Have you heard of Skylodge? I remember the first time I heard of it. Actually, I saw a picture before I heard of it. I was on Instagram and came across this picture that had me saying, “OMG! What is that? Where is this place? I need to go there!” This was travel bucket list worthy.
I immediately clicked on the location pin to see where this place was. I was captivated by what I saw and knew that I had to put this on my bucket list of travel destinations. Have you ever had one of these moments?
Am I really about to do this?
Fast forward to about a year later, when I found myself at the side of a mountain in Peru, wearing climbing gear and looking high up into the sky. What I saw were four glass pods, perched at the side of the mountain. Was I really about to climb up this mountain to get up there, with ZERO climbing experience?
The answer was YES! And I didn’t need climbing experience either. This was about to be an experience of a lifetime! How often can one say that they climbed up a mountain to sleep overnight in a glass pod, perched 1,300 ft high on the side of a mountain?
So let’s start from the beginning of this adventure.
I was staying in Cusco, and the guides from Skylodge came and picked me up from my hotel. The drive to Sacred Valley, where Skylodge is located, wasn’t too bad. It’s only about an hour. It allowed me to enjoy the scenery and get a deeper look into how locals lived outside the touristy areas.
Upon arrival, I saw that there were a total of 5 guests, myself included. None of us had climbing experience or had done anything like this before, but we were all excited. Well, maybe all but one. A tourist from Lebanon got squeamish about the height. Let’s just say he was grateful to be able to change his mind before our climb.
We had three guides with us, and they thoroughly went through all safety measures, equipment, and climbing instructions. The guides were friendly and spoke English very well, so I was comfortable in feeling that I had a solid understanding of how to do the climb safely.
It started to rain a little, but that didn’t dampen our spirits. I put on a blue poncho provided by Skylodge to keep me from getting wet. Luckily it was a light rain that didn’t last long, and we were able to climb.
Let the climb begin!
The views during the climb were way better than I ever imagined. There was a thrill of seeing “tiny” cars on the road far below my feet. The Urubamba River running through Sacred Valley seemed to get bigger and appeared more robust than it did at ground level. In a nutshell, it was exhilarating! Then came “the bridge“!
This part of the climb was not up the mountain but across an uneven section of it. Instead of having the mountain right beside us, we shimmied across a cable bridge to get to another part of the mountain. It was a bit shaky, but what an adrenaline rush!
The climb took us a little over an hour to get to the pods. The first stop was the dining room pod, where we all got to relax, eat, drink, and chat. Our guides prepared our dinner, and it wasn’t too bad. Due to limited accessibility and safety reasons, don’t expect a five star, super delicious meal here. If that’s the case, this adventure isn’t for you. They do offer you a glass of wine though!
When dinner was over, it was dark, and we were all escorted to our pods one by one. We had a little bit of climbing to do to get to our individual pods, but we had flashlights on our helmets plus a guide to help lead the way.
What’s it like inside the glass pod? How do you…
Once inside my pod, I was given a tour and shown how to use its features like the toilet. You’ve been wondering about this part, right? Well, the toilet does have a seat, but no running water. I know what you’re saying… “Huh?” Well, the bottom of the toilet has a chute. So basically, you do what you need to do into a garbage bag that fits underneath the toilet seat. When you are finished, you tie the garbage bag up and throw it down the chute. Think of camping styles, but just high up in the air!
There are four pods in total; 3 are for guests, and the 4th pod is the dining room. This 4th pod is also were the guides sleep. Each guest pod sleeps four people, but I was traveling solo, so I had one to myself. There’s no need to worry about privacy, as the pod has drapes to cover all of the glass walls, including the ceiling. I personally didn’t want to cover everything up, as I wanted to see the night views as well as wake up to the sunrise. Funny enough, I also enjoyed watching the trains come into the small Pachar train station below us.
As a side note, if you’re staying in Cusco and traveling to Machu Picchu by train, you will stop at this very train station, so look up!
The moment I had been waiting for; my travel bucket list checkmark!
When I woke up in the morning, it was a bit chilly and overcast, but I was not disappointed whatsoever. I actually woke up with a big smile on my face, and at that very moment, I placed a checkmark on my travel bucket list, right beside Skylodge Adventure Suites.
There’s nothing quite like checking off an item on your bucket list of travel destinations. On any bucket list, really! Whether its a place you want to visit, a challenge to conquer, or a goal to reach. No matter how long it takes, or the journey to get there, that smile and feeling you get once you tick that box off with a checkmark is priceless.
Wondering how we got down from the pods later that day? Zipline baby!
