The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
As much as I’ve always wanted to see Machu Picchu, I’ve always wanted to hike the Inca trail that leads to it. Sadly, it’s not something you can just DO – you can only hike the trail with a certified tour group.
In February, I met someone that had just come from Machu Picchu and they warned that permits were already selling out for March. I had a look online, and sure enough, March was selling out on some tour group websites. I sent out some email inquiries and discovered pretty quickly that as a solo hiker my options were limited to the “Classic Inca Trail Trek”, a 4-day, 3-night trek costing about $700 USD. I chose a locally owned company with good reviews. Not quite the cheapest, but I didn’t think $50 mattered much in that price range. And so - as painful as it was - I not only joined a group, but I also paid for it!
I didn’t read the itinerary though. And I think maybe that’s a good thing, because if I had, I might have hesitated to sign up. The trek covered 40 km in 3 days with some big elevation gains at high altitude. The itinerary, as written, didn’t exaggerate the difficulty. Not only did we hike long distances, the path was steep (both up and down), and the pace was fast. Really fast. I actually broke into a jog several times to catch up to the long-legged group members ahead of me. Had I been able to hike the trail alone, I would have added a couple of nights to the itinerary, walked a little slower, and covered less ground each day.
In February, I met someone that had just come from Machu Picchu and they warned that permits were already selling out for March. I had a look online, and sure enough, March was selling out on some tour group websites. I sent out some email inquiries and discovered pretty quickly that as a solo hiker my options were limited to the “Classic Inca Trail Trek”, a 4-day, 3-night trek costing about $700 USD. I chose a locally owned company with good reviews. Not quite the cheapest, but I didn’t think $50 mattered much in that price range. And so - as painful as it was - I not only joined a group, but I also paid for it!
I didn’t read the itinerary though. And I think maybe that’s a good thing, because if I had, I might have hesitated to sign up. The trek covered 40 km in 3 days with some big elevation gains at high altitude. The itinerary, as written, didn’t exaggerate the difficulty. Not only did we hike long distances, the path was steep (both up and down), and the pace was fast. Really fast. I actually broke into a jog several times to catch up to the long-legged group members ahead of me. Had I been able to hike the trail alone, I would have added a couple of nights to the itinerary, walked a little slower, and covered less ground each day.
The trek started with the bus picking me up at my hotel at 4 AM. I was wide awake though – there wasn’t any hot water at 3:30 that morning and I couldn’t forgo a shower before a 4-day hike. After a couple of hours on the bus, we stopped at the porter camp for breakfast. There we handed our duffel bags over to the porters to carry to our first camp. We were allowed to pack up to 14 kilograms in our duffel bags; mine included my sleeping bag, sleeping mat, extra clothing, my sandals, a minimal first aid kit, a few toiletries, and some ground coffee (they only provided instant). I kept my day pack as light as I could, taking only a fleece jacket, a rain poncho, sunscreen, bug spray, hat, sunglasses, wallet, phone, a battery pack, USB cable, e-reader, aspirin, tissues, snacks, and water. And I had my trekking poles with me.
For each trekker, there were two porters. The porters carry not only our duffel bags, but they also carry a variety of tents, food, cookware, dishes, basins, a chemical toilet, tables, chairs, and of course their own camping gear. They carry up to 25 kilograms each. They walk twice as fast too; they would pack up after we left camp and beat us to the next camp, so everything was ready when we got there. When it comes to hiking these trails, they are superhuman. They jog up and down the stone steps with their huge, heavy packs. Two of our porters were in their 60’s. I was happy to see that there were also some female porters in the group.
The first day of trekking was shockingly fast in terms of pace. I managed to keep up, but I never would have walked so quickly if I were on my own. On the other hand, we took very long breaks. Our lunch break was more than 2 hours and while some of our group stretched out on the grass and had a siesta, I was eager to get going.
The trail took us through absolutely stunning mountains. The pictures you’ve undoubtedly seen of Machu Picchu aren’t a fluke of photographic framing, the mountains really are that beautiful throughout the region. Pictures don’t really do it justice, but also, it was a 4-day hike with zero charging stations, so I kept my phone off most of the time to conserve the battery. And of course there was that whole “keeping up to the group” problem I was dealing with. I would have loved more battery power and more time to take photos. Videos were next to impossible because there were just too many noisy people around most of the time.
For each trekker, there were two porters. The porters carry not only our duffel bags, but they also carry a variety of tents, food, cookware, dishes, basins, a chemical toilet, tables, chairs, and of course their own camping gear. They carry up to 25 kilograms each. They walk twice as fast too; they would pack up after we left camp and beat us to the next camp, so everything was ready when we got there. When it comes to hiking these trails, they are superhuman. They jog up and down the stone steps with their huge, heavy packs. Two of our porters were in their 60’s. I was happy to see that there were also some female porters in the group.
The first day of trekking was shockingly fast in terms of pace. I managed to keep up, but I never would have walked so quickly if I were on my own. On the other hand, we took very long breaks. Our lunch break was more than 2 hours and while some of our group stretched out on the grass and had a siesta, I was eager to get going.
The trail took us through absolutely stunning mountains. The pictures you’ve undoubtedly seen of Machu Picchu aren’t a fluke of photographic framing, the mountains really are that beautiful throughout the region. Pictures don’t really do it justice, but also, it was a 4-day hike with zero charging stations, so I kept my phone off most of the time to conserve the battery. And of course there was that whole “keeping up to the group” problem I was dealing with. I would have loved more battery power and more time to take photos. Videos were next to impossible because there were just too many noisy people around most of the time.
The campgrounds weren’t great. They were overcrowded; tents literally touching each other some of the time. I could hear people snoring and breathing and shifting in their sleeping bags throughout the night. The campgrounds all had real bathrooms with running water and flush toilets, but they were gross and very smelly. The toilets were overused and not always flushed. I really think if someone were to spray the bathrooms down with a hose once a day it would have made a huge improvement. Or a splash with a bucket, I would have done it myself if there had been a bucket to use. Each group also had its own chemical toilet with a little tent – ours was completely unusable. I went in the tent twice and both times left without using the toilet; too gross, too stinky.
The campgrounds actually had showers – but the water was ice cold. The porters provided us with basins of warm water a couple of times a day so we could wash up without freezing to death.
The campgrounds actually had showers – but the water was ice cold. The porters provided us with basins of warm water a couple of times a day so we could wash up without freezing to death.
I used my own tent during the trek. I didn’t want to share a tent – partly because I am often up in the middle of the night, and I didn’t want to disturb anyone. And because I don’t sleep well with strangers beside me. But also, I have a tent with me, and I like it and I knew I’d be comfortable in it. Why gamble with an unknown tent? I was happy to have my tent. While I was just inches from the other tents, I felt like I had my own private space. My tent fly got really wet every night, but it stayed off the mesh of the inner tent and everything inside stayed dry. I’m not sure that was true for the other tents. Of course, the other tents were very large, so it was probably easy to keep things away from the tent walls. And the porters set up my tent for me! I usually adjusted it (after having used it a while, I know how to stake to fly to best keep things dry), but it was nice to have it set up when I arrived at the camp.
The porters seemed fascinated by my tent. They told me they liked it and wanted to know how much it cost. I’m guessing they don’t see a lot of personal tents on the trek. From what I could tell, there must be a lot of porters crowded into the few extra tents in the camp. Maybe they’d be allowed to sleep in their own tent if they had one?
The food throughout the trek was great, though for me it was excessive and unnecessary. I really can’t eat much during a trek and I didn’t even taste half of the dishes we were served. But others in the group ate a lot and appreciated the variety. Unfortunately, I was kind of sick on day two – I had stomach cramps all day and didn’t eat much. I don’t know if it was the food though – I think only one other person had problems that day. But on day 3, when I was feeling better, there were a few other people with stomach issues. It’s hard to say what the cause was. Obviously, the physical activity and altitude are factors. I tried to be careful using the bathroom, brushing my teeth, making sure my dishes were dry before using them, but… who knows? Maybe I licked my fingers after petting llamas? I survived though. It wasn’t too terrible.
The porters seemed fascinated by my tent. They told me they liked it and wanted to know how much it cost. I’m guessing they don’t see a lot of personal tents on the trek. From what I could tell, there must be a lot of porters crowded into the few extra tents in the camp. Maybe they’d be allowed to sleep in their own tent if they had one?
The food throughout the trek was great, though for me it was excessive and unnecessary. I really can’t eat much during a trek and I didn’t even taste half of the dishes we were served. But others in the group ate a lot and appreciated the variety. Unfortunately, I was kind of sick on day two – I had stomach cramps all day and didn’t eat much. I don’t know if it was the food though – I think only one other person had problems that day. But on day 3, when I was feeling better, there were a few other people with stomach issues. It’s hard to say what the cause was. Obviously, the physical activity and altitude are factors. I tried to be careful using the bathroom, brushing my teeth, making sure my dishes were dry before using them, but… who knows? Maybe I licked my fingers after petting llamas? I survived though. It wasn’t too terrible.
It also rained quite a bit on our second day. I had a rain poncho, but it was so annoying. It was loud and I kept stepping on it when going up the steep, stone steps. It did keep me dry. Because of the overcast skies, we didn’t get to see much from the passes, but I kind of liked the fog. It was pretty.
The most surprising thing about the trek was the sheer number of Inca ruins we saw from the trail. We were able to visit a lot of them. While none are quite as spectacular as Machu Picchu, some were huge and beautiful and we were able to explore the full extent of them – nothing roped off or under glass. No tourists, no covid masks, no designated paths to follow. Some of the ruins were covered with thick, green moss, and shrouded in mist. They were mysterious and magnificent.
The most surprising thing about the trek was the sheer number of Inca ruins we saw from the trail. We were able to visit a lot of them. While none are quite as spectacular as Machu Picchu, some were huge and beautiful and we were able to explore the full extent of them – nothing roped off or under glass. No tourists, no covid masks, no designated paths to follow. Some of the ruins were covered with thick, green moss, and shrouded in mist. They were mysterious and magnificent.
A rare moment of solitude, just me and the frogs:
On our last day, we were up at 3 AM. If I understand correctly, the porters need to get everything packed up and need to hike down to the train station to catch the first train. But we couldn’t leave camp until 5:30. We spent our time in a queue, waiting in the dark for a gate to open so we could continue our trek. It seemed a little silly, but whatever.
Waiting in the queue at 4:30 AM
At 5:30 AM, we took off at a blistering pace, trekking in the dark, hoping for clear skies. And clear skies we had! From the Sun Gate we got our first glimpse of Machu Picchu. Impressive even from a distance. The sun soon climbed over the mountains and lit up the ruins. We had spectacular weather on our final day.
Machu Picchu is limited to 5000 visitors a day, more than UNESCO would like, but not enough to satisfy demand. There is another site (Choquequirao) even larger than Machu Picchu currently being excavated. They’re building a cable car to allow access to tourists. As it is right now, you can hike to Choquequirao, but it’s a nearly 2-kilometer vertical climb to get to the site and there are no campsites halfway up. I considered that hike only briefly – that climb sounds especially difficult given that I’d need a sleeping bag, tent, and 3 days’ worth of food in my backpack. The cable car sounds nice!
From Machu Picchu, we took a bus down to the town in the valley below for lunch (and beer!). Then we caught a train for Ollantaytambo. The train ride was 2 hours and made for a spectacular finale. A lot of people fell asleep, but I was captivated by the scenery.
From Machu Picchu, we took a bus down to the town in the valley below for lunch (and beer!). Then we caught a train for Ollantaytambo. The train ride was 2 hours and made for a spectacular finale. A lot of people fell asleep, but I was captivated by the scenery.
I really enjoyed the trek. I did struggle to keep up at times, but I wasn’t always last, and I didn’t have any aches or pains to complain about. I did sleep quite a bit the day after, however. I have a T-shirt to commemorate the trip – It’s really bright. If I wear it, no matter what happens, my body is sure to be found!
