Day 06: HUAYRACCMACHAY to COLLPAPAMPA

Today we begin our gradual departure from the high Andes to follow the Salkantay River for about a 4 hour hike towards Machu Picchu. We begin our trek away from Wayra Lodge towards Colpa Lodge through increasingly verdant scenery as we continue our slow descent from 12,912 ft to 9,414 ft. We departed at around 7:30 AM and headed off following the river. The views of the mountains were incredible along with the river carving a deeper and deeper crevice along the cliffs. Still a considerable altitude but the breathing was noticeably easier and everyone seems to be in better spirits as a result.

We hike for about two hours and then take a rest at a local farm which also provides a way-station and camping ground along the route. After we are done with our break we divide up into two groups for the remainder of the day; one will go ahead at a rapid pace, the other will take a more leisurely pace with the horses, you can guess which one I am in!

We continue on around another 2 ½ hours of hiking along the river seeing just a few birds and the trail is gradually improving to a more level trek. We arrive on the opposite side of the river from our Lodge and need to hike down 400 ft to a small bridge to cross the river and then up again on the other side 400 ft to regain the trail; I honestly thought this was the end and would probably not make it, but perseverance paid off and I slowly worked my way to the top.

We were the last ones to arrive, just in time to see the Peruvian version of a New England Clam Bake, or the Peruvians call it a “Pachamanca”. They had a fire that had burned down with hot coals and hot stone, filled layer after layer of first potatoes and yams; then lamb, chicken, guinea pig and veal; then finished it off with string beans and other vegetables – they covered each layer with more hot stones and then covered the whole pile with cardboard boxes, plastic and finally shoveled dirt on to burying everything. About 45 minutes later they uncovered the whole thing and we had a great meal, literally straight from the earth!

After lunch the group organized a Northern Hemisphere vs. Southern Hemisphere soccer tournament. They (the Southern guys) had two great advantages – they had a full team of people who had actually played the game (including our Wakii porters and the lodge staff) and the altitude was very difficult for the Northern team to even catch its breadth never mind launching an attack. In the end it was a good game with the Southern guys winning 4 – 3. Of course the Northern team did have a slight disadvantage as half the team had been drinking wine with lunch before playing the game! One small technical issue – the out-of-bounds marker was a dead drop of 400 feet off of the cliff overlooking the river. We lost a couple of balls over the side but luckily no people! Finally we got smart and stationed a couple of the spectators on the cliff side to catch the balls before they went “over board”. After soccer we organized a similar volley ball game, again losing a ball or two over edge (and again, thankfully, no people).

Following our activities we had a relaxing afternoon followed by yet another fantastic dinner by our chef, Carlos.

The Colpa Lodge is located in an open promontory at the confluence of three rivers. The outdoor hot tub in this lodge has prominent views of lush green mountains and a small, far-away, local town.