Tips for the Inca Trail

Here are some tips from our experience doing the Inca Trail: 

Ask your hostel for a scale - If you are using a porter and need to know how much your bag weights just ask your hostel for a scale. Most hostel or hotels have a scale you can use to measure the weight of your bag.

Rent a trekking pole - I recommend getting one walking stick for the trek. I had two and found two kind of awqward at times but would definitely recommend having at least one. Even my brother who was opposed to having one used his. And if you shop around, you can rent one cheaper then renting it through your trekking company.

Buy coca candies and leafs - One the way to the trail they stopped at a store where you can buy stuff for the trek. I recommend buying coca candies and leafs to help with the altitude particularly on the second day. The guides will show you how to chew the coca leafs properly and they do help with  altitude.

Keep a pair of dry clothes - Make sure you have a set of dry clothes you can change into at the end of the day. Each day our clothes were all soaked from the rain and changing into some dry warm clothes was the only thing that would keep me warm. This includes a dry pair of shoes. I petty much wore  the same wet clothes each day to ensure I had a dry pair of clothes for the end of the day. 

Buy a rain poncho - If you are doing the trail during the rainy season you will need this. My mom made me pack a rain poncho which I was sure I would never use and on the Inka Trail I pretty much lived in it. No matter how waterproof your jacket is supposed to be,  they will get soaked after 6 hours of walking in the rain. A rain poncho is the only way I could keep my clothes and backpack dry and I was really grateful I had one. Half our group wore them and those that didn't have one wished they did.

Bring extra plastic bags - Your stuff is going to get wet so you are going to want bags to seperate your wet from dry clothes. I also found putting small plastic bags around my feet under my shoes helped keep my feet dry.

Don't expect to sleep well - No matter how tired you are from the trek don't expect that you will sleep well.  Even with the mat, you still feel like you are sleeping on the ground.


No hot shower or place to charge your battery - During our briefing we were told you could pay for a hot shower and charge your camera battery on the third night...this is not true. The place where you used to be able to shower and charge your electronics is currently closed down so save some battery life and if you want, you can have a freezing cold shower which I did and despite the cold - it was worth it.

Hire a porter - The porters are supercreatures. I don't know how they do it but they manage to carry 25kg on their back while running up the same path we are struggling up with only our small knapsack. You can just hire one for the second day (the toughest day) if you want to save money.  Everyone in our group hired a porter to carry their stuff.

Headlamp required - Good luck finding your way around camp or going to the washroom without a headlamp/flashlight.

Visit Manchu Picchu in the afternoon - All the groups arrive in the morning and all the tours seems to take place in  the morning so stay past 1pm if you want to see it with less of a crowd. Manchu Picchu tend to be cloudy in the morning clearing up around 10 so if you are just visiting it don't feel rushed to get there first thing in the morning. We actaully prefered it after 1pm when it was all sunny and most of the people had left,  just sitting on the hilltop admiring it.


Book 4 days/4 nights for more time at Manchu Picchu - If you want to spend more then just the morning at Manchu Picchu book 4 nights, so you spend the last night in Aguas Calientes. We were really happy we did this because we could stay at Manchu Picchu as long as we wanted. Otherwise you arrive, have a tour and then only 2 hours on your own to enjoy it before getting the bus back to Aguas Calientes.

Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu was the thing I was most looking forward to on this trip. Originally I wanted to try and do the Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu but eveything said you needed to book it months in advance (there are only 200 tourist permits available a day) and since I didn't know when we would reach Cuzco I didn't want to book it too far in advance and figured we could just do one of the other treks to Machu Picchu instead. As we got to Peru and I started asking around and heard that there might be a possiblility that we could still do it, so during our first day in Cuzco I check out the permits and got us booked to do the classic Inca Trail 3 days later. In March it's still the rainy season and not the most ideal time to do the Inca trail, so there were still days available in March. However April - June was already all booked up.

The night before we were suppose to set off we had a briefing were we heard about what was in store for us, met the rest of our group and got our bags to fill for the next day.

That night we went back to our hotel and had the task of packing our duffle bag with 9kg worth of stuff or rather 6kg since the sleeping bag and mat used up 3kg of our limit. We then set our alarm for 4:30am so we would be ready when they picked us up at 5:00am the next morning. Turns out we were the first people to get picked up and they came early with the hotel knocking on our door at 4:45am, thankfully we were up and pretty much ready to go and just had to store our bags in the hotel before following the porter to the bus.

Day 1:  PATALLAQTA- CUSICHAKA- WAYLLABAMBA, AYAPATA
Distance Travelled: 12 km, Time: 6-7 hours,  Ascent up: 620 m

Our journey started with a 3 hour bus ride from Cusco to Piskacucho travelling through the Sacred Valley. Along the way, we stopped for breakfast before arriving in Piscacucho (2,680m). There we  met  the porters who would be carrying our belonging  and got our things in order.


Passports in hand, we cleared the official Inca Trail check point before crossing a  bridge across the Urubamba River to begin our trek.  The first three hours were super easy on relatively level terrain with a beautiful view along the river and nice sunny weather.   We stopped for  lunch after 3 hours before starting another 3 hours  of walking  to the village of Wayllabamba (3,000m), followed by an uphill climb through woods and along a stream to our first camp at Ayapata (3,300m). It was actually the last hour of walking which was the hardest because we were starting to get tired  and the last hour is all uphill  (300m)  and steep. To add to this it had started to rain during this last hour. So when we finally arrived at the camp, needless to say we were all very happy and even more excited when we found ladies at our camp selling beer which everyone in our group indulged in.  They also had 'happy hour' ready which consisted of hot beverages (tea, coffee, hot chocolate) cookies and popcorn which we ate while we waited for dinner.

One thing I have to  mention is the food, they actually have a chef and assistant chef that travel with you and cook all your meals, so the food on the Inca trail is absolutely AMAZING! Whenever they would bring out the food we were always shocked by the  great food. It was some of the best food I had in Peru and not at all what I would have expected to be eating while hiking.

Another thing I need to mention is the porters. These are the guys that carry all the equipment for the entire group including all the food, propane tanks, tents, luggage, and even any garbage we create. For our group of 18 people there were 22 porters. Each porter carries up to 25kg and you have the option of paying extra to have a porter carry your bags, which everyone in our group did. This means that all you actually carry is a small knapsack with 1 litre of water, some snacks and a raincoat while the porters carry giant packs along the same trail as us. The worst part is while you're winded walking the trail, they RUN by you with these huge loads on your back while wearing sandels.  They would always leave later then us to clean up after lunch or take down the tents in the morning but would still manage to pass us on the trail with enought time to have lunch or our camp all set up by the time we arrived.


Day 2: AYAPATA- LLULLUCHAYOQ- DEAD WOMAN´S PASS- PACAYMAYO- RUNKURAKAY- SAYAQMARKA- CHAKICOCHA
Distance Travelled: 16 km, Time: 7-8 hours, Ascent up: 900 m

The second day is the most difficult day of the Inca trail because you travel through Dead womans pass at 4200m but it's also the longest day with 16km of walking.  So our day started bright and early with us waking up at 5:00am. The nice thing about the wake up call however is they come to your tent with a warm cup of coca tea. Trevor was oppose to tea before this trip but even he couldn't turn down the hot cup of coca tea and soon discovered he actually liked tea. The bad thing about the start of this day was that it had rained throughout the night and was still raining, so we all prepared for a rainy night. Because of rain and high altitude it was pretty cloudy so the view was a bit lost on us, although we could see some snow-covered mountains.  We began the day with a 900-m ascent up to the Warmiwanusca (Dead Woman’s) Pass at 4,800. I thought this was going to be the worst part of the hike but actually managed it quite well and ended up being one of the faster people to complete this portion. At the top we take a quick rest before beginning a steep descent into the Pacaymayo Valley on the other side and enjoyed lunch.

In the afternoon we then began a second ascent, this time to the ruins at Runcuracay, located a bit below the Runcuracay Pass (3,950m). From here, most of the trail was downhill until we reached the ruins at Sayacmarca where we got to spend some time exploring although we weren't as energetic  and didn't appreciate it as much as we should of since we were all cold and wet from a day of hiking in the rain. We then had another 1 hour of uphill climbing  to our camp.

Regardless of how tired we all were  none of us seemed to be able to sleep well and the second night was the worst sleep for me. It was POURING rain all night, it was the coldest night and regardless of the mats you know you're sleeping on the ground. The best part of the night however was when my brother tried to beat me up. We were sharing a tent and of course I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I tried to be as quiet as possible and managed to make it outside our tent and was just zipping it up so the rain won't get it when I tap his foot and woke him up. Trevor, half asleep thought someone was breaking into our tent and started yelling and kicking me as hard as he could until he finally realized it was me.

Day 3: CHAKICOCHA- AOBAMBA- PHUYUPATAMARKA- INTIPATA- WIÑAYWAYNA
Distance Travelled: 10km, Time: 5 hours, Descent : 700 m

The third morning we got to sleep in till 6:30 again with a hot tea wake up call again. Unfortunately it was still raining when we woke up so we prepared for another day of rain. This days hike was a much more down hill and significantly shorter than yesterdays but what I discovered was that it's not uphill that effected my hip but rather downhill so I actually kind of prefered the uphill. It also didn't help that  because of all the rain the downhill spots where actually a mini waterfall so you had to be extra careful going down.

The good news was around mid-morning the rain stopped and as we decended it started to warm up so we could get rid of our raincoats and switch back to tshirts. When we arrived at the site of Winaywayna we had beautiful weather  and could really appreciate the view. We then  completing the short hike to our camp site for the night. After lunch, we then visited the adjacent site of Intipata with its dramatic terrances which was probably my favorite Inca ruin beside Manchu Picchu of course.


We were also told that at this campsite we could pay for a hot shower here but we soon discovered it was closed for construction and your only shower option was a FREEZING cold shower. So after three days of treking and pretty much wearing the same wet clothes I felt I needed to suck it up and take the cold shower which really was FREEZING cold and pretty much a polar bear dip. It wasn't the best shower but I did feel so much better after. 

Day 4: WIÑAYWAYNA- INTUPINKU
Distance Travelled: 8 Km,  Time: 6 hours, Descent : 300 m

There are various groups doing the Inca trek and all groups camp at different spots each night except for the last night when all groups end up the same place and wake up early for the last day.

Our group had our wake up call at 3:30am so we could have breakfast and be the first group lined up to get into the park. This meant that we spent an hour and half waiting in line for the park to open. You then had a 1-2 hour hike in darkness to Inti Punku (the Sun Gate), overlooking Machu Picchu for the first rays of the sunrise. You would think this last part would be easy but it actually had some significant upward stretches including the "gingo killer" which is a very steep staircase which half the people end up crawling.

Thanksfully the weather had been good so far and when we reached the Sun Gate we were  one of the first groups and able to see Machu Picchu. Althought shortly after it clouded up and the groups that weren't quite as fast as us didn't get a clear view.

From Inti Punku, we  had an easy 40-minute hike that brought us to  Machu Picchu itself. Unfortunately by the time we reached Machu Pichu it was completely covered in clouds and looked like it was going to rain which it did. Our guides took us on an hour tour of Manchu Pichu in the pouring rain and to be honest, our group was a bit depressed and dishearted at this point because we were all afraid we had trekked all this way in the rain and won't even going to get any good pictures of Machu Picchu. Luckly around 10:30, just after our tour ended the rain stopped and the clouds cleared to provide a beautiful day and perfect conditions for viewing Machu Picchu in all it's wonder.



We did the 4 day/4 night deal so while the rest of our group had to leave Machu Picchu at 1 pm we got to spend the afternoon just sitting on the hillside admiring it. And if anyone is visiting Manchu Picchu independently I would actually recommend going later because all the trekkers and tour groups seen to leave at 1 so it's actually significantly less crowded and more peaceful in the afternoon. We then spent the night in Aguas Calientes before catching the train back to Cusco where a much needed day of rest was required.

So was it worth it? I'd say yes and agree with what Trevor when he said "I'm really glad I did it but I probably won't do it again". I think it definitely made me appreciate Machu Picchu more taking the same trail the Inca people used to take to get there and visiting all the Inca sites along the way. But Trevor and I were both tired by the end, our bodies did ache for a couple days after especially when trying to climb stairs.

Cuzco

When we first arrived in Cuzco we really felt the altitute (3300m) and symptoms of altitude sickness. In Quito we had adjusted to the high altitute but spending a month at sea level had reversed all that and we had to re-adjust again. Just walking a block left us winded and tired. Two days later however we seem to have adjusted and returned back to normal.

We spent the first two days really just walking around Cuzco taking in the sites. As normal we found it more interesting walking around the Peruvian part of town and spend a whole day just doing that. By our third day we decided to make the 2 km walk uphill to Saqsaywaman (which means 'satisfied falcon' but goes by the mnemonic 'sexy woman'). The walk itself was quite tiring but highly worth it for a great view  of Cusco and some interesting Inca ruins. We got the one day boleto turistico ($70 sols)  admission to visit the Saqsaywaman, Q'enqo, Tambomachay & Pukapukara but only ended up visiting the first two because we were too tired to walk to the last two and it was getting late. If you do want to visit all four in one day I would recommend talking a taxi at the start of the day to the farthest one then walking back towards Cuzco. However if you only see one of the ruins in the immediate area of Cuzco, Saqsaywaman is probably the best.


It was in Cuzco that we finally tried guinea pig (cuy). This is a popular dish in both Ecuador and Peru so one night we decided to finally order it. It's quite expensive costing $20 and the worst part is that when it's served, it actually looks like a guinea pig and still even had teeth when they served it to us.  I took one bit and told Trevor the rest was all his. It was way too salty for me but Trevor didn't seem to mind and ate the whole thing on his own, and when I say the whole think I mean everything but the bones. He even eat the tongue and brain. There actually wasn't that much meat on it through and its actually quite boney which mean you have to use your fingers and really pick through the little bones.

Our other big pass time in Cuzco was the massage parlors. Just walking a couple blocks in Cuzco you would have at leave 5 people trying to get you to go for a massage. Trevor had never had a massage before and wasn't sure how he felt about it but decided to give it a try. Turns out he became more addicted to them then I was and we ended up getting a massage everyday in Cuzco. We did learn one lesson though, don't go for the cheap 10 sole massages. If you want a half decent massage pay the 20-30 soles for a good one.

While in Cuzco we also visited the Museo Inka which was worthwhile and interesting. We also visited Iglesia de Santo Domingo but weren't too impressed.

Bathrooms in South America

If there is one thing South America has given me a new appreciation for it's our bathrooms back home. Below are just a couple of observations about the bathrooms here:

1. Lack of bathrooms
In Bolivia I came to appreciate the pure existence of bathrooms. Bus don't seem to have a bathroom and if there is one aboard it doesn't work. Instead they will have a stop in the middle of the trip where everyone gets off, but that doesn't mean there is a bathroom at the stop. The bathroom break instead means finding a place somewhere along the street to go and when I say street I mean street. On our way to Uyuni  our bus stopped in the middle of the city and  all you saw was men and woman from the buses lined up along the street to go to the washroom (I won't want to live on that street). In Bolovia we soon learned public urination is quite common and you shouldn't be surprised to see people urinating in the streets. 

2. Working locks
If you do find a bathroom it's not uncommon for the lock not to work. Again this tends to be more common in Bolivia where you are just happy that a bathroom existed, so you didn't mind holding the door.

3. Toilet seats
All across South America, even in more developed Argentina, we have noticed there seems to be a lack of toilet seats in both female and male washrooms. Trevor's theory is that people steal them  but I don't even think they bother adding them.

4. Toilet paper
One of the first things we learned was always carry toilet paper with you. Most public bathrooms don't provide this and in Bolivia some of the hostels don't even provide it.

5. Flushing toilet paper
In South America all toilet paper needs to be tossed in a garbage bin that's beside the toilet. There plumbing can't handle toilet paper. It might sound gross but it actually beats the consequences  of flushing toilet paper, to have it flood the toilet. 

6. Soap
The lack of soap in washrooms was on of the most disturbing things for me because it made me wonder if anyone ever uses soap after going to the washroom. I would say less than 5% of the washrooms we have used actually had soap in them and I don't feel like washing your hands with soaps after using the washroom is a common practice here.

7. Paper towel
Paper towel...what is this?! I can think of maybe 2 bathrooms that had this and it was at really nice restaurants. 

8. Hot water
Water comes in one temperature - COLD. In order to have a hot shower they have to attached this contraption to the shower head that warms the water as it goes through the heater. However electricity and water aren't a good combination and it's not uncommon to get shocked so when you have a hot shower if you don't want to get shocked wear rubber flip flops and don't touch the shower head. Trevor and I have both been shocked and it's something you would rather avoid but still beats a cold shower. Which when staying at hostels is one of the things you need to ask about or you could end up with cold shower.

9. Water pressure
With this water heating contraption it means the less water going through it means hotter water. So if you want to have a really hot shower you have to deal with less water and or you can have more water pressure but colder water.

10. Shower stall
This is something we came to appreciate in Bolivia. They don't actually have a separate stall for the shower instead there is just a shower head right in the middle of your bathroom with a drain on the floor, no shower curtain or anything. The entire bathroom floor and room ends up soaked but you have a squeegee you can  use on the floor so it dries quicker.

11. Bidet
We have noticed that since arriving in Argentina bidets have started showing up in our hostel bathrooms. 

12. Bathroom Standards
My standards of bathroom cleanliness have gone down so much. If I found a bathroom that looked like the typical fast food bathroom back in Canada I would consider that a really good bathroom. Trevor and I get excited when we find a good one and report back to the other that they need to take advantage of this rare thing.