The Inca Trail

If you've googled INCA TRAIL, then you're contemplating the trip. Let me just say DO IT!! There isn't a blog, photo, or video that can explain the experience. You just gotta do it! It is an experience of a lifetime and one you'll never forget....

The Trekking Tour Company we used and loved was Wayki Trek. They were fabulous, and I highly recommend them.

I have compiled my own list of thoughts for anyone thinking about going...

1. Expect the trail to be more of everything than you're imagining. More amazing, more difficult, more scenic, more rewarding. Day one you see a lot of locals, animals, and villages along the way. You don't actually get to the official Inca Trail until the second half of day two. This first trail is muddy and pretty level. Enjoy it while it lasts, but be prepared to get messy.

2. Make sure your toenails are trimmed short. The third day is all down-hill and your feet are pounded into the toes of your shoes for 10 full hours. Speaking of which, be prepared for going down to be MUCH harder than going up.

3. Medicine. Whatever you do, take Diamox for altitude sickness. The side effects kind of stink, but they are much better than altitude sickness, which many, many people get. We saw a lot of miserable people, who were not taking altitude meds. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't ruin your trip by NOT taking Diamox. Coca tea is also a natural fix for altitude sickness and is pushed hard by the locals. Our hotel in Cusco had a cocoa tea station, and every morning during the Trek, the porters would wake us bright and early by asking "Coca Tea anyone?". We forced ourselves to drink as much as we could, but it was not all that tasty, quite bitter actually. My 18 year old wouldn't touch it, and the 14 year old would sip just one or two drops. If you can get it down, drink it. I really think the locals know what they're talking about.

4. The overnight tents are small. Be organized with what you need and where it is. Your headlamp will come in very handy every morning and night.

5. Meeting others. You will see other groups along the trail as you go. We met so many interesting people, which was half the fun for us. Take time to visit and enjoy the company of other trekkers, and who knows, maybe they'll help encourage you along those toughest parts as they did for us!

1. Always plan for more water than you think you'll need.

Our porters would boil and bring us water every morning, but they would ask how many liters we wanted the night before. Prepare for more than what you think you'll need, as there is no way to refill once you set out for the day.

1. Hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer. I had a travel-size one that clipped to my backpack. You'll want this!

2. Wipes. Wipes. Wipes. Baby wipes will be your shower and/or bath for 4 days. Day one isn't too bad, but regardless of how rugged you are, you'll want to wipe down days 2, 3 and 4. Take plenty of empty zip lock baggies for used wipes and other trash. Your porters will gather up your trash each morning, but you'll want to keep it all together until then.

3. Speaking of hand sanitizer and wipes, the bathroom situation is as you might think: interesting. First, no where in Peru can you flush toilet paper. Second, the "public" bathrooms along the trail are best to be avoided. Go in the woods, but don't forget toilet paper and a zip lock to put it in after. The best toilets we had during the trek are the portable ones our porters brought along and set up at night at camp. Just get ready to think primitive, and you'll be fine.

4. Dress in layers. This is very important. Our trek was in December, which is the warm but rainy season. Regardless of the time of year, though, I've heard that you experience all four seasons each day, every day on the trail, and I now believe it. You go through so many elevations and around every corner you feel like you've entered a new country. The climate and surroundings change so much, which is one of the things I liked best about the trail, but dressing in layers will save you. I wore hiking pants three of the four days, and yoga pants one day. For my top, I'd start with a jog bra, then a T-shirt, then some kind of long-sleeve athletic shirt, then a hiking vest. I also had my North Face rain jacket either tied around my waist or right on top of my backpack. Finally, I did take a warm coat for nights at the camp.

5. Socks are everything. Even though you don't want to skimp out on cheap hiking shoes, just (if not more) important are good hiking socks. I took a few pair of smart wool and a few pair of regular cotton socks. (The smart wool socks are so expensive!) I ended up using only the smart wool. Big BIG difference, and well worth the money. Your feet are EVERYTHING for 4 days.

1. Gortex will be your friend. Make sure your hiking shoes are GORTEX, 100% water resistant. The trail is messy, especially the first day and 1/2. Tons of animal poo and mud cover the trail until you get to the stones and rocks the second half of day two.

2. Shoes for camp. I kept reading that you'll want an extra pair of shoes for camp at night. I didn't understand how important this was until our trek. Your feet will be screaming for something cozy and comfortable, no matter how great your hiking shoes are.

3. Hire that extra porter. For the four of us, we hired two extra porters, which was about $35 each per porter. We should have hired four. I cannot stress this enough - you want your backpack as light as possible! Day one isn't too bad, but the hike up to the pass on day two is hard. Very hard. And the hike down on day three is almost worse. Then there's the monkey crawl on day 4. A small fee of $35 will be your best investment for that extra porter, trust me! And whatever they carry for you will be ready and waiting for you in your tent as soon as you get to camp. Brilliant! The only things YOU want to carry in YOUR backpack include:

• Water

• Rain Jacket

• Snacks

• Bug Spray

• Hand Sanitizer

• Toilet Paper

• Wipes

• Camera

• A little cash

• Sunglasses

• Hat

• Sun Screen and Lip Balm

• And of course have your trekking poles with you at all times - a MUST!

1. Get physically prepared. I thought I was physically prepared. I'm pretty active and spent some time on the stair master the weeks leading up to our trek. What I was not prepared for was the speed at which you are expected to hike each day to cover the distance needed before sundown. It is NOT a leisurely hike. I actually found myself nearly jogging at some points trying to keep up with our group and the guide.

1. The trekking company and your group will either make or break your experience. We chose wayki treks http://www.waykitrek.net/, which was wonderful. Freddie was our guide, and we absolutely LOVED him. Our group included just our family of four and a young couple from Australia who were fabulous! We met many people along the trail, however, who were part of large groups with... interesting people. I don't know how to go about making sure you have a great group, but to me, the smaller the better. Some groups had 25-30 people. We were 6!!! Loved that.

2. Food. We kept hearing that the best food we'd eat would be that provided by our trekking company along the trail. I just couldn't imagine, but it's true. I have no idea how those porters carried all that food to each of our camping spots, but the food was delicious and more-than plentiful! Meals included hot tea, water, coffee (which was very strong), hot chocolate, fresh breads, popcorn, gourmet entrees, vegetables, fruits, and always a fabulous dessert. At every meal, we ran out of space on our table to put platters of more food. We were certainly well-fed and fueled up each night. If you have hopes of losing a few pounds while on the trek, think again. I may have gained a few.

3. Prepare for no sleep. I thought I would be so tired I wouldn't mind sleeping on the ground in a tent at night. Oh no. I could NOT get comfortable. I would sleep in 15-25 minute intervals before having to turn over. This was the case for all but the teenagers in our group. I guess that's the price of getting old (I'm only 45). Was it worth it in the end, though? ABSOLUTELY!

4. The final day. It's odd to me that my least favorite day was when we actually got close to Machu Picchu. We started to see more and more people, which made me miss the solitude of our small group and the peaceful mountains and valleys. Also, I was not prepared for the tourists that bussed into Machu Picchu and wanted to hike up to Sun Gate. Clean, make up on, smelling great, dressed in touristy clothes, I wanted to throw these people off the trail as they were going up and we were coming down, especially when they would complain about how far it was and difficult the trail was. Are you kidding me right now?!

5. Finally, be prepared to be forever changed in some way, for the better. I've been home for several weeks now, and I still cannot quit thinking about our experience. I cannot say just what, exactly, was so amazing about it, but it was. The hard work, the uncomfortable sleeping, the sore muscles, the sometimes dreary weather.... it all was nothing compared to how meaningful the journey was for me. Again, it cannot be explained. You just gotta go do it!

So there are a few of my tips. My packing list for the trek included:

• Hiking Pants - 1 Columbia (black), 1 Patagonia (grey)

• 1 Pair Yoga Pants

• 2 Jog Bras

• 4 Underwear

• 4 T-Shirts

• 1 Long-sleeve pullover

• 1 Hiking vest

• 1 Warm Coat

• 4 pair Smart Wood socks

• Hiking shoes / boots

• Camp shoes

• Thermal underwear to sleep in

• Baseball cap

• Brimmed Hiking hat

• Stocking Cap

• Hiking gloves

• Trekking poles (you will need these for sure!)

• Head lamp (get a good one - you'll use it!)

• Water bottles

• Sunscreen

• Lip Balm

• Bug Spray

• Cliff Bars, Trail Mix, candy bars, snacks.

• Backpack with rain guard

• Sleeping bag and camping pillow (or you can use a coat or your backpack as your pillow)

• Hand sanitizer

• Baby wipes

• Toilet Paper

• Empty Zip lock baggies for dirty clothes and for trash

• Camera

• Extra camera battery

• Medicine for altitude sickness and advil / pain relief

• 4 Small oxygen bottles - one for each of us

Things I took that I ended up not needing

• Rain pants - I was so worried about going during the rainy season. Though I now have a really nice pair of Columbia rain pants, I never wore them.

• First aid kit. I may have needed this, but we never had a reason to break it out. Plus, our guide had everything we would possibly need, as did the others in our group

• Things to do at camp at night. I thought we'd have more time to just hang out at night, so I took cards, a journal, etc. By the time we sat around the table, ate, and visited with the guide and others, we were exhausted and ready to sleep.

• Absolutely everything else on my packing list was needed or was used at some point during the four days. If it's on the list, you'll want to be sure to take it.