Take A Hike!

[shanmonster]

Last year I went to England.

This year, I plan on hiking the Inca Trail from Cusco to Machu Picchu.

Yes, I'm going here:



I need to practice hiking with a backpack, because I intend on scaling that mountain once I get there.

Boo-yeah.

The way I figure, if I can complete the Warrior Dash and Met Con Blue, the Inca Trail should be a piece of cake (altitude sickness notwithstanding).

Comments

[elanya.livejournal.com]

My friend Tara did that this past year - now I'll have two people to be jealous of :3

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Three! knightky is going, too. ;)

[elanya.livejournal.com]

Damn you both! *shakes fist*

Someday I'll have more travel-for-fun funds :/

[elanya.livejournal.com]

Also Tara says bring lots of wool socks and definitely get the coca leaves (for altitude sickness, she says ;) - the guide can tell you where to get them. She recommends Llama Path Trekking Company on account of they treat their porters and horses better than some of the other companies.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'll be travelling with G Adventures (formerly Gap Adventures) through Travel Cuts. They claim to treat their porters well. They'd better, or I'll be upset. I don't believe there are any horses. Wool socks are on my list. I'm going to see if I can fit everything in a backpack and do just a carry-on. I wonder if that will be possible? And reading up on coca leaves, it does sound like a good idea for the altitude sickness.

[kiaramoon.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I want to go!

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

It was a toss-up between this and the Galapagos Islands. I heard a rumour that Macca Picchu may eventually be closed to tourists for conservation reasons, so I figured I'd better get in there while I still can. The Galapagos will have to wait a while. Really going to try to do one trip a year. I want to see the world, damnit!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to hear your stories!

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I look forward to sharing them!

[professormass.livejournal.com]

A guy I do work for just did that trail last month. Want me to hit him up for any hints on travel, etc.?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Sure! Find out how greasy/fried the food typically is, maybe? My guts are afraid in advance. Stupid sensitive digestion....

[dropthemask.livejournal.com]

What an amazing place! Oh, the envy... Enjoy

[(Anonymous)]

I did that hike a few years ago. Your fitness level is way higher than mine was then and I didn't find it too tough, so no worries there. You should definitely stay a few days in Cusco before the hike to acclimatise to the altitude though. I didn't try coca for altitude, but tweaking your nervous system with chemicals will only help with the symptoms at best. There's only one really high pass - a few days in Cusco and you won't notice the altitude most of the hike.

Food as I remember it was very good - varied, well prepared and well thought out for the hike. The porters and guides look after you to a degree that will probably make you feel guilty. We were given duffel bags and weighing hooks and told to put up to 10kg in the duffel for a porter to carry, anything extra you carry yourself. The porters carry a lot of tourist gear plus all the food, the camp stuff, etc.

Make sure you have good sunblock for the day, and a good sleeping bag for night because it gets pretty cold. (You can hire down sleeping bags in Cusco IIRC - might be worth doing that.) A camera with a wide zoom range is also nice to have, especially a model that runs on AAs.