Inca Trail Blogs

[TravelFun]

in fact I'm the family guinea pig so I can tell the others what to expect.

Make sure the Peruvians don't eat you

[want_to_travel]

Good point - I walked into that one

[markmol]

Hi WTT,

I did the inca trail last year aged 52, i also am bound to a desk all day & live in Perth Australia, which is at sea level so no training at altitude possible. i trained on stairs & my push bike to build my cardo, yes it was tough on day 2 & going down the stairs but walk at your own pace, at times i walked 20 to 30 steps & had to stop, but the view from the sun gate on day 4 is all worth the effort, you can not get this veiw & satisfaction catching the train. enjoy

[IncaTrail50]

Thanks for mentioning me, Graybeard! I thought I'd weigh in here too. I even chose my Watering Hole name based on that first trip with G Adventures! Yes, my husband and I hiked the Inca Trail for our 50th birthdays, along with our daughter. They are both very athletic, I was far from that. Probably some 30 pounds overweight, never did anything even remotely athletic and fully expected to get sent back on Day 1, as I'd heard many others had been. However, much to my surprise the guides were wonderfully encouraging and reminded me to take my time when I struggled (an hour into the hike I'm embarrassed to say, yikes!). I was always last but one of the guides stayed with me and whenever I stopped and gasped and wheezed they would chat to me about the surrounding hills and vegetation. They insisted that I would never finish if I tried to keep pace with the others, I would wear myself out and have to quit. They said I was to make it my hike at my pace. On Day 2 the rest of the group got to Dead Woman's Pass about 35-40 minutes ahead of me and the guide said they wouldn't be able to wait because it was too cold. Well, the whole group waited for me and I climbed the last 30 metres crying my eyes out to be part of something actually ATHLETIC! It was a bit drizzly coming down from the pass and I slipped on the stairs and crunched my hip. I had a giant bruise for weeks after and couldn't sit straight. My knees took four months to fully recover. I was nauseous from the days of extreme exertion and hardly ate although I thought the food was delicious.
I WOULDN'T TRADE ONE MINUTE OF IT! It was the best feeling in the world. As I walked through the trail I told myself I was seeing things accessible only by foot, doing something even my fittest friends lacked the courage to attempt. It is such a beautiful place, the scenery changes dramatically as you go along.
In fact, it spurred me to join a gym on my return, lose weight, and since then my husband and I have added hiking to our vacation activities. It was almost five years ago and although we've been many spectacular places since it ranks as our #1.
HIKE THE TRAIL!
Kim

Here's a link to some of my Peru pics:
http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pict ... el&album=8
And another challenging, awesome hike to the Wave in Arizona:
http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pict ... album=1634

[want_to_travel]

Thank you all for your thoughtful replies and pictures. I really loved the pictures of the hike start to finish. I appreciate your honesty and descriptiveness Kim. All of your advice will help me prepare both mentally and physically. I lost 30 pounds last year in preparation and this year fitness is the goal. I did think I was in half decent shape (although not Inca trail shape) until I went to a personal trainer the other day. If he doesn't kill me by May I know I will be in much better shape. . It will be one or the other.

I googled my altitude for fun and I'm 255m above sea level (about what I expected). I live in a small town without high buildings (but we do have a lot of hills) so I'll have to figure out what to do about stairs.

Thanks again for sharing.

[IncaTrail50]

I googled my altitude for fun and I'm 255m above sea level (about what I expected). I live in a small town without high buildings (but we do have a lot of hills) so I'll have to figure out what to do about stairs.

We might be neighbours, that sounds about where I live too! I didn't do much stair-work before I went, it started to scare me so I stopped I did a lot of hiking on the trails around my house but I also went in May so the weather wasn't great for being outdoors until about 6 weeks before we left. Determination is a big factor in this. The "wow" factor of the views also helps. When it got really tough I'd look around and think "I'm really here, I'm really hiking the Inca Trail". We had very good weather, only a little drizzly rain coming down from Dead Woman's Pass on Day 2, and overnight that night. Otherwise, brilliant sunshine the whole four days, hence the big floppy old lady I hat I was wearing
Enjoy!

[want_to_travel]

I just looked at your location and realize we practically ARE neighbours . I'm just outside of Stratford and I come to Alberton a couple of times a year to train my dogs.

[IncaTrail50]

I just looked at your location and realize we practically ARE neighbours . I'm just outside of Stratford and I come to Alberton a couple of times a year to train my dogs.

That's too funny! I'm in Stratford a few times a year to attend the Shakespeare Festival and wander around feeding the swans. It's a very small world!

[Janice08]

I read the above comments with interest. I did the Inca Trail last September. I was the oldest in our group of 8 but didn't have any trouble keeping up with the "slower" half. (No one could keep up with Peter!) I'm in my late 40's, 20 pounds overweight and not very athletic. I do a lot of walking but mostly on level ground. I didn't find the hike overly strenuous - I just kept going at my own pace. We were on the Peru Panoroma so by the time we started the hike we had been at altitude for about 1 week. I'm sure that helped. I also live at 4,300 feet elevation and have experience in the mountains. One of our group did it with food poisoning from the chicken she ate the night before we left. She doesnt' remember much of the first day and lost a lot of weight but at the end said it was worth it.

The things that might slow you down are:
- altitude sickness - take medication if you travel doc recommends it and drink lots of coca tea
- bad knees - as others have said, there are lots of stairs. Rent or bring 2 trecking poles. If you have access to some before you leave, practice walking with them as it takes some practic before you realize how much they can actually help you. Wear shoes with good support including ankle support if your ankles tend to turn. They don't need to be heavy duty hiking boots. There is a good selection of light weight hiking boots out there. Good soles that grip on rock is also essential. Have them with you on your flight over. You can replace everything else if your luggage gets lost but good broken in footwear is priceless on a long hike.
- "stomach troubles" - use common sense before the hike and your chances of getting sick are less. As someone else said, bring medication just in case. Cipro is the most often prescribed medication
- being afraid of heights - some parts of the trail have steep drop offs but if you can handle that, the views are phenominal.

The second day has the most up hill (3,000 feet up and about 1,000 feet down). We started early and didn't stop for lunch until the end but made it to the next campsite in about 6 1/2 hours. Some others have reported taking 10 to 12 hours. We weren't rushed and took plenty of breaks. The weather was cool that day which helped. The last day we were at Machu Pichu before 8:00 a.m. (started hiking at 5:30 when the checkpoint opened - went fast to the Sun Gate and then meandered down to the site.)

My advice would be to go for it. Follow the suggestions above and those from others. One other thing is to not carry too much in your daypack. The porters carry 6 kg of your own stuff (Sleeping bag, thermarest, and supplied duffle bag come to about 3 kg). If you pack carefully, everything you don't want with you during the day should fit in the bag. You day pack should only have - water, camera, snacks, small first aid kit, extra sweater, raingear, passport. Leave the heavy stuff behind. Bring sweaters/fleeces that can be layered under a waterproof jacket instead of an insulated jacket. If you are travelling with someone else you can share things like your first aid kit and toothpaste, to name a few.

[poplyric]

I too have wondered at 51 if I should take the train or hike . but by the sounds of it the Trail is a Bucket list thing , my advice is do the Nikey Thing "JUST DO IT " , the only thing that concerns me is getting stomach sick, after going to a Travel Doctor they Thoroughly explained the Stomach sickness that I Might come in contact with , I to will be taking Cipro , you might look into Dukoral also , as suggested by the Doc. as an ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure, As other bloggers say I also dont like to many Drugs in my system, but as your 4 days away from a real bed , that seams to be the only thing that concerns me.
There is another Gap traveler that has lots of pics of the trail you might want to check out
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=13639
there is three links at the bottom of that link that shows lots of pics
Good luck and please tell US how it was

[want_to_travel]

Well I'm back. I have only one word for the trek AMAZING. First of all I'll admit that this really wasn't something on my bucket list. I have an appreciation for ancient civilizations but not a passion for them as some do. I just like holidays where I get to DO something. I'm so glad I did it. I didn't find it as difficult as I had feared and I enjoyed every moment (well except for the night time potty breaks). We had gone to Lake Titicaca first and had spent five days at altitude before hiking. I think nearly all of our group had some altitude issues during those first few days and those I talked to on the train on the way down who had gone straight from Cusco seemed to have had a harder time then our group so I think those days made a tremendous difference for me at least. I did have a headache for three days prior to hiking and an upset stomach for one. Also my trainer did a good job with me during the four months prior to the hike. I was lucky to find someone in my group with the same hiking pace as me so I had a partner for most of the hike. I would say to anyone my age considering it -Do It! Macchu Picchu was somewhat anticlimactic after the experience of the hike (although still amazing). My son and I both ended up taking Immodium and Cipro the night before hiking and he didn't eat anything the first day. For that reason he found day 1 as hard as day 2 (although he was always with the lead group so he wasn't feeling too badly). I felt fine by the time we started hiking and I can honestly say I enjoyed every step of it - even the last slog up Dead Woman's pass. It was just so amazing to be there hiking with such an awesome, positive group of people.

To all that suggested that I get hiking poles - I will buy you a drink if we ever meet in person because I think they made an incredible difference . My knees were sore after day three and also by the time we got to Macchu Picchu but had pretty much recovered by the time we got back to Cusco. My husband still has one knee that is fairly sore. I didn't do any stair climbing in training because I decided I didn't want to wear out the joints (and it's boring) but I did countless lunges and squats to build up the muscle.

Thank you all for the advice and encouragement. I am working on a blog so that I can hopefully encourage someone else who is considering it.

[collywobbles]

hiya want to travel

Just read your post on your travels to Peru and the Inca trail so glad you did it and loved it it was tough and as i posted previously its hard on the knees . i found the 3rd day quiet hard but i am so glad i did it and rank it as one of my favourite trips . I hope you will post some photos I would love to see them. as yuo are now at home recovering next stop is where to go on your next trip haha

cheers

[leahlovestravel]

Thanks for posting! I'm flying out tomorrow and am glad know how it went for you. This is way out of my comfort zone and I'm a wee bit nervous..haha! But you only grow as a person by stretching your boundaries, right? So here I go!

[want_to_travel]

Leah I'm sure you will have the best time ever! It was out of my comfort zone too and I'm so glad I did it. Honestly I'd do it again this week (although I suspect my knees would complain long before day three). One week back and I ran in a three day agility trial with my dog without even a twinge from my knees.

collywobbles I'm afraid to plan my next trip for fear it couldn't possibly compare

[want_to_travel]

Here are some of my pictures of our holiday. If you haven't already done the trip I wouldn't click the link - just more "Wow" factor when you get there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/87691698@N ... 927585500/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/87691698@N ... 932122854/