The top 10 experiences from our Inca Trail adventure!

If you have ever considered trekking in Peru, it must be the Inca Trail! There is no other way to go than with Llama Path. Here´s why....

The top 10 experiences from our Inca Trail adventure
By Morgan and Becca

10. Waking up to a porter asking you what kind of tea you would like while still in ¨bed¨(aka tent).

9. Coming back from a 16 km hike to your birdbath (a warm bucket of water, soap and towel) not to mention the tent is already set up and your sleeping bag is already rolled out. Followed by a ¨happy hour¨of hot chocolate, freshly popped popcorn and banana fritters!

8. Following the spiritual path that leads to Machu Pichu scattered with Inca ruins built by the Incas in the 15th Century (80% of the original stone still intact).

7. Arriving in camp after 11 hours of hiking and being greeted by 20 porters (aged 19-59) clapping and giving you high 5´s....who by the way each carry 55 lbs. The porters are outfitted by Llama Path (which is not the norm) and come from 2 specific Quechua communities that are in great need of financial support. These men take more pride in their works than most people we know (non-profit colleagues included).

6. Day 2-- the most challenging and rewarding of all as we summited Dead Woman´s Pass (13,779 ft) and Runkuakay (13,123 ft) --the two us by the way reach the top of BOTH in the first third of the group (who knew we were in such good shape!)

5. Enjoying each day and every meal with three courses of gourmet food prepared by ¨Cesar the Great¨ (aka our chef, who also doubles as a porter as someone has to carry the ¨kitchen¨). Cesar had amazing presentation and always had special consideration for not only the two veggies (2 boys from the Bay Area aged 13 and 15) and the lactose intolerant co-hiker Andy, who always had his special soup prepared dairy free!
A sample menu:
Pancakes with an artistic drizzle of dolce de leche, pasta with a choice of marinara or cream of mushroom, a variety of soups ranging from asparagus to the local quinoa (always accompanied by a garnish of pico de gallo), local trout caught in the river we crossed on day 1, and our personal favorite had to be the bananas flambe cooked table side by Cesar in a chef hat and head lamp.

4. The secret to our hiking success was: do as the locals do! Each day we started by stuffing our cheeks full of coca leaves with all kinds of super powers. Anyone have a suggestion on smuggling them back into the states? Becca has a marathon coming up and the coca leaves might really make a difference!

3. Weaving our way through the lush Andean mountains with our amiga, the snow capped mt. Veronica, always in sight. Not to mention our toned quads... well shaped from kilometers of downhill hikes and steps and squatting at Turkish toilets throughout the Andes.

2. We are still not sure if there were more stars in the sky or bites on our legs...certainly both very memorable.

1. Arriving to Machu Pichu at sunrise through the sungate (while the majority of visitors arrived cleanly shaven via the bus or train) with 45 km in the bag. "Piece of cake" as our fearless leader and brilliant guide Alex (5'1 Andean Man) always said as he marked his 81st trek on the Camino Inca with us.

Bonus experience: The Incan massage we treated ourselves to the day we returned complete with hot rocks!

These are just a few of the highlights of our spiritual journey of 4 days and 3 nights that nor words or pictures will ever give justice to the foggy mountains, rain, sun and magic that happened along the trail.