Long term backpacker Jonny Blair reports on the Fake Inca Trail…
Is there honestly a ‘fake’ Inca Trail?
Yes, there is and every single day unaware travellers sign up for it and do it without even knowing. I’m here to tell you how to make sure you do the real Inca Trail, which let’s be honest is what you want to do.
You want four days of hiking and camping in the gorgeous valleys of Peru and then on the last morning a 6 kilometre descent down into Machu Picchu, Lost City of the Incas and the highlight of the four amazing days of hiking!
Firstly – if you are going to South America, do the Inca Trail! It is incredible. Secondly – ensure you do the Real Proper Inca Trail! I could be exposing a travel scam here, but I really want to highlight this point to all future Inca Trail enthusiasts.
E-Book on Hiking the Inca Trail in Peru
At the beginning of the proper Camino Inka / Inca Trail you will see (and probably be photographed with) a massive sign that says Camino Inka. So what are the tell tale signs that the Inca Trail you did was a ‘fake’?? (and what confirms that you have done the real Inca Trail?)
1. If you didn’t need to show your passport on the entrance to the trail (at the start of the Real Inca Trail there’s a compulsory passport check – you also have the option of getting a passport stamp, which I did) On the start of the proper Inca Trail you need to show your passport and register at a checkpoint.
2. You didn’t see the sign saying Inca Trail at the official entrance.
3. Try and make sure you pay above and beyond one hundred and fifty United States dollars.
4. The ticket you get doesn’t have a silver hologram on it.
5. You didn’t spend your 3rd night in Winay Wayna (a mountainous area with a huge campsite conveniently located just 6 kilometres from Machu Picchu – if you’re doing the Real Inca Trail you’ll stay here – or at least pass through it and spend a night nearby)
6. You used a bicycle on any part of the trail (the real Inca Trail doesn’t permit bicycles).
7. If you took a bus to Machu Picchu (seriously, I met people who went on a bus to Machu Picchu!! Now come on but if you get a bus then you know it’s can’t be the real Inca Trail)
8. On the night before visiting Machu Picchu you don’t even stay in a tent (on the Inca Trail the only accomodation is camping in tents – if you stayed in a hotel or hostel, you weren’t on the trail)
9. The night before visiting Machu Picchu you spent the night in a town called Aguas Calientes (if this happens, I feel a bit sorry for you, as you won’t even have done any part of the real Inca Trail – and possibly done the Salkantay Trek instead. Sure you will love it – but remember you may have been given false information).
10. Your arrival at Machu Picchu was by an ascent to the top of a hill (Please note – When you arrive in Machu Picchu at the completion of the Inca Trail it should be a downward descent and you should get your first viewing preview of Machu Picchu on the way down in a place called Intipunku or Intipata.)
11. You did the trip in 3 days (unless under special circumstances as the proper hike from Qorihuayrachina to Machu Picchu is four days – yes of course experienced hikers can do it faster, but this is the set route and timescale)
12. The hike you do is called the Salkantay Trek or Machu Picchu Trek (these are also great hikes by the way, but not the Real Inca Trail).
13. You’ve booked it the day before (There are just 400 places on the Real Inca Trail each day and it almost always sells out fast so booking the day means it’s probably not the real Inca Trail.
In closing and not meaning to put a dampener on it, if any of you do another hike, that is also amazing. I’m just trying to let people know that if you want to do the proper real Inca Trail, it will be a four day hike through the hills and valleys of Peru which will end triumphantly at Machu Picchu. There are no settlements, no hotels and no transport at all during the four day hike.
So get to Cusco, get on the Inca Trail and just check it’s the proper trail before you pay up and confirm everything.
Check out the marvellous Backpacking Inca Trail guide from this cool backpacking website which gives you the best way to hike the Inca Trail
