Today’s Highlights: We leave our camp early today to enjoy a serene and empty trail and appreciate landscape, scenery, and wildlife, including the roaring river below us in the valley us for much of the day. While trekking through the luscious jungle, you will find countless wild fruits such as banana, avocado, passion fruit, and granadilla. There are also waterfalls and streams where you can refresh your feet and cool off! After having lunch in the small town of La Playa, we will take a private car to Hidroelectrica. As we walk to Aguas Calientes, relish in one of the best views of the Urubamba valley! Don’t forget to turn around and see Apu Salkantay again in the background before you look forward to have your first glance at the glorious Machu Picchu!
Optional: Train ride from Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes.
At 06:00 AM, we will start our trek to the small town of La Playa through the Santa Teresa valley. You will be able to soak up this new, lush landscape during our 6 hours of hiking today! During the hike we will see rivers, waterfalls, wild orchids, and plantations of coffee, banana, and avocado. You can taste the famous passion fruit and granadilla fruit along the way! We will see a village called Colpapampa, also called the “brow of the cloud forest,” where waterfalls, birds, hot springs, fruit-bearing trees, and flora and fauna can be observed. If we are lucky, we will even be able to see the beautiful bird called “The Cock of the Rocks,” the national bird of Peru!
After a hearty lunch at La Playa, we will take local transportation to the Hidroelectrica train station. Here you will have two options: 1) If you are exhausted, you may take the train to Aguas Calientes ($31.00 extra). 2) If you are still eager to hike, you may walk from Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes for about 3 hours along the train track. There is a nice path next to the tracks through the warm paradise of the cloud forest. This is the same trail used by the American professor Hiram Bingham who rediscovered Machu Picchu after centuries of it being lost to the outside world! Once in Aguas Calientes, you can rest a bit before dinner or walk around this alluring place that has the ambience of a California Gold Rush town. There are no cars in Aguas Calientes, so it is an especially peaceful place to be. At 7:00 PM, we will have dinner at a local restaurant. All the expenses in Aguas Calientes are covered by the company, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the overnight stay at our hostel. In your room, you will have a private bathroom, hot shower, wifi, breakfast in the morning, and luggage storage while you visit Machu Picchu.
Walking Distance – 26km / 16.1 Miles
Starting Elevation – 2750 meters ASL / 9022 feet ASL
Campsite Elevation – 1600 meters ASL / 5249 feet ASL
Difficulty: Easy
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (Plus snacks)
Accommodation: Hostel
Adventure: Absolutely! You will be in the middle of the tropical forest you have dreamt about!
TREKKING MAP 
