Walking in the footsteps of Incas

A trip to Peru wouldn't be complete without visiting Machu Picchu. There are different ways of getting to the site and one of the most popular is via the Camino del Inca. In order to be allowed on the trail you have to apply for a permit of which there are 500 available each day.

Due to the popularity of the trek you often need to apply several months beforehand to ensure you can get hold of one. Because the Inca trail was part of my tour, Tucan Travel organised everything I required for this. If you aren't able to get a permit there are alternative treks available, which will include a visit to Machu Picchu, three people on my tour did the Lares trek.

There were seven of us doing the Inca Trail and the day beforehand we were issued with our duffel bags, which would be carried by the porters and should weigh no more than five kilograms including the weight of the sleeping bag. We were also able to take day bags, which we would carry ourselves and could contain any excess items.

Bags all packed we were collected from our hotel by our guide Ruben, our cook Albino and our team of porters. For the seven of us we had a team of nine accompany us.

We drove the short drive from Ollantaytambo to KM 83 where the trail starts and it was here that the porters started packing their loads. The majority of our crew didn't appear to be much taller than me and the bags they were carrying were almost the same size as them. 

Due to regulations each porter is allowed to carry no more than 20kg and at various checkpoints their bags get weighed to check they aren't over their limit. Despite me packing light when my bag was weighed for the final time it was one kilo over so I ended up having to transfer a few things to my day pack.

The Inca Trail is 26 miles long and we would be walking it over the course of three days arriving at Machu Picchu on day four. The first day of walking was relatively easy with no big ascents or descents and we reached camp just as the rains came in.

The porters had already set up camp and after dumping our bags in the tents and having a quick rest we were called for afternoon tea in the dining tent. It was Liz's 60th birthday so we all chipped in a bit of extra money so the cook could get ingredients to make a cake. Given the limited cooking equipment we were all shocked when a fully iced sponge cake appeared and it was a great way to celebrate. The sponge had been steamed and was pretty tasty.

After tea came a three course dinner and we were all in bed by 7.30pm.

Ruben told us that day two is the hardest day due to the ascent up to Dead Woman's Pass and he wasn't wrong. Most of the trail is the original paving, which is a lot like a rocky track and tricky to walk on. What I also hadn't really banked on was how many stairs there were too.

The day started well and at our first rest stop Ruben said we were a fast group, so fast that Liz was already out of sight ahead of us. After this stop came the hardest part of the ascent and it wasn't so much physically exerting, but actually breathlessness caused by the altitude that caused the most problems. The last 100 metres to the top of the pass were tough especially as the steps in this section were also quite steep, but the view from the top made it worth the strain. 

We rested at the top for about 30 minutes before making our way down to the camp and if the way up wasn't too bad on the legs the way down was. Due to the unevenness of the path and steepness of the steps it was very slow going and I tried not to get too disheartened by all the porters whizzing down them with more than double the weight I was carrying and wearing sandals!

We noticed several of the porters all wore sandals and when we asked Ruben about this he explained that many choose to wear these as walking boots regardless of cost will wear out after three months of use.

After almost two hours of the downhill stairs I made it to camp and all of us were there ahead of the estimated time. It was a really sunny, hot day so it was nice to spend the afternoon relaxing and Catherine and I even had a quick dip in the river running through the campsite much to amusement of the porters. Once the sun went down it got really cold and that night it took me a while to get warm.

The next day was more of the same with lots of periods of downhill stairs. Unfortunately due to it being quite overcast we missed out on seeing our first glimpse of Machu Picchu in the distance. The vegetation on this part of the trail started changing and became slightly more tropical the more we descended. By the time we reached the camp I couldn't wait to get my boots off and give my feet some space to breath. So when at lunchtime Ruben told us there was a bit more walking to do to some ruins we thought he was joking.

The walk was only 10 minutes from the camp and it was worth it. Although there was a rather aggressive/amorous male llama wandering round so I tried to give him a wide berth. It was also while we were at this ruin that an American girl loudly announced she wanted a photo in front of the castle - there was no castle, but there was a cluster of what looked like houses!

This would be our last night with the porters as the following morning they had to leave at 4.30am in order to make it down the trail (in the dark) in time to catch the train to Ollantaytambo. If they miss the train they have to either walk the tracks or wait until the evening. This system is a bit of a contentious issue as the trail we would be following to Machu Picchu doesn't open until 5.30am, but the train company refuses to put on a later train in the morning for the porters.       

Many of the porters work four or six week back to back stints on the trail as it is more economically viable for them to do this before spending a few weeks back in their villages. What I also find sad is despite all of the hard work they do, none of them or very few of them will have ever been to Machu Picchu.

The next day we left camp at 4.30am and joined the queue of people waiting for the trail to open. At 5.30am the gate was opened and we made our way to the sun gate. The walk itself wasn't too bad, with the exception of a set of near vertical stairs to climb. The trail was the busiest we'd experienced during the whole trek because all the groups left at the same time. At the sun gate we had an amazing view of Machu Picchu below.

Forty-five minutes of walking later and we had made it, it was a strange feeling being somewhere I had seen so much in books and on TV and it all seemed a lot smaller, but no less incredible.