The Inca Trail was the only thing we had booked before leaving England. The four day trail starts in Ollyantaytambo and ends inside Machu Picchu. It is supposedly the ‘best’ trail leading to Machu Picchu since it has such spectacular views and goes through many other ruin sites. It has to be booked months in advance and when we tell others here that we are booked on to it they are very jealous.
When we are picked up for the tour it is in a very plush bus. VERY different to the trips we usually take; more holiday-maker and less backpacker and we wonder if this company has ever picked up from our super-cheap hostel before!
The bus drives us to the trail head with a breakfast stop on the way. The guides set out the equipment and if you haven’t hired the services of a porter you pick up a mattress and sleeping bag to add to your kit. We were also offered walking poles for hire here. We didn’t take them but be warned there are LOTS and LOTS of steps on day two which they will be useful for!
The trek gets underway and almost immediately we stop for lunch. We are completely spoilt with food; lunch is always a starter, and then soup, and then main. Dinner is a soup and then main and sometimes dessert. Breakfast is pancakes, or muesli… a feast in the jungle! In true Peruvian style it is decked out with lots of carbohydrates. In one meal we had three different types of potatoes and two of rice! We hope the porters get to eat the leftovers because there are so many.
The porters on the trek are absolutely amazing. Bearing in mind that Peruvians are all so short, these guys are carrying over 20kg each in huge, uncomfortable bags that are almost the same size as they are. They RUN from camp to lunch, and from lunch to camp again so quickly. When we are introduced to them we learn that the oldest ones are in their 50s and still doing this. They are incredibly fit, I just hope they are paid decently for this hard work although I have my doubts.
By the time we reach camp each day they have the whole place set up with all of our tents ready, the dining tent ready and food almost ready. The service was great! Again, not something we are used to on the budget trips we usually take.
The walk itself wasn’t very taxing. I think because we have been in South America long enough we had no issues with the altitude. Day two is hard with a long uphill, and day three has close to ten hours of walking (including all the steps!) but nothing like the other walks we have been doing in South America, which made the trek really enjoyable. We trekked through many different Inca sites, through jungle and breath-taking landscape.
The second day of the trek also happened to be my birthday! That night we celebrated with some rum and tea cocktails that the guides made us. Yeah, days one and two aren’t so remote that you can’t get any alcohol! The cook also made a cake for us all, “especially for Hannah to celebrate her birthday”! It was perfect.
On the final morning we lined up at 5.30am waiting for the gates to the check-in point to open. After that it was a half hour trek towards the ‘Sun Gate’ where we could finally see Machu Picchu. It was just as amazing as it looked, perched between two huge mountains. From a distance it looks surreal, as if it has been super-imposed there. Our guide gave us a tour, which was great to give it some explanation, and then we were free to roam alone.
Ending up here after four days of walking is just an incredible way of seeing the site. You also get to be in the park as it opens which is great because it fills up a lot later in the morning.
In hindsight though, we should have researched more and appreciated that the Inca Trail isn’t the only trek you can do to Machu Picchu. When we arrived in Cusco we saw the advertisements for Lares and Salkantay trek which are much more within our budget. Reports from friends who did these treks were great and we would have met more like minded people. I mean, there are fantastic lunch spots along the trails, so what is the need to set up a lunch tent every day?! Also, who wears chef whites on a hike?!
Despite this though, we had a fantastic time and I recommend everyone to visit here; whether via train, car, or hiking for four days!
TIPS | Snacks and alcohol are available to purchase from the locals on days one and two (day two until lunch time only). After that, you are more remote so no provisions until a very expensive celebratory beer at the finish!
COST | We paid $650 / £488, booked seven months in advance. This price seems insane now. As I travel, my attitude to money and waste has adapted and after seeing some of the less affluent parts of Peru I now can’t quite believe that we spent so much on a few days trekking. Would I do it again? Probably not…. Is it worth it? It’s good, but I’d go for Salkantay or Lares instead.
WITH | We trekked with Peru Treks. They were great with organisation and excellently delivered what they had promised, despite it not being to our taste.
