I thought long and hard about how to describe the Inca Trail and finally decided that I can´t. It was incredibly challenging, but extremely rewarding. It was dirty, yet also breathtakingly beautiful. It was, like I had always suspected it would be, the highlight of our world trip. The only word that does it justice is epic. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
I do wish to mention Peru Treks & Adventure, whom I would highly recommend for the Inca Trail. The people at Peru Treks & Adventure really go above and beyond, for example: our guide Edwin let me borrow his professional walking stick when we had to hike down 1,000 Inca steps, our assistant guides Jimmy and Martin massaged our battered knees, while our porters woke us every morning with tent service, which means that they gently woke us before handing us a cup of maté de coca. Our porters also fed us 3-course meals 3 times a day (including a freshly baked birthday cake of which we still haven´t figured out how it was made without an oven) and carried all of our stuff up and down the steep Andean mountains. While we could barely take a step, these porters would wear up to 26 kilos on their backs and ran (they RAN!) past us, yet they would always welcome us at the campsite with applause, like it was us who were the impressive ones. Peru Treks & Adventure is one of the few companies in Cuzco who do not exploit their porters and offer them fair wages - often we would see porters from other companies who would have to carry more than 35 kilos on their backs. Think about it.
DAY 1: Cuzco to Wayllabamba, or: 'Hiking the Inca Trail is not about age, fitness or experience - it´s about mental strength.'
Length of hike: 12 kilometers.
KM 82, the start of the Inca Trail
Llactapata
Wayllabamba
DAY 2: Wayllabamba to Pacamayo, or: 'Please hike to the top of that 4200-meter pass. You have 6 hours.'
Length of hike: 12 kilometers.
Tres Piedras (Three Stones)
Llulluchapampa
Abra de Huarmihuañusca (Dead Woman´s Pass)
Abra de Huarmihuañusca (Dead Woman´s Pass)
Abra de Huarmihuañusca (Dead Woman´s Pass)
Pacamayo
DAY 3: Pacamayo to Wiñay Wayna, or: 'You have 3 hours to climb down these 1,000 Inca steps. Please watch your knees.'
Length of hike: 15 kilometers.
Pacamayo
Pacamayo
Pacamayo
Runkaracay
Sayacmarca
Inca tunnel
cloud forest
Wiñay Wayna
DAY 4: Wiñay Wayna to Machu Picchu, or: 'You will never truly appreciate Machu Picchu by taking the easy way out. Hiking the Inca Trail is like a pilgrimage - the journey is as important as the destination. Only by doing the necessary rough work you can start to really understand how special it is.'
Intipunku (Sun Gate)
Intipunku (Sun Gate)
Machu Picchu
Aguas Calientes
"We had been hiking for days on the Inca Trail. The journey itself had been so incredible that I had almost forgotten where the trail led. On the final day, we began at the break of dawn to catch a glimpse as the sun rose. Finally, there it was: Machu Picchu. I had seen hundreds of photographs but none could do it justice. It was pure magic to see it in person."
- Karlee Palms (Lonely Planet´s South America on a Shoestring: Big Trips on Small Budgets, 11th Edition)
If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!
I do wish to mention Peru Treks & Adventure, whom I would highly recommend for the Inca Trail. The people at Peru Treks & Adventure really go above and beyond, for example: our guide Edwin let me borrow his professional walking stick when we had to hike down 1,000 Inca steps, our assistant guides Jimmy and Martin massaged our battered knees, while our porters woke us every morning with tent service, which means that they gently woke us before handing us a cup of maté de coca. Our porters also fed us 3-course meals 3 times a day (including a freshly baked birthday cake of which we still haven´t figured out how it was made without an oven) and carried all of our stuff up and down the steep Andean mountains. While we could barely take a step, these porters would wear up to 26 kilos on their backs and ran (they RAN!) past us, yet they would always welcome us at the campsite with applause, like it was us who were the impressive ones. Peru Treks & Adventure is one of the few companies in Cuzco who do not exploit their porters and offer them fair wages - often we would see porters from other companies who would have to carry more than 35 kilos on their backs. Think about it.
DAY 1: Cuzco to Wayllabamba, or: 'Hiking the Inca Trail is not about age, fitness or experience - it´s about mental strength.'
Length of hike: 12 kilometers.
KM 82, the start of the Inca Trail
Llactapata
Wayllabamba
DAY 2: Wayllabamba to Pacamayo, or: 'Please hike to the top of that 4200-meter pass. You have 6 hours.'
Length of hike: 12 kilometers.
Tres Piedras (Three Stones)
Llulluchapampa
Abra de Huarmihuañusca (Dead Woman´s Pass)
Abra de Huarmihuañusca (Dead Woman´s Pass)
Abra de Huarmihuañusca (Dead Woman´s Pass)
Pacamayo
DAY 3: Pacamayo to Wiñay Wayna, or: 'You have 3 hours to climb down these 1,000 Inca steps. Please watch your knees.'
Length of hike: 15 kilometers.
Pacamayo
Pacamayo
Pacamayo
Runkaracay
Sayacmarca
Inca tunnel
cloud forest
Wiñay Wayna
DAY 4: Wiñay Wayna to Machu Picchu, or: 'You will never truly appreciate Machu Picchu by taking the easy way out. Hiking the Inca Trail is like a pilgrimage - the journey is as important as the destination. Only by doing the necessary rough work you can start to really understand how special it is.'
Intipunku (Sun Gate)
Intipunku (Sun Gate)
Machu Picchu
Aguas Calientes
"We had been hiking for days on the Inca Trail. The journey itself had been so incredible that I had almost forgotten where the trail led. On the final day, we began at the break of dawn to catch a glimpse as the sun rose. Finally, there it was: Machu Picchu. I had seen hundreds of photographs but none could do it justice. It was pure magic to see it in person."
- Karlee Palms (Lonely Planet´s South America on a Shoestring: Big Trips on Small Budgets, 11th Edition)
If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!
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