Hiking vs Train to Machu Picchu: Which Experience is Right for You
- tgandco2
- Nov 20
- 11 min read
I am definitely behind in updating my blog. I have yet to post about our trip to India and Japan in the spring. Those posts are coming, I promise.
However, given that I have just returned from hiking to Machu Picchu, I thought I would write an article about my most recent trip while the memories are still fresh in my mind.
In some ways, the decision on whether to hike to Machu Picchu or take the train is a fairly simple one. If you are not in excellent physical condition (cardio, leg strength, and balance are critical), you are not willing to take the risk of getting ill from the elevation, you don't want to go four days without a shower while using very (very, very) primitive toilet options (some of which are just downright nasty). You don't want to sleep in a small tent with a companion (I went with my friend Joe) in a sleeping bag on a thin air mattress; you don't want to wake up at 4:00 am (last morning is 3:00 am). Then the hike to Machu Picchu is not for you. Despite all that, I hiked the trail to Machu Picchu. While all the above is true, it is also breathtakingly beautiful and incredibly rewarding when you reach the summit on day two at 4250 meters (13,944 feet) and, of course, when you finish the hike and get your first glimpse of the Machu Picchu site.
So what is the hike like? It is amazing, but the hike and the Machu Picchu site are really two different experiences. If you want to see the site, you can take the train, book a tour, and I will guarantee you will find the experience fulfilling, fascinating, and mesmerizing. But if you decide to hike the trail, you are in for an incredibly challenging physical experience which will leave you with a lifetime of memories (and likely many, many photos). My comments here are for people who are not extreme adventure/thrill seekers. If you are one of those, hiking Machu Picchu is probably fairly mundane.
Here is my experience. Joe and I booked The Inca Discovery through G Adventures. This tour included 1 day in Lima (we arrived a day early to add a second day), a flight to Cusco, 2 days in Cusco, 4 days hiking, 3 nights camping, and 1 last night in Cusco before your departure home. Only 200 hikers are allowed onto the Inca Trail each day, and the permitting process is very strict. One of the advantages of using G Adventures is that they obtain the hiking permit for you, arrange both the guides and porters, along with campsites, food, etc. The hotel for one night in Lima, two nights in Cusco, and the flight from Lima to Cusco were also included. This made planning the trip relatively easy. We booked one extra night in Lima before the tour began, as well as our flights to Lima and home from Cusco. G Adventures also strives to be an ethical, green, and sustainable company. They are strict about the maximum weight porters can carry (less than some other companies), they pay their guides and porters more than most other companies and leave the campsites used clean and free of waste. It might be possible to arrange the hike on your own, but it was very nice to have G Adventures take care of and be responsible for all the details.
I am going to come back to our couple of days in Lima. Let's start with the hike.
First, getting ready the night before. G Adventures, in the fine print about the trip (always make sure you read the fine print), tells you that you are allowed to have the porters carry 6 kg of your stuff. They do mention that this includes your sleeping bag and mattress. What they don't tell you, until the night before, is that the sleeping bag and mattress weigh 3.5 kg, leaving only 2.5 kg for your personal stuff. They weigh your duffel bag every morning, so you can't cheat and add stuff from your day pack later in the tour. Believe me, 2.5 kg is not very much. But remember, you are not going to shower for 4 days, so how much stuff do you really need? You also have to be organized when packing your day pack. Because of the many weather changes that can occur in one day, you need layers of clothes, including a sweater, a toque, gloves, shorts, rain pants and a jacket, a water bottle, and snacks. You are carrying your day pack, so you don't want it to be excessively heavy, but you really do need the stuff I mentioned. You will have a full bag.
Ok, so you are packed and ready to go. It is about a 2-hour drive out to the trailhead, where your duffel bag is officially weighed (they do reject bags that are overweight) and you receive your hiking permit. Your name on the permit must match your passport exactly, or you will be rejected. With all that done, you pass through the gate, and your Inca Trail hike adventure begins.
Day 1 is the easiest of the four days in terms of hiking time and difficulty. However, my heart rate still reached 160 at times due to the steep sections. You get the first sense of the beauty you are going to experience over the four days. We arrived at our campsite around 5:00 pm. As we walked into the campsite, all of the porters were waiting for us, applauding our arrival. This happened every day at both lunch and the end of the day. A nice touch, along with the refreshing (non-alcoholic) drink they give you on your arrival. The tents are all pitched, your air mattress and sleeping bags are set up, and your duffel bag is in our designated tent. This is just another reason to do this hike with a company like G Adventures. The thought of having to set up your own tent and stuff after a full day of hiking is not appealing (at all!). At 6:00, we had dinner together. There were 15 hikers in our group. I should mention at this point that the food was excellent. Much better than I was expecting, and certainly, we were not eating dried food. Considering all the food must be carried by the porters, any water used for cooking or drinking must be boiled, and all plates and cutlery have to be sanitized in boiling water, I thought they did an amazing job on the food. Not gourmet by any means, but very good. You are getting ready for sleep around 7:30 pm, which is good because you are both tired and unlikely to sleep through the night, so starting early at least gives you some chance to get some sleep.
Day 2 starts with a 5:00 am wake-up call (or 4:00 am for slower hikers). At 5:00 am, one of the porters unzipped our tent to wake us (we were already awake) and gave us a cup of coca tea, which is supposed to help with altitude sickness. We had breakfast and started hiking at 6:00 am. Day 2 is the most difficult, traversing the Dead Women's Pass and ascending to the summit of 4250 meters. It is incredibly challenging. My heart rate was at 160 most of the time we were climbing. Fortunately, when we rested, my heart rate would drop fairly quickly to under 100 (my resting heart rate is 47), but it would be back up to 160 as soon as we started climbing again. Not only are you climbing up to 4250 meters, but most of the climb is up stone steps. I never understood why, in a country where the average height of a male is 5'4" and a female is just over 5', the stone steps are so high. At about 3500 meters, I really began to feel the effects of the altitude. I could feel my body slowing down; it became difficult to both get my foot up on the steps and to pull myself up. My heart was racing, and it was difficult to breathe. Are we having fun yet? As one woman in our group said, "Did I really choose to do this and pay money to do it?" Yes, we did! However, like any adventure I had previously completed, Camino de Santiago, 720 km across Spain, and Kumano Kodo in Japan, when you reach the summit, it is incredibly exciting and rewarding. And what a view! At this point, it is all worth it. However, you also don't know what is next. The descent to our campsite is steep and treacherous. It is so steep that you feel like you are constantly leaning too far forward. There is no doubt that if you stumbled, you would crash down 100 feet headfirst on the stone steps. In addition, some of the landings on the steps are too narrow for your foot (a definite design flaw!). So, although there is no cardio strain on your heart on the way down, the anxiety strain of falling is high, along with the pressure on your knees as you descend. The good news is we arrived at our campsite just after noon (roughly 6 hours of hiking) and had time to relax, rest, and take in the scenery.
Day 3 starts with a 5:00 am wake-up call. Although the day is not as difficult from an elevation point of view, it is long, hiking 9-10 hours and contains many steep ascents and descents on what by this point are the familiar, but still difficult stone steps. Our group got quite spread out this day, so Joe and I, along with a woman from Spain (whom we adopted as our Canadian sister), hiked most of the day together. It was a very long day, and the physical strain of the hike, along with the fact that we weren't sleeping particularly well, was taking its toll. This is outside of the impact of not showering for 3 days and using very (very, very) rudimentary toilet facilities.
Before I go any further, I should reinforce just how spectacularly beautiful this hike is. We are in the Andes in Peru! About 70% of the time, you are above the cloud layer, viewing the mountains as the sun shines through the clouds. Wow! As I have mentioned, the hiking is very difficult, but you have to take the time to view, enjoy, and photograph the scenery. I knew this was something I was only going to do once in my life, so you have to stop and enjoy it.
Day 4. Last day. We will both see Machu Picchu and have a shower for the first time in four days (you don't arrive at your hotel until past 7:00 pm, so you are really looking forward to the shower at that point). But Machu Picchu will be the highlight for today. We woke up at 3:00 am (yikes), had a light breakfast, and joined the line to pass through the Sun Gate at 4:00 am. The gate does not open until 5:30, so you sit in line for 90 minutes before you can start hiking. The hiking is difficult, we are tired, but the adrenaline and excitement of reaching our goal keep us going. After about 3 hours, you reach a point where, if it is clear, you can see the Machu Picchu site way down in the valley below. We were incredibly fortunate that we had a perfect day. Sunny and clear. The clouds were just clearing as we reached the summit overlooking the site. It is breathtaking and just keeps getting more and more breathtaking as you descend to the site (just over an hour of hiking). You get what I would call scenery overload. It is constantly so beautiful that you just want to keep stopping to observe and take photos (of course, if you keep doing this, you will never make it to the site). I will let the photos I have included speak for themselves (although they don't really do the beauty justice). The G Adventures tour includes a complete tour of the site. You get the classic view(s) as you descend, and then you re-enter the site at the bottom and tour the amazing architecture and sophisticated design.
Machu Picchu is really a sight to behold, and it totally makes sense that it is one of the new seven wonders of the world. This is why no one who wants to see it should miss out just because they don't think they can complete the hike. Take the train. As I said, it is really two separate and distinct experiences. The hike and the Machu Picchu site. Both are amazing in their own way.
So that is the hike. It is undoubtedly the most difficult physical experience I have ever had. However, like most things that are difficult, it was rewarding when completed. Would I do it again ... no. But I am glad I did it once. Side note - The shower that night felt like the best shower I had ever had, and the pizza and beer Joe and I shared with some members of our group tasted sooooo delicious.
Before I go, a quick word on Lima. We spent a day and a half in the city and thoroughly enjoyed it. We visited the Huaca Pucilian site and museum, a civilization that predated the Incas by 1500 years! Who knew. We walked the cliffside boardwalk from Miraflores to Barranco, we visited the historical center of the city, stumbled into a street market, and ate ceviche at almost every meal (except breakfast). We stayed in Miraflores, which seemed to be the nicest area of the city. I am sure there is more to do in Lima, but a day and a half was good for us.
That is my trip to Peru. If you think you can manage all the challenges I list at the beginning of this post, go for the hike; you won't regret it. If you can't (or don't want to) still visit Peru and take the train to Machu Picchu, it is amazing.
Any questions or comments, let me know at thethirdperiod.ca@gmail.com
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