This trip was THE HIGHLIGHT of our 3 week trip in Peru. The scenery is unbelievable, the days are tough but everyone in our group of 8 was able to do it (even some people who were really out of shape, albeit with difficulty). The tents and sleeping bags were acceptable. The food was surprisingly very tasty. The porters (I recommend you have them carry your stuff) are amazing!! We made some great friends, got some excellent photos and felt proud of our accomplishment. I recommend it to anyone who is willing to put in a little training time and a few days in Cusco beforehand to acclimate to the elevation. Enjoy!

The Inca trail was by far the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life! Although a great experience, there were a few things that I was very disaapointed by. These are the following
1. I had to chase up the booking company to find out when my tour guide was coming to the hotel to collect us. This information was not forthcoming. Quite stressful when it is the day before the tour and you have no idea what is going on !!
2. The tent provided was too small for 3 people. There should have been known upfront with provisions made accordingly.
3. Although our tour guide was very friendly, the quality of his english was below average and this resulted in us not quite understanding what he was saying at times. I do believe this limited the information we were able to absorb from him.

On a more positive - the food was excellent and the support provided by the tour guide to help us through the difficult times was very much appreciated!!

LOVED: the trek and our guide (Smith).
Food was great.
Hated: bathroom facilities in our designated camp areas were so awful, words cannot describe. Given the cost of the trek, more care might have been taken to designate someone to clean.
We paid for porters that were not hired ($125 for personal porter for 2 people).
Instructions for what was/was not included were unclear (i.e., sleeping bags, weight limits, etc.)
Attempts to communicate prior to trek, (via phone), were pretty useless.
Overall: would highly recommend our tour guide, Smith, as well as the Inca Trail itself.

The trek could have been a great one except the guide, his name Wander, was very unprofessional. He was not helpful during the trek. Gave us inaccurate info and we constantly had to ask How long today? How much further? etc.I wanted time to take pictures but felt pressured especially at Machu Picchu. where we had to hang around him because he hung onto the train tickets back to Agua Calientes. Was not helpful his English was poor although I was with a spanish speaking group one couple did not speak Spanish. I did fill out an evaluation in Aguas Calientes, in which I said it was good because he had stored our gear at a friend's restaurant and we were scheduled to leave three hours later so I did not want to jeopardize my not getting my gear and valuables.....I do want to return, but this trip.....was weird and strange. BTW, Wander owns a camping gear store in Cusco and was far more interested in seeing us spend money and then anything.....We had to buy drinking water during almost the entire trek except just at the very end...how convenient...Thwe Inca trail could have and should have been much better!!