5-Day Inca Trail Trip Report

Old Aug 15th, 2010, 05:49 PM
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5-Day Inca Trail Trip Report

We’ve just returned from an amazing trip to Peru. Our primary reason for going was to hike the Inca Trail—but we also spent quite a bit of time in Cusco and the Sacred Valley. I’ll do a separate trip report about those, but first here is a report about our Inca Trail Experience. Thank you to everyone who helped us with this!

We chose to do the 5-day version of the Classic Trail with Inkanatura as our operator (July 19-July 23). I wanted to write about the experience, because when I was planning this trip, I had trouble finding information about the 5-day trek, and also had trouble finding reviews of Inkanatura.

My husband and I are in our mid-fifties, and we were accompanied by our daughter and her husband (mid to late 20’s). The main reason that we chose to do the 5-day trek was that I thought it would be a bit easier for our older knees, etc. Inkanatura was one of the few operators that offer a 5-day trek (and break it up into “easy” chunks—some of the other operators that offer the 5-day trek camp at different sites, and consequently still have at least one extremely difficult day involved). The version we did really broke the walks up into “do-able” pieces. Also, Inkanatura sets up a toilet tent at each campsite (and lunch site)—this was another thing that sounded really good to me!

One of the unexpected positives of the 5-day trail, is that you are a bit “out-of-sync” with most of the other (4-day) trekking groups. This was high season, and yet we saw very few people on the trail (other than porters whizzing by us, of course!).

So, first off—the 5-day trek costs more than the 4-day version. This makes sense because you are paying for an extra day of food, etc. Also, as you’ll see—it includes a hotel stay on the 4th night in the Aguas Calientes area—so that obviously adds to the cost (they let you choose from a variety of places).
Also included in the price was a porter to carry 10 kilos for each person, a Northface sleeping bag and liner, and a hiking pole for each person (my husband and I brought our own so that we would each have two poles).

So here was our experience:

2 DAYS BEFORE: Our guide came to our hotel in Cusco for a pre-departure meeting. His name was Juan Luis—but he said everyone called him Lobo. He turned out to be a fantastic guide—we were very lucky to have him. He gave us our duffles and sleeping bags along with a scale so that we could make sure we didn’t go over the weight limit.

DAY 1:
We were picked up from our Cusco Hotel and proceeded down to the Sacred Valley where we met up with the family of 4 that was to be the other half of our trekking group. They were from Germany—and their two daughters were 9 and 15 years old. They were a fun group to be with—they had lots of stories about their previous family camping trips in Africa, etc. Anyway, we all gathered at kilometer 82 to give our duffles to the porters.

The Day 1 hike was fairly easy. We walked the 8 miles (approx.) to Wayllabamba campsite—stopping at the little huts along the way to buy Gatorade or water. Children along the trail would run out to meet Lobo. They all knew him—and he’d pick them up and talk to them all. I think he missed his 5 year-old son back in Cusco. The cook created wonderful food at lunch and dinner--and a lovely tea-time after we got to camp. We all went to bed at around 8:30 p.m.—the next day would be our hardest.

to be continued . . .
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Old Aug 15th, 2010, 07:05 PM
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Excellent idea! I am sure it will be very helpful to others.
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Old Aug 16th, 2010, 09:47 AM
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DAY 2:

We woke up bright and early, with the porters just outside our tent flap offering us hot coca tea. Then after a big breakfast, and after being introduced to all the porters , we set off up the trail. Most of the morning we hiked up, up, up through trees. Very pretty. Huge steps. It was very slow going. We arrived at Llulluchapampa (12,600 feet) for our lunch break, and were happy to relax with a cup of tea in the chairs that the porters had set out for us. This was a very dramatic lunch spot--a flat sort of plain, so high up in the Andes, with views all around.

We wondered where the other family was, because we’d thought they were right behind us. It turned out that several of them had been hit with altitude sickness. When they arrived at camp, only the 9-year old seemed in good spirits. The mom seemed to be feeling really bad. It was a testament to her strength that she managed to keep going through the rest of the day. We think that they may not have spent enough time acclimating. They had been in Cusco for 3 days, but not for a continuous stay (they’d spent 2 days in Cusco, but then gone down to the jungle for a whole week. Then they spent one night in Cusco, but went down to the Sacred Valley for their final night before the hike).

After lunch we all started the final climb up to Dead Woman’s Pass. This was truly beautiful. We had wonderful weather and the sun was glinting off the yellow grasses. The snow capped peaks gleamed against the blue sky. Clouds billowed and hung over some of the highest peaks. I think that my hiking poles made all the difference for me—when a truly huge step loomed, I would use them to sort of lever myself up. Saved the thigh muscles (and knees)!! (My husband managed to do most of the uphill without the poles—he only used them for the downhill.) My son-in-law passed out coca leaves to our porters as they passed us on this steep leg of the journey—they were all very appreciative. We waited just below the pass for the rest of the group and took a nice group picture at the top of the pass (with all of us giving the “V” for “victory” sign).

Then came the steep hike down to our campsite at Pacamayo. This portion of the hike was very pretty in the waning sunlight—but, again—unbelievably steep. My son-in-law used his hiking poles in such a way that made it look like he was slaloming down the steep stairs. As he sped down through the golden grass he looked like he was actually on skis! I did the exact opposite--I purposely went very very slowly. I was hoping that if I was careful, I wouldn’t get the sore muscles that downhills can create (and happily, it seemed to work!!).

Some of the Inca Trail versions do not camp at Pacamayo—instead, they climb up over the next pass. I think that for us, stopping here, probably helped save our energy (and muscles) for the next day! Pacamayo is in a dark valley—not my favorite campsite. But, it felt so good to clean up after the long day and have tea and popcorn in the dining tent, that it didn’t really matter. Early bedtime again—tomorrow was to be a wonderful day!

TO BE CONTINUED . . .
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Old Aug 16th, 2010, 02:43 PM
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I did the 4 day hike in 2008, it was fantastic.

Great so far, keep it coming.
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Old Aug 16th, 2010, 04:51 PM
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DAY 3:

This was such a beautiful day. We immediately took off to hike up over Runkuraqay Pass. Steep again—but a much shorter climb than yesterday. We were so lucky with the weather. Our guide was taking pictures with his phone—because he says he rarely gets to see the views (it’s often fogged in). We passed several sets of ruins and headed into the cloud forest—finding orchids for the first time. Our camp this day was at the 3rd pass—Phuyupatamarka. For our entire family this was our very favorite campsite. And for some of us, it was the highlight of the entire trip to Peru (seriously). We were so high up. And we got there early enough to watch as the sun set with the snow-capped Andes all around us. We felt like we were at the top of the world as Andean eagles swooped beneath us. Our tents were perched on a high platform (and the toilet tent was on another)—amazing, but a bit tricky! This evening, the cook made a wonderful pasta dinner. And then served us “banana flambé” for dessert! This was to be our coldest campsite—but, we were fine in our warm tents and sleeping bags. I could have camped here for several days. Would have liked to just sit and enjoy the view and changing cloud formations. Priceless.

DAY 4:

Up early—we had a huge breakfast, because I think the cook was trying to get rid of all the leftover food. He had even baked a cake that said “Feliz Viaje” (Happy Travels) on it. We had a little meeting where we tipped our porters and cook, and then on to the long downhill to Machu Picchu (I think around 4500 feet in elevation change). This was beautiful. To see orchids and begonias at such high altitudes was amazing. We stopped at the Intipata ruins (which just sort of pops out from the cloud forest) and watched yellow butterflies with iridescent purple tails fly all around us. The view from Intipata was just gorgeous—we could see all across the valley (I think that there are two ways to go through here—and the shorter option does not pass Intipata. We were so glad to see this site. It was very dramatic and all in all, spectacular). Then we made our way on down to Winay Wayna for lunch. Our cook had set up all our plates and things at a table in the lodge, and we had a very nice final lunch on the trail. The place was empty, because it was the middle of the day. (Although, we could still go to the little cantina and buy a soft drink or beer if we wanted).

We continued our walk down to Machu Picchu—and were able to stop and see views of the dam for the Urubamba River and the ruins above it. And more orchids! I got a picture of a huge purple orchid on a long stem, with just sky and the Andes mountains behind it. When we arrived at the Sun Gate, we were the only people there. As we continued down to the famous “photo-op spot”—we saw a few more people—but most of the Machu Picchu tourists had already departed. The place was almost empty, and bathed in golden afternoon light. This was the hardest day for my daughter (she’d broken her little toe a couple of weeks before) –she really had to use her poles to keep the pressure off that toe on the long downhills. It slowed her down, so she didn’t get too far away from me—her loss was my gain, I guess! This was definitely a long protracted downhill—which I found more tiring that the long uphills. After we walked through Machu Picchu, we were ready to shower and relax! We had chosen to stay at the Sanctuary Lodge, because I had anticipated being very tired, and didn’t want to make the bus ride down to Aguas Calientes (and back up in the morning). I don’t want to say anything bad about the Sanctuary—because it was fine. Very nice in fact. It’s just that it is so incredibly expensive. Kind of hard to justify.

DAY 5:

We had agreed to meet our guide outside the hotel at 7:30 a.m. By the time we arrived at breakfast at 6:30 a.m., we could look through the picture window and see that there were hundreds of people lined up to enter Machu Picchu. Anyway, Lobo gave us a wonderful guided tour until around 10:30, and then we had 2 hours to explore on our own (among other things, I went where the llamas were, and tried to get dramatic pictures of them with various views of the ruins behind them).

I have to say, Machu Picchu was very crowded—but, I also have to say that I had been worried that M.P. would be a letdown after seeing so many ruins along the trek. Absolutely not. Machu Picchu is of such a different magnitude compared to the other ruins, that I think seeing all of the others only enhances the experience of finally being at Machu Picchu. It was a gorgeous sunny day—I actually wished we’d had a bit of mist in the morning, because I thought it would add a touch of “mystery”. But, we were very thankful for the exquisite weather—very lucky! We had a final lunch with our group at the Sanctuary Lodge buffet (included)—and then we could either choose to re-enter Machu Picchu or go down to Aguas Calientes. We all thought we’d explored enough—and it was getting rather hot—so we hopped on the bus down the hill. This is where we parted ways, because the other family was taking the train back to Cusco, and we’d decided to stay in Aguas Calientes for 2 more nights to rest and regroup (we checked into the Inkaterra, which turned out to be a relaxing and wonderful stay).

This was a completely unforgettable experience. I had been wanting to do this for years, and it far exceeded my expectations. All four of us will carry a piece of it with us forever. It was magical.

FINAL PIECE OF ADVICE:
The best advice we can give for the Inca Trail is: work out ahead of time! Being in my fifties, and in what I would call “medium” shape, I had been quite worried about completing 4 days of intense hiking. But, everything went beautifully. Of course the hike was difficult, but we were able to enjoy every minute of it. Never even got sore muscles!! We had hiked the Grand Canyon several years ago, and gotten extremely sore muscles. But not on the Inca Trail! We changed two things from our “Grand Canyon” workouts—and I think that made the difference: (1) Carry weight on your back whenever you work out—I kept a 13 pound pack handy, and strapped it on whenever I exercised. (2) Be sure to work out on steps—going BOTH up and DOWN (a step machine won’t do this for you). You get your sorest muscles from the downhills. We are lucky, and have stairs in our house—but you could go work out at a stadium or in the fire escape of a tall building. I think this made all the difference. We didn’t work out like fanatics at all—but what we did really seemed to work. A happy discovery!!
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Old Aug 17th, 2010, 04:11 AM
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Caligirl56,

KUDOS on this excellent trip report (and on faring so well on the hike)! Your TR is one of the best I have ever read - so well written and full of description, reaction, feeling and recommendations. I honestly almost felt as if I were there....but not enough to skip planning a trip (similar, but perhaps a bit less strenuous)in the future.

Many thanks for the time and effort you took to write this. It is greatly appreciated. If only your photos were viewable.

My best,
~MarnieWDC
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Old Aug 17th, 2010, 08:29 AM
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MarnieWDC,
So glad you enjoyed it! I know this will sound a bit silly, but I've never figured out how to share photos over the internet. I make slideshows of our trips, and send the DVD's around to relatives. I've been meaning to look into the whole photo-share thing--if I do, I'll certainly post some!
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Old Aug 17th, 2010, 09:18 AM
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You did it!

If you every get around to the photo sharing thing I like Picasa (by Google) as a good photo editing and sharing website.
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