4-Day Inca Trail Packing List

We finally made it home from one of the most amazing adventures: a 9-day trip to Peru to hike the Inca Trail and see Machu Picchu. The trip was booked more than 6 months in advance and as we got closer and closer, we gathered all the items we (thought) we would need for the trek. In case anyone randomly finds this post, I wanted to give my suggestions based off our experience.

For the trip, we packed: a few pairs of 'travel clothes' (yoga pants, tanks, comfy shoes for plane rides and walking around Cusco), a change of clothes for each day of the hike (4 outfits), regular toiletry items, plus lots of other random things that I read we would need online. We could have left at least half of it at home!

First thing's first: we were vaccinated against Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Typhoid, and brought our prescription malaria pills along, as well as my regular thyroid medicine and vitamins. I heard that Ginko Biloba helps with altitude, so we started taking 120 mg about a week before we left and during the trip. We didn't have any real problems with altitude.

Things we brought but did not use at all:

• water purification tablets (you can buy water at all of the campsites, or your porters will boil it for you)
• bathing suit (not sure why this was even listed on other sites)
• extra head lamp (we did use 2 of the 3 we brought!)
• miniature travel towels
• extra camera memory card (I took tons of pictures, all that I wanted and didn't run out of room)

Things we brought and were so glad we did:

• peanut butter crackers, skittles, and propel packets to give the water some flavor (all three of these food items we could have brought half as much as we did, but it was really nice to have them)
• Large scarf- it was great for the cold evenings and I used it to protect my shoulders from the sun after the first day
• Camping Body Wipes and Face wipes- easy to get a quick 'bath' in the evening before changing into tomorrow's clothes
• extra battery for camera

Things we did not bring that we wished we had:

• extra memory card for video camera
• small face towel
• toilet paper- we were able to buy this, but it would have been cheaper to bring it from home
• another pillow- we only had 1
• Immodium- I disagree with the use of these pills because if your body needs to get rid of something, it's not good to try and keep it in. However: limited access to restrooms can be uncomfortable.
• Extra money to tip the porters- we budgeted it out but still fell way short. Our plan was 250 soles for all porters and guides. The guideline was 50 soles per porter (300 soles total since our group had 6 porters), plus we came up with $100 USD for our guide (about 200 soles), and $60 USD for our assistant guide (about 120 soles).

If we could do it over, this is the clothing we would each pack:

• 2 pairs of hiking pants- rotate them each day, they don't get very dirty and you only wear them twice
• 2 lightweight hiking shirts- thin/breathable, with good shoulder coverage to protect from the sun, rotate these also each day; I wore tank tops and got a little sunburn even with sunscreen
• 4 pairs sock liners- a fresh pair each day
• 1-2 pairs hiking socks- wear them over the liners and it prevents blisters, plus the liners get stinky but not the socks
• 2 sports bras- rotate these as well, it's unnecessary to have a new one each day unless you are squeamish
• underwear for each day
• 1 pair of long johns for the cold night
• 1 thin fleece jacket
• 1 waterproof wind breaker (layer the fleece/windbreaker to stay warm)
• Broken in hiking boots (duh)
• Comfy shoes for camp (Toms or Crocs are good)
• Hat/sunglasses to sheild from the sun, plus a scarf for the cold

In Cusco we purchased hiking poles which were very helpful for all of the downhill steps, plus a warm hat and extra sweater. I love my alpaca sweater, and I really love that I bought it from the lady and we only spoke Spanish to each other!

The only other 'essential' item we purchased were coca leaves. We had tea several times a day to help with altitude also, and while hiking up to 4200 km, we took a few leaves and chewed on them like chewing tobacco. I can't say for sure if they made any difference, but 'when in Paris', right?

I'll follow up this post with a day-by-day recap of our adventure with some pictures. Please leave a comment if there's something I've missed here. Again, this is just based off of our experience and is in no way a comprehensive list as everyone's needs are different.