4-Day Trek to Machu Picchu Through the Inca Trail

Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, is the base for the popular trek to Machu Picchu. 90-95 of the Tourists to Machu Picchu, use the traditional train route to Machu Picchu. Around 5-10 of more adventurous souls undertake the multi-day trek to Machu Picchu. Though the trek is tough and energy-sapping, at the end of it all, you will be thankful for the experience ... Trust me!

This tour was unforgettable, if you have the time do to it and you are moderately fit it is a must do! The tour operator is 'La Bamba', and they organise a good tour briefing the day before the departure, so you can meet your guide and your tour companion. The scenery and flora changes dramatically each day of the tour and it is always breathtaking. The first day is basically flat and quite hot, and you already get to see some amazing Inca buildings. The second day is the hardest, but it is totally doable as there is plenty of time to get to the campsite, so everyone went at it is own pace, regrouping at defined resting spot, and then kept going. The third day you move from high nearly bare mountains to a flourishing jungle full of flowers and hummingbirds, stopping on the way to visit more Inca buildings. The fourth day is very rewarding as you eventually get to see Machu Picchu, and you have learnt so much on the way there that you can appreciate it much more that going there just taking the bus. Our guide, Francisco was amazing, he really make the difference, he knows all about he flora, fauna, history and custom of Peru and Inca. He answers all our questions and he was so passionate about Inca history, thanks to him we learnt so much. He was also very good organising the time of rest/meal during the hike, he was constantly making sure that everyone was well, not pushing to hard which is were altitude sickness gets you and having a good time. The train trip on the way back is also amazing, you will love it! Few notes: - The food was amazing during all the trip, they cater for vegetarian as well - You get hot water for freshing up in the morning and before meals - You only need to bring water for the first two days, after that they will boil water and give it to you it may be seasonally - It gets cold, bring warm clothes - Walking sticks helps a lot, especially going down the steep staircases - If you booked one of the extra hike from Machu Picchu make sure to request an entry window after 10am. They will give an hour entry window outside which you cannot start the hike. if your group is a bit slow or if the guide to Machu Picchu last longer than expected you may miss the window, but 10-11am window should be fine. - Tips, this can be difficult if you come from a country that doesn't do tips, all our group fell in this category and it got a bit awkward because they do make a big deal about tips, despite being not mandatory. What it will happen is that the last night of the trip there will be a tips ceremony, you will have to prepare two separate tips amounts, one for the cook and one for the porters. Then all the porters and cook are gathering around you and wait to receive the tips. In case of the porters you even have to state how the amount need to be divided about them because the boss porter may want to keep more for him. We clearly tip them less than expected because they were not happy. Suggestion: Walking Stick do help, especially for going down the step stairs.

My husband and I strongly recommend that you book with a different tour provider. There are so many other operators that ran much more professional treks, and we often found ourselves regretting our decision to book with Bamba Experience. We had two guides for the trek, which was excessive given that we were in a group of only 4 hikers. Edwin, who I assume to be the 'head guide' was absent for much of the hike, trailing behind all of us. Elisabeth, who I assume to be the 'secondary guide', also trailed behind a great deal, though she ran up ahead when the group was travelling quickly. Many other groups had guides that were travelling with the group, and providing information and encouragement throughout the trek. The only times that our guides did this were at a few key points along the trail, and it was often rushed or very basic, as Elisabeth didn't appear confident in her English-speaking capabilities. The equipment provided along the trek was often in disrepair: the tent that we had our meals in was falling apart - it was literally held up by a twig that the porters would collect along the way the tents that we slept in were set up completely wrong every night - a problem when there are torrential downpours the sleeping bags reeked of body odour and clearly had not been laundered after their last use and the sleeping pads did not retain air. We greatly regret paying an extra sum of money to not have to worry about bringing our own sleeping bags/trekking poles/sleeping pads. Additionally, the porters were slow to arrive or set up at the camp sites, often leaving us to wait while they drank their chicha alcohol. We sat on the ground for over an hour on the first night of the trek waiting for them to arrive and set up our tents so that we could change out of our wet clothing and apply much-needed insect repellant, only to find out that they had been there for quite some time drinking alcohol at a local chicheria set up in a local family's home instead.

Yes, it was amazing. I loved every step on that trail and I got to celebrate my 60th birthday in top of Machu Picchu and on top of Huayna Picchu. The guides, the cooks and the porters did an excellent job. They were even able to make a birthday cake for me on my birthday. I will never forget this experience! A thousand thanks to Pavel my Peruvian brother to Raul, Elizabeth and everyone else!