El Fanoos: The Sacred Valley

28 July, 2009

The Sacred Valley

It's easy to see why they call this the Sacred Valley: rich farmland, crystal clear mountain streams, and white-capped peaks

Of the many ways to get to Machu Picchu, the two most popular with backpackers are to 1) hike the infamous 3-day Inca Trail, at times sharing the trail with 400 other tourists; or 2) take an alternative trek through the surrounding Andean highlands, where the local-to-foreigner ratio is skewed severely in the locals’ favor, and finish with a train ride to Aguas Calientes. At this point in our trip, we were tired of sharing our experiences with dozens of other gringos so we opted for the latter. We couldn’t have been happier with the results.

Researching the trip can be quite daunting. There are scores of operators, each offering similar treks. The 5-day Salkantay Trail, a “challenging” hike by most accounts that reaches 4590m above sea level, was the first to catch my eye. Not only would the remote location and challenging terrain offer more solitude, but we could also go longer without showering. Due to time restrictions, however, we had to pick a shorter trip. The Lares Valley Trek, a 4-day walk that climbs over a 4500m pass, was the group consensus.

Next step: picking a tour operator. I had initially considered self-supporting a trek through the highlands, but the complicated logistics and chance to support the local communities swayed us in favor of a guided tour. Browsing the online lists of operators, you can pretty quickly narrow it down to 5 or 6 reputable companies. From there, it’s just a matter of contacting them and obtaining prices. Since they’re all offering the same services—horse packing, 3 meals/day, a “unique” trail that nobody else uses, etc—we decided to go with the best price, which was Chaska Tours out of Cusco.

Here are a few of the pics… Enjoy.