Travel Diary: Clymb Does Peru

Adventure Travel//Out There

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Why Peru, and Why the Salka­n­tay Trek in Particular?
Valen­cia Trav­el Cuz­co via The Clym­b’s Adven­ture appealed to me because the Salka­n­tay Trek, a 5‑day trek through the Andes, is regard­ed as one of the best treks in the world. Cap­ping at 15,253 feet, this ancient and seclud­ed trail is locat­ed in the same region as the Inca Trail that leads to Machu Pic­chu. Explor­ing this region had long since been on my buck­et list so when the oppor­tu­ni­ty came up I quick­ly jumped on it.

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Pack­ing Essentials?

Beyond the hik­ing essen­tials (sun­block, hik­ing poles, cam­era), I couldn’t do with­out bug repel­lant. Trav­el­ing through an array of micro­cli­mates, I wore warm clothes to pro­tect me from the cold con­di­tions. After trekking along­side glac­i­ers in the morn­ing I had to quick­ly delay­er when we reached the jun­gle, expos­ing myself to bugs that were in search of dinner.

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Trip High­lights?
The goal had been to reach Machu Pic­chu, but in hind­sight the most mem­o­rable part of the trip took place on day 2 of the trek. That morn­ing, my guide Fabi gave me a pep talk about the chal­leng­ing route that entailed gain­ing 3000 ft of ele­va­tion with­in 3 miles to reach the Salka­n­tay Pass. Mak­ing it to the pass, which is set­tled between mas­sive moun­tains and glac­i­ers, was tru­ly epic. To the left stood Tucarhuay and to the right Salka­n­tay. I felt the crisp air of the moun­tains and was grate­ful to stand at the top admir­ing the beau­ty of the Andes.

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What Made this Trip so Special?
Along the Salka­n­tay trail I had the priv­i­lege to be greet­ed by the many locals of the coun­try­side. I was enam­ored by their kind­ness and gen­eros­i­ty. It was a real hon­or to jour­ney along this ancient and sacred path.

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Where Do You Want to Go Next?
There are so many amaz­ing places to see, but South Amer­i­ca keeps lur­ing me in. I would love to climb Aconcagua, which stands in the heart of the Andes wedged between Chile and Argenti­na and peaks at 22,841 ft. Aconcagua is the high­est moun­tain in both the West­ern and South­ern Hemispheres.

Want to share your Clymb Adven­ture sto­ry? Email stories@theclymb.comwith trip high­lights and 3–5 images for a chance to be featured.

For more infor­ma­tion on book­ing a trip, check out our Clymb Adven­tures page here.