Inca Trail. How difficult &/or vertiginous?

Question

Thinking of signing up to do the 4 day Inca Trail walk. I'm seeking first hand reports ONLY. I used to walk a lot but I get vertigo on a narrow (less than 8ft wide) path if there's a very steep drop to one or both sides.

Answer 1

First of all, could i ask you where are you from?

Answer 2

There are a few spots where there is a steep drop off on one side of a path that is about 3-4 feet wide.  But if you can get beyond this, it really is a beautiful trek.  I've done it three times and will do it again sometime.

Answer 3

I did the2 day 1 night trek and that was bad enough! This takes in ruins from Winay Wayna to Macchu Picchu and it was well worth it despite the effort needed.You only miss 2 ruins on the shorter trek and the ones you do see are meant to be the best. I am glad that I didn't do the 4 day trek.

The people I saw in Aquas Caliente who had done the 4 day trek could barely walk! Don't forget YOU have to carry everything you need for the 4 day trek, by that I mean water, clothes, sleeping bag, sleeping matter, water proofs etc. There are packers who carry the tents and I think maybe the main food and cooking equipment, but you have to carry everything else that you need.

Don't forget the altitude too ginko balboa/bilboa helps as does cocoa tea!

Answer 4

Firstly two things to remember is that you'll need to spend a few days in cusco to get used to the altitude, otherwise the walk will be extremely difficult. Make sure you book inadvance to avoid disappointment as they limit the numbers doing the trail to protect the route.  

The walk itself consists of three and a half days walking, the first day is pretty easy if you have done a lot of walking before. The second day is mainly uphill the highest point is dead womans pass which is around 15,000 feet and is pretty tiring. The final climb is fairly steep and there is a drop on the right hand side, but the path is pretty wide. The third day is the longest and again does have drop on one side of the path but if you keep close to the mountain side you'll be ok. Finally you have to get up early on the fourth day inorder to arrive at 8am and walk when its still dark so I couldn't  say if there is a steep drop.

Overall the path is pretty uneven so you need to watch where you walk but its fairly easy overall, my mum did it with a broken arm at the age of 60!!

Answer 5

Not done it personally, but my friend did it and he his partailly sighted, he really enjoyed it and once everyone else knew what he problems were they made sure that he was ok.

Answer 6

Yes, there are some pretty steep drops off to the side of the path. It's rare for the path to be as wide as 8ft. Although I don't suffer from vertigo as such, I'm not happy being close to precipitous drops - but I was fine. The drop is virtually always to one side only, as the paths are often on the side of mountains.

Note that the drops aren't really vertical, nor can you see a long way down. Mostly it's just steep hills, often covered in flora and fauna.

You'll be fine. All sorts of people do it, young and old, fears and no fears.

A correction to an above poster - the 2nd day has a lot of downhill after the uphill - if he tries doing the walk, he'll see what I mean. The uphill is tiring; the downhill does your knees in! And the final day's walk starts at sunrise, so it's virtually all in light, not darkness. Yes you may rise when it's dark but you're not allowed past the checkpoint until a particular time which happens to be about sunrise.

Go for it - you'll enjoy it!