The Salcantay Majestic trail connects the city of Cuzco to the Citadel of Machu Picchu. The beginning of this 4-day walk starts at the village of Mollepata, a few miles from Cuzco, and it is only a one way road from Cuzco to Machu Picchu. The return is always motorized by train.
We offer two kinds of treks: in private or in group. In private, only your friends and our staff are part of the trek. Even though some people prefer this kind of trek, it is the most expensive. But most people choose a trek in group, because they want to or because of their budget, which means that you do the trek with other trekkers. Since it is impossible to know in advance (and for confidentiality reasons) who will be part of your group, it is impossible to answer this question precisely. In fact, we can say that it is a small group of trekkers with guides, carrier horses and horse handlers. Notice that whenever it is possible (tourists without a fixed departure date, etc) we try to group in a same trek people of the same nationality and age.
We offer departures every day from March 15 to December 31, holidays included.
Yes, there is a "local" train between Cuzco and Aguas Calientes but the government has decided that it is only for Peruvian residents and they have to show a Peruvian ID. Tourists cannot take it.
It is not recommended because conditions are not the best. The Salcantay Majestic trail is accessible to all trekkers but it is better to be accompanied by epert authorized guides, who know very well the path.
Most of the places where you might stay (hotel, hostal) offer to guard your luggage for free during the trek. But we can also gladly do it; just bring your luggage to our Agency the day before the trek.
The purpose of ethical commerce is, let's remember, that a commercial activity should respect social conditions (rights, guarantees for employees, decent salaries, etc) and environmental conditions (respect and protection of the environment, of sites, of fauna and flora). Since this is a very important goal, we are proud to claim that we respect our employees in general and our porters in particular (because they are numerous and they certainly do the most difficult job). We work with the same porters since the beginning, which is a guarantee for them, for us and for our customers. We don't choose porters depending on their availability (many of them are independent) because we have ours. Their salary is higher than the local and national average salary and it includes (which is sadly rare in Peru) a life insurance and a health insurance. Any misconduct or abuse from our company can (and must) be denounced to Peruvian authorities. At the end of the hike we give trekkers a form to fill. Regarding the respect of the environment, we can mention for example that for the trek we carry different garbage bags and we classify organic and inorganic waste, we carry all waste for 4 days in order to throw it away after the hike, etc. To conclude, the answer is yes, not because we need to do it, but because of our own conviction and ethics.