Inca Trail - Day 1

There were 8 hikers on our tour:

• Luke and Carrie: a couple from England
• Emily, Emelie, and Amy: 3 young women who are friends from England
• Jessica: a woman from Ontario, Canada
• Ash: a man from Newcastle, Australia
• Greg: yours truly (and the lone American)

As Greg predicted, he was the old man for the tour; Luke is about 5 years younger, with the rest in their 20s and 40s. Soon, everyone heard all about Greg’s 40+ marathons, so they figured he would be fit to hike the Inca Trail.

With a group this large, we often divided into different subgroups. One example was for dinner in Ollantaytambo on the night before the start of the hike. The tour did not include dinner, so Luke and Carrie went to a restaurant, while the rest of us walked around the town square looking for a place to eat. We eventually settled on a pub that served food. The three English women were interested in pizza so they each ordered a small Margherita pizza plus a cup of hot chocolate. Due to the language barrier, they pointed at the menu to show the waiter what they wanted. A few minutes later, the waiter returned with three cups of hot chocolate plus three Margaritas in glasses. It took some time to explain to waiter that they ordered Margherita pizzas, not Margaritas. None of us were interested in drinking alcohol the night before the hike, and the waiter was not pleased to be stuck with the drinks. But it led to a few good laughs. The next morning, our tour guide Bryan asked us for a team name. We told him the story of the Margherita pizzas, and so our team became the Spicy Margaritas. (When Amy‘s group heard our story, they decided to call themselves the Pisco Sours).

Next, the bus drove us about 45 minutes to the start of the Inca Trail. The Peruvian government limits the Inca Trail to 500 people per day, including hikers and their guides. More about the guides in a moment. At the start was the first checkpoint, where they verify each passport with the trail reservations. After we passed the checkpoint, we entered a small museum explaining the Inca Trail. In the last room was a 3D relief map. It showed two main hiking trails: the classic Inca Trail, which takes 4 days and crosses the mountains, and a “commercial trail” that follows the river and the railroad; that trail is no longer used. So the classic Inca Trail it was, and we walked out the back door onto the trail!

We traveled during August since this is the dry season. August weather on the Inca Trail is similar to winter in the US Southwest: dry, warm in the afternoons, chilly overnight. We started the hike wearing sweaters, and removed the extra layers when we were moving.

Our tour guide Bryan accurately described the first day as the easy day. We stopped to visit several Inca sites along the trail that were interesting though not as large or as famous as Machu Picchu.

We also hiked past homes and farms in the countryside. At these homes, people often sold snacks or offered the use of toilets for a 1 PEN coin (about $0.30). At one home with a sweeping vista, Greg bought a packaged ice cream sandwich, which hit the spot.

Around midday, we saw our porter Simon waving the purple banner for our tour, letting us know that we reached our lunch break.

So how does the tour work, exactly? Unlike the US or Canada, you cannot just show up at the Inca Trail and start hiking: you must sign up with an organized tour, which secures the permits and makes all arrangements. We signed up for a 7-day tour with G Adventures. They supplied gear plus a large support crew to make the trek as easy as possible. Our team of 8 hikers was supported by a head guide (Bryan), an assistant guide (Carla), a chef (Wenceslao), and a team of 13 porters. In other words, we had 2 support people for every hiker!

The porters setup our campsites and our lunch sites. They cooked and served our meals. They cleaned up and packed everything away. And the porters carried the gear: sleeping tents, sleeping bags, air mattresses, food, cooking gear, a camping stove with fuel, a dining tent with a table and chairs, jugs for drinking water and washing water, plates, cups and dinnerware. Plus duffles with much of our personal items. The porters have superhuman strength: they carry 25 kg packs (55 lbs) on the same trails we hiked, but they blazed past us at every stage. The average age of the porters was roughly the same as Greg, with several that were 10+ years older. And they made it look easy, always with a smile. We were told that G Adventures treats porters better than other companies, such as enforcing lower weight limits for packs. It was hard for us to verify that claim, but we were encouraged when the porters introduced themselves and most said they have worked for the company for 10 years or longer.

When we arrived at our first lunch, we were greeted with warm water to wash up. Inside the dining tent, we sat down to a large meal featuring fried local trout. It was a perfect break along our hike. After we finished, we returned to the hiking trail while the staff packed up the lunch campsite. They passed us along the trail in order to setup our evening campsite.

It got warm during the afternoon, so Greg switched to shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Even with insect repellent, Greg got numerous bug bites on his legs and one on the back of his right hand. Unfortunately, Greg developed an allergic reaction to the one on his hand, which swelled up and turned red. Fortunately, Greg’s tent-mate Ash is a nurse in Australia, and he gave Greg advice plus a pill that reduced the swelling. This was Greg’s first problem of the trip, but not the last.

We reached a small farm where the porters setup the dining tent and our sleeping tents. They also had our duffel bags with the items they carried for us. They served tea and crackers around 5pm, followed by dinner at 6pm. The sun set as we ate dinner, and we went to bed soon afterwards. We were the only tour at this campsite, and we had a lovely view of the mountains and the night sky. It was a perfect end to our first day of hiking.

Statistics

Distance: 11 km / 6.8 mi
Elevation gain: 387 m / 1269 ft