Inca Trail Packing Tips
 

My husband and I are doing a 4D 3N Inca Trail hike in late April. Those who have made the trek before, what did you wish you had along and did not, or what would you have left behind at home? We have the standard recommended list from our tour company but we're just looking for any additional insider tips.

You are going to love it. HIkied last year with husband and two daughters 11 and 14 who were among the few kids on the trail but did amazing. First off bring lots of gallon zip lock bags and label one sleep stuff so you can keep that seperate. We took 200 weight fleece, 2 middle weight capilene shirts, light weight waterproof jacket or poncho, 3 wool socks, 2 hiking pants,3 underwear, and under armour pants to sleep in, fleece hat and gloves. Saw some people with zip off pants but not too may zipped them off as they are pretty light weight any way.
also took sunscreen, blister stuff, antibiotics, antidiarrheal, and travel toothbrushes. NO problem with water- either able to buy or our group boiled it.

Head-lamp flashlights are very helpful for hiking in the dark (eg on last day) and finding stuff in your tent. Also bring several ponchos - they tear easily. The rain we had required more than a waterproof jacket; ponchos will cover your backpack

Enjoy!

Thank you for your responses this is so helpful!

We wished we had brought some sort of travel pillow. In trying to keep the weight down, I just brought pillowcases that we stuffed our fleece tops into - LUMPY! Would have thought the fleece would bunch up nice and soft, but it didn't.

When you arrive in Peru, you will see zillions of places to buy those nifty woolen Peruvian caps and knitted gloves. They are lovely souvenirs and cost very little $$.

I really like that pillow idea! did anyone try the coca leaves which are supposed to help with altitude sickness? Do they work? Are they safe to consume?

We didn't bring cocoa leaves, but we brought cocoa sweets. Don't know if they helped or not but we didn't suffer any ill effects from the altitude in any case!

Baby wipes were an essential for me, as was gel hand disinfectant.

I bought a poncho at the start of the trail but didn't use it apart from a few hours on day 1, but it annoyed me, so I just stuck to my light rain jacket that I had brought. (however we didn't carry our own bags - we hired a porter so our bags stayed dry - if you are carrying your own bags a poncho would be a better idea).

Bring as many layers as you can for night time - I was freezing and couldn't sleep properly. In fact in hindsight I wish I had brought a hot water bottle - I'm sure if you ask nicely the porters would fill it for you with boiling water.

I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time! Enjoy.

We had the coca leaf tea available whenever we wanted. It did seem to help the headache a bit, although we felt great after 2 days in Cusco. It tastes like herb tea, kinda mild, not a lot of flavor. There were no scary effects!

Ditto the baby wipes. We had hot basins of water brought to our tents morning and evening, and you can get pretty clean. Don't forget a small camp towel.

We were plenty warm but sleep was tough because we weren't real level and kept slipping off of the sleeping pad. Plus our lumpy "pillows"!

Hi. Remember to take a warm fleece jacket or down sweater, warm hat and warm gloves. Have fun.

Andy Crisconi
One World Trekking