How to pack for 14 days in Peru in July including Inca Trail

[cfine]

Reading that we need a backpack and a daypack. Assuming we need a sleeping bag for the trail, can anyone recommend the bag sizes you would recommend? Also - I assume a camera bag will be needed in addition to the daypack for quick access to gear.

Thanks

C and R (Toronto)

[markmol]

Hi,
you will leave your backpack at the hotel in Cuzco & be given a bag in which you put your sleeping bag, change of clothes etc. The total weight in this bag is 6 kg, they will weigh this before you leave. The porters carry this bag & in your daypack you carry what you need for the day, water, camera gear, rain jacket, toilet paper & snacks. I carried a point & shoot camera in my pocket for quick access, saved unpacking my good camera from my daypack for a quick snap.

[ballu]

You will need a sleeping bag. You can easily rent one in Cusco if you don't want to haul one around for your whole trip.

And I second what markmol says. Luggage gets left in Cusco, you are given a duffle bag to pack for the trail. The bag is just big enough so it would be difficult to get over your weight limit. You'll carry what you need for the day in your daypack.

[cfine]

So what size bags do people recommend? 65 litre? 50 litre? 70 litre? Also for the day pack.

Thanks

Corby

[IncaTrail50]

When we went my husband and I took small backpacks and carry-on bags only. Our daughter took a medium-size backpack with a detachable daypack. Sorry I have no idea as to the actual litre size. As has been mentioned, for the Inca Trail your main backpack/luggage stays at the hotel and you are given a duffel bag into which you can put 6kg of weight, including your sleeping bag. The size depends on how much you think you need to bring. You can bring a monstrously huge daypack if you need tons of stuff as long as you understand that you have to carry it! The porters will carry only your 6kg duffel bag. The daypack holds everything you need between when you leave camp in the morning and when you arrive later that day/night. We all kept our cameras in our daypacks or in our hands, no separate camera bag. You need very little by way of clothing, two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, two or three shirts, nothing excessive for the hike. Your daypack needs to hold layers, a sweater, rainjacket, gloves, hat, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, sunblock, camera, batteries, and water. I'm attaching a couple of pics of our duffels , daypacks, and the carry-on luggage that brought our extra clothing. We travel very light! That size daypack and carry-on is what we use for every trip regardless of the length of our stay! Enjoy, we loved the Inca Trail

Duffels.jpg (168.2 KiB) Viewed 340 times

Inca Daypacks.jpg (250.45 KiB) Viewed 340 times