meet Juan Carlos, who will be my guide for the rest of the trek. Paulino returns to Cusco for another trek, and I join another group made up of two Americans and an Argentinean.
Tomorrow, we have to get up early again, as the visit to Machu Picchu is scheduled for 7am.
11/07 - Machupicchu
Machupicchu!!! It's the big day, after following the old Inca paths (which have changed a lot in terms of comfort) through the Salkantay trek, we finally visit the famous Machupicchu.
And I say we because there are a lot of us, there are long queues to get on the buses and there will also be long queues to get into the Machupicchu site once you've reached the top.
Fortunately, it's a well-oiled machine and things go quite quickly. We return to the site on schedule.
Our visit lasts about 2h30, during which we walk through this ancient city and Juan Carlos explains how it was discovered, how people lived here, how they built it...
Very interesting. And the site is really beautiful. The weather forecast gives us beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine.
Ready for the return to Cusco
After visiting Machupicchu, it's possible to return down by bus or on foot. With one of the two Americans, we choose to go down on foot.
It takes between 1 and 2 hours, depending on my speed. But it goes pretty well. After 1h we're back in Aguas Calientes, where the group splits up. Everyone has to catch a train and then a bus to Cusco, but we all have different times.
I take the opportunity to visit the town and its market, where I buy some alpaca socks, a souvenir of my trip. I also discovered a "boulangerie de Paris". Those French are everywhere... Well, the products were definitely Peruvian rather than French. I couldn't find out if there was a real French baker behind it.
Around 3pm I catch my train back to Cusco. The train offers magnificent scenery all the way, making it well worth the effort.
Arriving in Ollantaytambo, we take a bus to Cusco.
Back to Cusco
It's 8pm when I arrive at my hotel in Cusco, and after asking the hotel for advice, I eat at a Chinese/Peruvian fusion restaurant, which turns out to be not bad at all.
I then head back to the hotel to pack my bags for the plane the next day.
12/07 - Return to Lima
I was almost able to sleep in, waking up at 7am.
The bags are packed and I'm off to the airport.
Next stop: Lima.
Lima
Nice arrival in Lima! I met up again with Jo, with whom I had done the HM3 in Mexico in November. We strolled around the city for a while before eating in a restaurant for soccer fans.
The city was very lively, we stumbled into a kpop festival, many streets were pedestrianized with street stalls selling kpop. We're not sure whether this was exceptional or normal.
We're now waiting for breakfast at the hotel before taking the cab and then the bus to Huaraz. We should also meet the other group members at the bus stop.
07/13 - Departure for Huaraz
Here we go for the second part of the trip: the Alpamayo expedition.
After breakfast at the hotel, we took a cab to Plaza Norte where we met up with the other members of the group, Marc André and Pierre Maxime. Dom is already in Huaraz.
We board the bus to Huaraz, which will take a few hours, but fortunately the buses are very comfortable.
Arriving safely in Huaraz
After 8 hours on the bus - I've almost done an entire season of Gen V - we finally arrive in Huaraz!
We watch a bit of the Canada-Uruguay match before heading off to lunch.
07/14 - A quiet day in Huaraz
Today is a quiet day in Huaraz. We're acclimatizing to the altitude. We have breakfast in a nice little café.
There's lots of entertainment in town, and all the schools seem to be organizing parades with marching bands.
For our part, we take the opportunity to do a little shopping, whether for souvenirs or food for the expedition.
We also take a short break to watch the second half of Spain vs England.
Then, after a little rest in the room, we go out for a beer and a bite to eat.
Tomorrow, acclimatization hike.
07/15 - Laguna Churup
Today is another rather quiet day. After breakfast at the Hotel Selina, we have an acclimatization hike.
We take a cab to the start of the hike. The aim is to see Laguna Churup.
The hike climbs quite a bit, and at its highest point we're at around 4600m. After 2 hours 15 minutes we reach the lake. The view is magnificent, with Mount Churup in the background.
We take a dip - well, the others do, but for me it's just above the knees, no further. The water is icy cold, coming straight from the glacier.
Then it's back down to the parking lot in about 1 hour, where our cab driver is waiting to take us back to Huaraz.
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