Kristina

Thanks for this report. Like Kathie, I'm happy you did the Inca trail and not me. There was a time when I would have done it (and I once did an 11 day trek in Nepal!) but now, no, not so much.
I'll be in Peru in April for only a week, so my justification for not doing the trek is "lack of time".
If you can make it to Nepal, I highly recommend it. It's a magical place.

colduphere

Thanks for the encouragement Kristina. Nepal does sound magical. An 11 day trek would be ideal, unless my wife spots a leech. Enjoy Peru.

Grindeldoo - "A retirement/65th birthday present to me from me." Great idea and what a great thing to do. Your mention of the cloud forest reminds me of one spot in particular. I can see it like it was yesterday. In a way the memories are a form of meditation, not something I thought I would ever say about anything.

kej8166

I have read your blog, and yes, you have scared me, but not to the point that I won't do it. My daughter and I are going to Peru this May 2015, (smilar age as your wife and daughter) and will be using Alpaca, as you recommended. The young lady, whom I believe has stolen Raul heart, has been great. I do have a question for you? If you are doing the Inca trail and Cuzco at the beinging, what would you recommned for the next couple of days?

Your fellow Canadian,
S

colduphere

Hello S. Sorry I missed this thread for a few days. You will have a terrific time. Sorry but I can't tell if you mean the couple of days before you hike the Inca Trail or the days after you do it?

kej8166

It was after. I think that we will do the Path to Sungate 7 dyas, which includes the hike and Scared Valley, but afterwards, we have about 3 dyas extra.

colduphere

Well I can only comment on what we did which was to take the bus to Puno and then fly to Lima. That was fun for us. Though we also took a day to rest in Cuzco after the hike (except I think that was the day we went bike riding). You may want to sit around doing not much for a day.

Others hopefully will comment. We also spent two days in Lima. It depends on your interests but we always enjoy seeing the major city of a country.

kej8166

Hello again. We have booked our trip and are ready to go in May. Any suggestions on footwear, as in should we get hiking boots for the trail and any recommendations?

colduphere

If I had to do it again I would not wear full hiking boots. Every ounce you can save helps mentally if not physically. I would wear either low or medium cut.

The other thing I would improve on with our own planning would be to know in advance whether we were relying on a waterproof shell or jacket as the outside layer for the wind/rain, or rather simply using a poncho. The others found ponchos fine. Mine was blowing all over the place and I finally gave up on it. Your May weather should be better than our January weather, though ours wasn't bad.

sf7307

I wore low hiking boots, which I have since replaced because my feet were really not happy by the end of our 6-day trek (they had never given me a moment's trouble previously, but then I had never hiked for 6 consecutive days previously either). I've since replaced them with low, light-weight hiking boots, which would be all I would take next time. What I found indispensable were my trekking poles. I did rely on a waterproof jacket rather than a poncho, but the poncho has one advantage, in that you can throw it on OVER your backpack.

sf7307

BTW, next week were having a reunion of our Salkantay trekking tour - a 10 mile hike and dinner at one of group's homes. It's just that kind of trip - you really bond with the people you're with almost nonstop for a week.

colduphere

We'd love to do that but we're in four countries. The guy we really miss just graduated from Berkeley. Incredible young man.

Fodorite018

Colduphere--I was told to read this thread, as my DH will be hiking the trail in a couple months. It is a guys trip, and I am so envious! So we might do it as a family when our DS graduates from college. So far I just skimmed the thread, but need to sit down and really read it and sent it to DH for anything that may help them in their plans. Even though I have only skimmed so far, it sounds like a fabulous trip! I just booked DH's ticket today.

colduphere

Hi Mms. Three years ago next week we left. Your husband will find the hike pretty easy given everything else he does. And he clearly is not afraid of heights so there goes that angle.

I really cannot imagine a better family trip. But now having done it with the family I cannot imagine a better trip than doing it with the guys! That would be so much fun. We were told to go easy on the alcohol in Cuzco before starting the hike. If we did it again I think we would have a few more than we did.

colduphere

Ps - I think you would love the Besseggen (Norway) and Fimmvörðuháls (Iceland) hikes I wrote another trip report about. We may go back to Iceland and do a longer hike in the same area.

incapathperu

very good contac us. incapathperu.com

sf7307

cold, could you post a link to the threads about the other hikes -- we're looking for our next one, probably in 2016.

colduphere

Sf7307 - please excuse the storytelling:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...of-heights.cfm

There is a longer hike in Iceland that I will post a link to later today.

colduphere

Our three hikes in Norway were day hikes, though the Besseggen was a long one. But you can easily link day hikes together while staying in cabins or your own tent overnight.

This is one link for hiking in the Besseggen area:

http://www.visitnorway.com/us/where-...national-park/

This is someone else's trip report from Iceland. Basically we did days 5.5, 6 and 7 of his trip and would like to return to do the first five days (which constitute probably the most popular hike in Iceland. Incredible scenery).

http://www.alexnail.com/blog/trip-re...egur-days-1-3/

http://www.alexnail.com/blog/trip-re...vorduhals-4-8/

sf7307

Thank you! We're not inclined to camp/tent, but any kind of regular structure will do (It doesn't have to be as nice as the lodges we stayed in in Peru, although it would sure be nice if they were!)

Fodorite018

cold--Thank you! DS will be doing a study abroad in Denmark soon, so the other tips are great for him. Yeah, DH is a mountain climber and is actually doing this guys trip with a bunch of astronauts, so it is a bunch of very adventuresome guys. They are already planning their next trip