On the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu - Day 1

In the morning we drove in a van for about 45 minutes from Ollantaytambo to the start of the Inca Trail.  There we rendezvous with our porters for the first time.  There were 10 of us hikers plus two guides.  There were 14 porters, including the chef, to support us.  They have various duties: carrying our extra baggage, setting up and breaking camp, cleaning, etc, anything that makes our hike as easy and comfortable as possible.  And, of course, the most important duty of all, carrying our extra luggage.  As the hike progresses, I saw how hard they work and appreciate them even more.  I have done a lot of hiking and camping but never before had I have a team to take care of us.  What a privilege.

Map showing the route and ruins that we'll be passing through

Instructions on what to bring

Coca Leaves to give us energy on the hike

Our rendezvous spot with the porters

Our porters packing and getting our stuff ready

My Official Permit for the hike

At our rendezvous spot, we gave them our duffel bags so that they can repack them with other things they have to carry.  They carry EVERYTHING that's needed on the hike:  tables and chairs, pots and pans, tents, food, toilet paper, soap, etc.  They have done this many times so I assume they have their list of things to bring.

When everyone is ready, the porters start on their journeys first.  They have to be ahead of us to make lunch and set up camp for us.  For us hikers, we walk about 100m to the first checkpoint.  The Peru government is now controlling access to the trail because of past abuses and overuse.  I understand that only 500 hikers a day are allowed on the trail to minimize damage.  I am glad they are doing this because they need to preserve history and a national treasure.  For us, our tour company, Tucan Travel, applied the permits for us when we first signed up for the tour.  At the checkpoint our permits were checked against our passport.  Further on, there will be other checkpoints.

Getting our documents checked

A team photo before the hike

Approaching the first control station

At our first break

Starting the hike with a beautiful view of the valley

Here comes our porters with their 25kg load

On the first day of the hike we passed through areas where there are still people living there.  The locals sell drinks, food and snacks.  At about 2pm we stopped for lunch.  Our porters had already started preparing.  They set up a big tent that's to be our dining room.  They provided basins for us to wash our hands.  Not only that, the lunch was good and generous.  If that is not challenging enough, in our group of ten, there was a couple who are vegans and one who needs gluten-free meals.  Desserts and hot-drinks are also provided after the meals.  When we finished, the porters collect our dishes and wash them, just like in a restaurant.  I've never been so spoiled in any of my camping trips.

Getting ready for lunch in our "dining room."  Our 2nd guide, Guillermo is on the left

A delicious and generous lunch

One of the named areas we hike through

With this kind of food, this is not camping

Washing hands before lunch

At about 4:30pm we reached our first camp site for the day.  It is next to a couple of buildings belonging to a family.  We used their restaurant as our dining room and bought water from the owner. Fearing that I will run out of battery on my phone, I had my phone charged for 5 soles.  We also have to pay 1 sole to use their bathroom, which is really a squat toilet.  It smelled so bad that the ladies refused to use it.  Our tents were all set up for us and we found our duffel bags in our tent.  By about 8pm we were all finished with dinner and there was nothing else to do.  Some of us went to bed right away.  I tried to read in the dining room.  After a while I was politely told that the porters needed to go to sleep.  They slept on pads laid down on the floor.  I had a pad plus a thin air-mattress AND a sleeping bag.  As always, it took me a while to fall asleep but even though it was not a full day, it was a tiring day.

Our campsite for the first day

A group of happy campers