Day 13. Second stage of the Salkantay Trek, Salkantay Pass

Submitted by maria on Thu, 18/09/2025 - 13:13

Second stage of the Salkantay Trek, from Soraypampa to Chaullay via the Salkantay Pass (4,620 metres).

Sunrise Salkantay peak

Today we have to get up early, so we go to the dining room for breakfast at 5 am. We have eggs, fruit, bread, pancakes, cereal, yoghurt and muña tea.

As we are at high altitude and need to stay well hydrated, we each take two litres of water and the sandwiches we saved yesterday.

Salkantay

Dawn breaks and the sky is completely clear. We can already see our destination, Salkantay.

We start walking at around 6 a.m. The first few metres are tough until you get used to the weight of your rucksack.

Nevado Salkantay

It takes about an hour to reach Soyrococha, where you can buy drinks and snacks at a stall.

From Soyrococha, the steepest part of the trail begins until you reach the Salkantay Pass, which takes about two and a half to three hours.

The views of the snow-capped Salkantay (6,264 metres) are beautiful. You can't imagine how many people are making the journey on horseback; if there aren't 50 horses, there are none!

Little by little, it starts to cloud over and snow begins to fall, so we decide to start our descent.

Salkantay pass

Sakantay Trek

As we descend, the clouds lower and it begins to rain heavily. We are fortunate, and when the rain is at its heaviest, we take shelter in a small restaurant where we could have eaten.

The rain eases off a little and we continue downhill. Half an hour later, the sky clears and it begins to get very hot. We enter the forest, but beware of the mosquitoes because they bite.

The path through the forest is beautiful, running parallel to a river in a lovely gorge, although it does feel a bit long, especially the last two kilometres.

Sakantay Trek

At 2.30pm we arrived in Chaullay, where we stayed at the Samana Wasi hostel in a private double room with shared bathroom, dinner and breakfast included for 135 soles for both of us.

Distance 19 km, elevation gain 774 metres, elevation loss 1,845 metres, total 6.45 hours on the move.

The accommodation is good, with a central garden and rooms around it.

Accommodation in Chaullay

We shower (very warm water) and rest. It rains again for quite a while.

At dinner, we meet up with the guy from Milan, the guy from Chicago, the Israelis, and the Slovenians!

We order two egg and avocado sandwiches for tomorrow because we don't know exactly where we'll find a restaurant.

I argue with the owner of the accommodation because she wants to charge me the September price when I booked it in February for a different price. It's not much difference, but I don't think it's right. She tells me that dinner is not included when I have a screenshot of our conversation on Booking.com where it says it is. In the end, we pay the current price, which is €2 difference, but I don't think it's right.