We booked this tour as a one-day trip but took a break of one full day after Machu Pichu to explore Cusco and to calm down. For this tour, the tour guide also picked us up from the hotel - at 4 am, though. It was pretty cold outside, so we took a blanket from the hostel. It was a great decision because the bus itself was also super freezing, and it would have been uncomfortable otherwise.
The drive to the lake area takes around 4 hours. After the first 3 hours, we stopped at a food place for breakfast. It was delicious again, and you got lots of choices, fruits, cereals, coffee, hot chocolate, and coca tea. An excellent start to the day. The last part of driving is along the curvy dusty roads of the mountains, with a great view and super bumpy conditions. The parking lot is big. This day, approximately fifteen of those tourist busses parked there, and people walked out like ants going for a hunt. Your tour guide will give you a quick introduction (Spanish and/or English) and equip you with walking sticks.
At this point, you still have the chance to get a horse for approx. 70 Peso in case the altitude doesn't fit well to your condition. The height of the lake is around 4.200m. I thought the hike would be less exhausting than the one to the Vinicunca mountain, but it wasn't. The first 30 minutes are a straight and easy stony path along a stream facing the incredible mountains and the glacier. Then it starts inclining, and you have to go up for the rest of the time, around 1 hour. Especially, in the end, you might grab some rocks to get stability and not slide down the pretty steep hill. Everyone is taking a rest from time to time in the shade to prepare for the next meters. It is sure durable, but it is not an easy track. My friend got sick at high altitudes, so he went for a horse, maybe better like this instead of being dizzy and complaining a lot, haha. One good thing is to have the glacier as the end goal right before you. After that, you need to overcome the height and cross the smaller mountain in the front and reach the incredible lake.
Being there in person, it looked smaller than expected. Still, we have been lucky to have a sunny day without any clouds so you could enjoy the whole view of the Sanitary glacier, the surrounding mountains, and the clear, calm blue-green water. There is also a small shop to get some (pricy) snacks on the top. The tour guide gave us some information about that area and gave us 30 minutes of break up there to take photos, sit around, or simply relax. You can't move everywhere up there, though. Some tour guides were positioned around the lake and would whistle and complain loud if somebody was stepping in the water, climbing around. It was good to have some free time and to sit. Honestly, I needed it.
I was super happy when we started walking back, sometimes sliding back down, and finally reached the bus. They took us to the same food place to eat good lunch before beginning the long drive back. Most people slept on the bus, and I think, yes, me too.
For the price, the tour is worth it. If you like hiking and being exhausted. Good grippy shoes are recommended and clothes to change. The temperature is changing pretty fast from cold to warm, and I was happy to have a shirt, sweater, and jacket at the same time.
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