Trek Thoughts

Just some thoughts on our experience with Inca Trail Reservations.

The good:

It was great to have someone else cook the food and set up the tent after our longer trek through Patagonia. It was an even bigger relief to have horses carry our heavy pack, allowing us to hike in just day packs. It makes a huge difference!

The staff on the trail were top notch. The cook made excellent meals filled with protein and variety. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the trail and had some great shortcuts. His English was definitely better than either of our Spanish. He did have some humorous quirks though, such as using "will be" instead of "maybe" and constantly using "for example" as a filler.

The extras were great. We got to pick coffee beans, roast them, grind them, and drink the product. There was a trip to the hot springs near Santa Teresa that felt really amazing. We got to zip line (at extra cost), and the fees included getting a ride 10km up the road.

The bad:

Working with the front office beforehand was terrible. They were not at all timely about getting information to us, which was frustrating because they wanted us to print a bunch of documents. Even worse, none of them ended up being necessary. They scheduled our briefing meeting before we got into Cuzco. Generally very stressful to work with.

The hotel we stayed at (Inti Quilla) had a very inattentive staff. When we arrived, no one was in the building and the door was locked. This at a 24/7 hostel. We waited for 10 minutes, and our guide eventually had to call someone to get us in. We had to leave just before the 5am breakfast, and when we went to the front desk to store our luggage for the day, no one was there. The staff was still asleep despite the fact breakfast started in 10 minutes. Clearly trying to run that sort of establishment with only one employee is not feasible. We were quite disappointed.

One last gripe, the portions toward the end of the trip got very small. The last breakfast with the cook was just a crepe and a small amount of porridge. Then lunch was at a restaurant and consisted of an avocado and some fried rice. I cleaned my plate in maybe five minutes and hoped for more, but none was to come. Dinner at the same restaurant was even more skimpy. Then breakfast/lunch for the next day was simply a banana, two "sandwiches" of mostly bread with a small slice of cheese, and cookies. Dinner on the train was a small spinach croissant or pop tart type snack, neither more than 100 calories. To claim all malls were included was a stretch, at best.

Overall:

I'm glad we chose a guided trek and pleased overall with the results. I would probably look around at what else is out there if I do Macchu Picchu again.