The Inca Trail

We like walking and we have always wanted to go to Peru so we thought why not do the Inca Trail, the 26 mile trek spread over four days an ending at Machu Picchu? Why not? Simple. It involves camping and we don't do tents. I haven't slept in a tent since my brief spell in the army cadets at school when the camp-site was wiped out by a thunderstorm. Even wedding receptions in marquees worry me.   So why I agreed to do this I don't know. I can't have been under pressure from Su who is too partial to comfortable hotels to want to sleep in a field.

But here we are and it has been great. Our group of up to 12 people turned out to be just us and an Australian couple in their sixties, Keven and Mary (originally from England so we didn't spend three days harping on about the Ashes) with our guide, Miguel.

At the start

The main challenge is not the distance or even the mountainous terrain but the altitude. We've seen people breathing with oxygen tanks just sitting in a hotel in Cusco, so climbing up to Dead Woman's pass on Day 2 to 4,200m is a serious matter.

The mountain scenery is spectacular and dotted with a variety of religious, defensive, urban and agricultural Inca sites which break up the walking. The scenery changes from river valleys with farming to snow covered mountain ranges and sub-tropical cloud forest before the jungle gets thicker towards the end. The trail is mostly built with huge stones - sometimes flat and at other times like a staircase. As a feat of engineering it is remarkable. The Incas could teach Islington Council a few things about road surfaces although amazingly, given their advanced technology they never invented the wheel.

Being in a small group has enabled us to move faster, escape the crowds to a large degree and experience most of this remote scenery with very few people around.  The 200 or so tourists per day come together in the evening at the beautifully located camp sites and have dinner in their groups.

Our support team of eight locals has food ready and the tents up before we arrive. They also bring us water and carry the gear we don't need during the day. The porters are shy, humble indigenous people from the surrounding villages who quietly go about their business.  In between their tasks they look at the tourists with an air of bemusement - what they make of us lot I really don't know.

With the team

In some ways the Trail is very egalitarian. Backpackers and up-market travellers have to walk the same route, take their chances with the weather and rough it a bit in the camp sites where the toilets are not the best. But a huge divide remains between the porters and the guests whose worlds are so far apart. These culture clashes are a part of international tourism and inevitably leave one with some misgivings. Hopefully tourism will ultimately enrich the lives of these local people as much as it has enriched ours.

On arrival at Machu Picchu this morning we felt a sense of achievement on reaching one of the modern wonders of the world the hard way on foot. As for the  camping it wasn't too bad as the weather was kind to us but it may be a while before we are next under canvass.