Trekking Lodge to Lodge

I learned about the different lodges and had a lot of head knowledge but still had no idea what to expect. During the trek, we stayed at four beautiful lodges in the middle of nowhere. Each lodge welcomed us with the same routine; enjoy a refreshing towel for your face, take off your shoes, take a cup of mint tea or juice. I loved to  see the routine change only slightly from lodge to lodge. When we were in higher altitude, the air had more of a cold bite. That’s when we’d get warm towels scented with citronella and hot mint tea. When we descended to the cloud forest, the warm towels were refreshingly cold and had tangy maracuya (passion fruit) or satisfying morada (purple corn) juice.
 

The staff at each lodge were friendly, welcoming, and unfalteringly accommodating. Always pleasant and wearing big smiles. It was hard to not feel at home. One of my favorite features was the jacuzzi at each lodge. There is nothing better than soaking your tired muscles and bones in a jacuzzi, pisco in hand. Many afternoons, we’d have free to rest, sort through photos, read a book, and enjoy the views around the lodge. Every lodge had wifi as well (usually spotty) which was nice to stay in touch with loved ones, but harder to completely unplug.

 
Salkantay was by far my favorite lodge. Each of the 12 rooms had a gorgeous view of the mountain, Salkantay and a partial view of Humantay mountain. The lodge had a big common area and dining area upstairs. This was the only lodge we stayed two nights to give us extra time to acclimate to the 12,700 feet elevation. The trek had a perfect mix of activity and down time at the lodges to fully savor and enjoy the experience.