1). Have Previous Altitude Experience

Having previous altitude experience is important as you plan your trip to Peru. We recommend that you have experience with hiking at altitude with a back pack.

2). Training

You will be doing some walking on this trip around Cusco, some Inca sites and then the long day to Machu Picchu. You need to be a fix hiker to enjoy this hike to Winaywayna and into Machu Picchu.

3). Acclimatization is Very Important

Acclimatization is a critical component for safety and enjoyment in Peru. I highly recommend have additional nights in Cusco before the start of the trip.

4). Bring Lightweight Equipment

Having lightweight equipment and clothing means you will have to carry less weight as you move around on this itinerary. We will send you an itemized kit list for this trip.

5). Understand Altitude Sickness

If you have been on a number of altitude expeditions with us you will know all about altitude related issues and problems. Arrive early in the day. Rest, hydrate, have ibuprofen with you and consider taking Diamox before arriving in Cusco

6). You Should Consider Taking Diamox

If you are taking prescription drugs, make sure you bring a sufficient supply to last more than the length of your trip. We highly recommend taking Diamox for the duration of the trip. Our high altitude specialist doctor recommends 125mg in the morning and 125mg in the afternoon. Make sure your Diamox is in tablet form. You will also need to bring a number of antibiotics. There are alternatives to taking Diamox and you most certainly should bring ibuprofen on this trip.

7). Be Upfront With Your Medical History

Make sure our office team knows of any medical concerns you may have. On the trip, don’t keep any issues to yourself, altitude sickness can be dangerous. We implement a slow pace for all trekking and acclimatization days on the trip, however, you can still have altitude related issues.  Make sure that your guide knows your medical history.

8). Take Your Time in the Early Stage of the Trip

The pace of your trip is critical to recovery each day. Moving too quickly at altitude often leads to altitude illness and does not aid in your recovery.  A slow pace and slow movement to high and extreme altitude is very important.

9). Hydration, Hydration, Hydration

Cusco is a dry climate and one of the most important tips we will give you is to make hydration a priority. When you wake up you need to drink 1 liter of water before breakfast. You need to drink 2 liters before lunch and another liter in the early afternoon. Using a water bladder system is ideal because you can then drip feed water into your body on a regular basis. Forcing water in, is not a good idea as you will just pee it out. You will need hyper hydration sachets, multi-vitamins and electrolytes while on the trip.

10). Bring Multi-Vitamins

We recommend taking multi-vitamins on a daily basis before and during the trip. These can either be the type that we dissolve in our water or as a tablet to take daily. You need to consider a range of supplements to maintain a strong immune system.

11). Only Bring Essentials

Have a small medical kit that is easy accessible during the trip. This medical kit should have Ibuprofen, blisters plasters, tape, sunscreen, lip protection, medication, plasters and personal items. 

1). Highly Experienced Guides

Our mountain guides are qualified professionals and hold Wilderness First Aid Certificates. They have years of experience leading trips in these mountains are able to get you the help you need in case of an emergency. Read some REVIEWS from our trips.

2). Expert Training Advice

We offer personal service with training advice for our clients, 5 days a week. A lot of people underestimate the physical preparation needed and we can help.

3). Trek with an Everest Summiteer

Why not sign up to one of the trips that Ian personally leads.  You can hike into Machu Picchu with someone who not only has reached the top of Mount Everest! Ian usually leads two Inca Trail treks per year. You will need to book far enough in advance for these trips. Sign up and get access to Ian today.

4). 25 Years of High Altitude Experience at Your Service

We have years of experience managing teams on the ground in Peru and around the world. Ian has led over 150 expeditions above 17,000 feet. Our head guide has worked full time with us for 15 years. Our team is well connected on the ground with access to all the key organization and authorities.

5). Quality Hotel, Service, Tents, Food and Equipment

In Cusco we use the Novotel Hotel. This hotel is centrally located.  On the we mostly use Mountain Hard wear tents for our single tents. These tents are tried and tested at high altitude. They have plenty of space for one people and the highest quality tents for mountain travel. 

We have chefs with us through out the trip and we include meals in Aguas Calientes, and Ollantaytambo.

6). Our Itinerary

Feel free to review our itinerary on this page and we are happy to explain why we prefer this route for our one day hike into Machu Picchu. There are less people on this permit is far more interesting for our groups hiking into Machu Picchu in the late afternoon.

7). All Inclusive Packages

We will pick you up from the airport and bring you to the Hotel in Cusco. We will manage all aspects of booking permits, hotels, tours and transportation. All transport will be in high quality private vehicles. All of our trips include seven hotel nights.

9). Small Group Sizes

We only work with small group sizes. The maximum number of people per team will be 8 people. Some of our groups are even less people with only 6 or 8 team members. We also run private groups to this short Inca Trail trek. This will therefore give you are more personalized experience in Peru.

We believe the journey is far more valuable than the destination. That is why we take care of all aspects of the trip you can travel a ease.

10). Work with the Experts

We have full time staff on the ground in Cusco year round. We have the team, support and experience with you and behind you prior to your trip and on the mountain. Contact us for more information on our unique itinerary that we have tried and tested over many years.

Depending on the service you are looking for, you will find a wide range of food options in Peru.  We only run quality trips with professional service and quality food.  Peru has some of the best food options in the world.

Quality Food

Your choice, but we like to have access to better food and service for our Inca Trail treks. For us this is so important for your enjoyment and comfort.  Quality food also adds to a successful mountain experience.  We have helped hundreds of people reach their goal and they pick Ian Taylor Trekking for a quality run trip. Read some reviews from our trips.

Picking the Right Trekking Group

Ian Taylor Trekking work with professional local guides to offer the highest level of service on the Inca Trail.  We have control over the service we offer on the ground and have developed the service over a number of years.

Information on our Menu

While you are on the trail you will be served 3 course Lunch. We vary the menu with steak, chicken, pasta and vegetables. We serve a balanced diet plan and always thinking about the food served for  the level of activity on a given day.  Finally, we don’t cut corners and give you the best service and experience on your journey into Machu Picchu.

Quality Run Treks Through Experience

Ian Taylor Trekking have been working in Peru for 20 years now, building the best experience and service possible with local partners.  We want you can experience the journey of a lifetime and enjoy every day of your trip. Sign up and start getting prepared, we have years of Inca Trail experience built into every trip. We are happy to share our knowledge to help you enjoy your trip in Peru.

Safety on The Trail

The Inca Trail and especially Machu Picchu can be a very busy place. This is why we like to run trips at very specific time. Designing our itinerary, our primary goal is to keep everyone safe. We want to give you the best experience so you an come and enjoy this Inca Trail experience.

Trek with Ian Taylor

We run about 20 planned group trips on the classic Inca Trail each year. You can join any of those dates. Ian usually leads two trips per year and booking well in advance is highly recommended. Ian is always happy to get on a call and answer any questions you have about this magical trip to Peru.

Inca Trail with Professionals

We have helped thousands of people trek to Machu Picchu over the past 20 years. We pride ourselves in working with the best staff and having the best food and service. We pay our team 25% more than other companies. Contact us today and we can send you specific information on how you need to start preparing to for this trip to Machu Picchu.

First things first, DO NOT show up on one of our trips without being fully prepared. If you show up unprepared you put our set up, staff, yourself and team at risk. You need to be responsible for your own preparation.

Focus on Endurance and Strength

It should be obvious, but focus on hills, stairs steps with a weighted back pack. It is important to choose the correct training method for the activity you are undertaking.  Mountain hiking require you to be comfortable hiking up and down hills with weight. So training in a similar manor is critical for safety and success.

We can share all this information with you and help you understand how to develop a training plan with these element in mind. The only way to prepare for the lack of oxygen is by having more acclimatization days and training your body to carry more weight than you will carry on the mountain.

Build up Over Time

By having a good training routine training 4 to 6 days a week months and months before a trip you will hope to modify and postpone the point at which you become fatigued.

In order to train aerobic fitness and build endurance, you need to look to undertake activities that are lower in intensity but continue over a longer period of time.  A short burst, for example 20 minutes on a running machine is not going to prepare your body for hours of walking up a steep incline with a weighted backpack.

Not everyone will have access to hills, but this is the best way to train your body and legs for down hill hiking. Depending on your chosen adventure you do need to assess the level of downhill. We have elevation gains available for all of our key trips. I encourage you to review the daily elevation drops and what type of terrain you will be walking on.

For example, on our Inca trail treks you will be drop 700m/ 2,296 feet to 1,000m/ 3,280 feet on different days all on steep rocky stairs. On Kilimanjaro you will drop 2,800m/ 9,186 feet in one day on scree and rock and this is very challenging on your legs and joints.

You have just walked for days on end you have reached your goal but not you have to retrace your steps, often in a quicker time frame. Hiking downhill will take its toll on your joints.  Fore sure, the downhill hike will take more wear and tear on your joints and muscles than the uphill.

You do need to use effective training techniques to minimize the impact on your body.  Descending using good technique means that you move faster and feel lighter. Remember, 80% of accidents happen on the way down.

Keeping Knees Healthy

We live in Eagle-vail Colorado with amazing access to altitude and a wide range of mountain terrain to train on. In Colorado we can train all year round on hilly terrain preparing for Kilimanjaro, Himalayan trekking and mountaineering trips. I know most of you are joining our trips from sea level and with minimal access to hill training. I encourage you to get out to Colorado doing some multi-day hiking in preparation for your chosen adventure.

If you do not have access to hills and mountains, you must figure out other ways to prepare your knee joints to handle downhill stress. From a knee perspective, downhill hiking means eccentric loading and typically thousands of repetitions of it. Eccentric loading (the lengthening phase of a contraction) is especially challenging to what is called the patellofemoral joint of the knee. This is where the knee cap, meets the femur. Inadequate strength, poor mechanics and lack of exposure to this type of loading can turn downhill forces into injury producing stress. Prior to your trekking trip you need to start implementing sport specific training into our general preparedness programming.

Hiking Uphill and Downhill

Hiking uphill is all concentric muscle action (muscle active while shortening) at the knee joint without any eccentric loading (loading while muscle is lengthening). Concentric only exercises tend to cause less mechanical stress, load and pain to joints and tendons than do exercises that have eccentric phases. What goes up must come down.

You must prepare our body and specifically your knees to handle downhill hiking. Depending on the trip, you really need 6 months of some sport specific training into our general preparedness programming.

The strength movements below are similar but slightly different in specific ways. We purposely only hit each one once per week because too much volume of these exercises could quickly lead to an over training injury, so be careful. I would recommend adding in additional hip flexor and quadriceps mobility work at the end of your training sessions as well to maintain good length tension relationships and to protect your spine.

The Point of These Exercises

Increase vertical loading volume of the knees with a sight posterior to anterior (back to front) force vector. Get exposed and accustomed to decelerating the vertical and forward forces using primarily a knee strategy.  Transition from doing most lunges and squats with a 3 points of contact foot position to a more heel elevated position where we contact and press through the forefoot.

The 3 points of contact foot position is the most stable position for the foot and encourages a balance of hip and thigh musculature – great for general preparedness training. Transitioning to a heels elevated position where the forces are applied through the forefoot places most of the stress on the quadriceps and knees – optimal for downhill hiking training.

Exercises for Downhill Hiking

You should consider adding these movements into your weekly training 2 times per week. Add 3-5 sets of 10-15 repetitions (per leg)

1). Heels Elevated Goblet Squat
2). Forward Alternating Lunge with Farmers Carry Loading
3). Forward Alternating Drop from Box Lunges
4). Banded Posterior to Anterior (PA) Forward Lunges

Carrying Weight

One of the best ways of mitigating the risk of musculoskeletal issues is by carrying a light pack. Then build up the weight you carry over time. An overly heavy backpack is not recommended in the early stages of your training.

Extract its biggest toll on your body during steep and/or long downhill sections, so a hiker should always aim to travel as lightly as the dictates of their skillset and the environment into which they are venturing allow.

If you are carrying weight on longer hike you should slowly build up the weight you carry. You should also consider carry water uphill and dump as much water/ weight as possible for your downhill. Always assess the weight you are carrying for each hike and always build up slowly over time. You do not want to get injured.

1). La Sportiva Trango GTX

In our opinion, La Sportiva have great footwear options at the moment.  Finding a boot that will last a long time, be comfortable, waterproof and have good support, is always our goal.  This option is both a great trekking boot. Having the slightly more rigid sole helps keep your foot sturdy and protected on the uneven rocks hiking into Machu Picchu.

2). Lowa Renegade

Ian has used the Lowa Renegade trekking boots for years trekking into Machu Picchu. They are a lightweight trekking boots great for the type of terrain you will be hiking in Peru. If you maintain them well, you will have them for years.  Lowa have been putting this boot year after year for 20+ years. If they fit your foot correctly, then they may be the right boot for you. They work great and last a long time.