 I hiked the Inka Trail for the first time in November of 2018. It was a life-changing experience. I loved it so much that I started organizing and leading group trips to hike the Inka Trail in Peru. Check the link in the first comment to see the dates that we have available for 2023-2024. The first mistake is underestimating the difficulty of this trek. The Inka Trail to Machu Picchu is an adventure that takes four days. Four days of hiking for long hours every day. We will be covering 26 miles and you're going to be climbing up to 13,828 feet which is the highest point on the trek that women's pass. You're going to be hiking some days five hours, some days six hours and up to 10 hours or more. So I like to tell our travelers if you don't have a lot of experience with hiking especially for multiple days this is going to be different. It is a strenuous hike that will require you to train and prepare for it. So understanding what it takes to do this trek successfully will help you prepare properly. The second mistake is failing to acclimatize. So for a lot of travelers coming to Peru to start this adventure you will start from the city of Cusco and Cusco is at an elevation of 11,152 feet. So even if let's say you are coming from Lima from sea level or you're coming from a city not at high of an elevation you are going to feel the difference because our bodies will start reacting differently once we get to above 8,000 feet. The mistake that a lot of travelers make is that they arrive to Cusco and then right as they arrive the day after they plan to trek the Inka Trail. That is not a good idea because you're not giving your body enough time to adjust to the change in elevation. You would need at least a day or two to allow your body that time to acclimatize properly and this is what we do with our group trips. I usually have three days before we start our hike to just relax around the city of Cusco, get to know the city, get to know the country, go for an acclimatization hike then we start hiking the Inka Trail. Packing too much or packing too little. This is a tricky one because for some people who are trying this for the first time they think that they need a lot of things on the mountain. That is not the case. The way it works on the Inka Trail for every team of trekkers you will have a guide and another assistant guide and you will have a team of porters including a chef and sous chef. So usually for our groups around 10 to 12 people at max we would have a guide in the front and a guide in the back to make sure that everyone is doing well and we have a team of porters with chef and sous chef and the team of porters is responsible of taking our provisions and everything that we will need for those four days on the mountain. So that includes kitchen supplies, food that we will be eating, tents, sleeping mats as well as our own gear or at least some of our own gear. Every company handles this differently but for us for our group trips we allow the porters to take about 15 pounds of your gear and things that you don't need while trekking. So that would basically be toiletries, maybe clothes that you will be sleeping in, extra clothes for the upcoming days and things like that. So you end up only carrying your day pack and in your day pack you need the essentials. Just basically snacks, water, some layers, rain cover, rain jacket, small emergency kits and really just things that you need for that day of hiking. And we send the packing list that you can use just to understand what are the things that you need and the other mistake is packing too little and missing some essentials that you would need on the trek. For example your rain gear, maybe a cover for your backpack and these little things that sometimes we don't pay attention to but like I said we have a packing list, we send it over to our travelers and most of other companies do so follow it, make sure that you have everything and you should be good. For our group trips like I said 15 pounds is what we allow to give to the porters but if you end up bringing more gear and you need to give extra to the porters that can be covered for an extra fee all of the details will be mentioned in the link in the first comment. Some people if they are hiking in the dry season they just assume that it's not going to rain. So it's always important to have some rain gear with you whether it's a rain jacket, a light rain poncho and rain cover for your backpack because the last thing that you want is for the weather to change and you end up spending hours under the rain without protection that's not a good idea. Next mistake is neglecting proper footwear. This is very important because you're going to be spending hours walking on your feet so sneakers or tennis shoes they're not going to cut it for this trek, invest in proper footwear, good hiking shoes. This is what I recommend make sure that it's waterproof in case it rains get something that will give you some ankle support and a pair that has good grip. This is my favorite pair of hiking boots that I like for treks like this one Ink Trail. I've used the Ink Kilimanjaro in the past and what do I focus on good grip like I said Gore Tex so it is waterproof ankle support main thing that makes this pair different than any other brand that I tried is that it's super soft from the inside very lightweight so you don't really feel like you're wearing heavy boots I will leave the link to this one for you guys to check it out as well. The next mistake is not reserving your spot early. I heard stories from people who would travel all the way to Peru with intentions to hike the Ink Trail but they get there and they can't find any spots left with companies that they choose and this is pretty common why because on the Ink Trail there is a certain number of travelers including porters and guides who can be on the Ink Trail every single day and that is limited so for the busy season especially if all of the permits are not available for your date that there is no possible way for you to get in so if you are planning on hiking the Ink Trail make sure that you book and reserve your spot at least three months in advance especially for the busy season if you already know you are going and this is what we do with our travelers we have everyone book their spot with the dump payments ahead of time get that permit secured and they are good to go the other thing that you should keep in mind once that permit is booked it's on your name you cannot transfer it or cancel it or change the dates on it and also this is pretty important if you end up booking your permits or giving your passport information to the company to book your permit and you have to renew your passport later be sure to bring your old passport with you this is pretty important because that number that you apply with to obtain your permit is what you should show for your permit to hike the Ink Trail ignoring sun protection this is pretty important make sure that you have some sunscreen with you to keep your skin protected apply and reapply every two hours or so make sure that you have sun protection for your lips with chopsticks at the very least a hat sunglasses and also long sleeves that's what i recommend for pants and for shirts because this is the best way to protect yourself from the sun i mean you can apply and reapply sunscreen but it becomes annoying at some point so i recommend long sleeves and that's going to also protect you if there are any mosquitoes or bugs on the trail which is common in some seasons pack some bug spray with you that can come in handy now bring in your passport this is a mistake that you should avoid for the Ink Trail you are required to bring your passport and they have to basically match the number on your passport with the number on the permits that the company obtained on your behalf and that's why i mentioned earlier if you renew your passport you will need the new and old passport so make sure that you have the passport not leave it behind in the hotel but have it with you physically when you are on the trail not respecting leave no trace you want to be a responsible traveler wherever you go especially on the trail leave no trace are a set of seven principles to make sure that you are recreating responsibly and these principles are plan ahead and prepare travel and camp on durable surfaces dispose of waste properly leave what you find minimize campfire impacts respect wildlife and be considerate of other visitors and usually if you listen to your guide and you follow the rules that you guide share with you and the team you should be good next mistake is to rush the trek and rush your time on the trek it's very common to get caught up in you know just chugging along for the whole time and pushing yourself when it gets harder but take some time to appreciate that you are on the Inca Trail this is an opportunity of a lifetime take some time to take in the beauty of the landscapes surrounding you to take photos and videos and truly enjoy what's going on because the Inca Trail is one of the best adventures out there this one is pretty common is to expect the weather to be perfect let's say for example you choose to hike during the dry season you don't want it to rain and you coming in with the expectation that it's not going to rain but you cannot control how mother nature reacts it's part of the adventure if you want to be outside and enjoy the outdoors you're going to enjoy whether it's sunny or raining so keep that in mind you're gonna go with what nature has to offer and don't let that frustrate you and finally not training properly like i mentioned earlier training is an important part of this adventure sure there are people who just show up and they go and they hike the Inca Trail and they do it maybe they struggle through it maybe they are physically strong but if you are committed to this adventure and you want to have good time while you are hiking you don't want to suffer through the entire adventure spend some time to train properly there are three things that you should focus on when you are training endurance strength and all of these are things that you can do at home or at the gym but if you have access to hiking trails that would be ideal if you have access to mountains at high elevation that will be perfect because at least you will have an idea how your body will react at high elevation i tell our travelers to start preparing at least at the very least three months before your adventure ideally six months before build a schedule and stick to it this way you will have a pleasant time while hiking you don't have to suffer through every single day on the trek that's everything for today if you have any questions please leave them in the comments