Strength of the Trail: All About the Porters - Post #7

“Hablas espanol?” he asked.

“Un poco,” I answered.

Our porter then proceeded to launch into a long Spanish conversation, to which I had little choice but simply shake my head and respond “no, no” over and over again.

The porters for Llama Path, as I would assume is the case with most of the tour companies on the Inca Trail, are born and raised in the Cusco area. Alex explained to me that many boys see their fathers and uncles become porters and make a living off of it, so they quit school and do the same. It’s akin to the kids here in Las Vegas who want to work in the casino cages just like their parents. Because of this, many of the Llama Path porters are family members—fathers and sons, brothers, uncles and nephews. In my quest to find all things gender friendly, I asked if there were women porters. Alex said no, though occasionally there is a woman chef.

Porters are a vital part of a successful Inca Trail hike. They are each allowed to carry 29 kilograms (almost 65 pounds!)—and that includes all of the tents, cooking gear and food. Cory and I wanted to focus on our trek and not the weight on our backs, so we hired a porter to carry our stuff. For every one hiker, two or three porters are needed.

Llama Path is a sustainable tour company, and the porters are all outfitted in proper hiking shoes and wear matching red outfits. They hike and take breaks together. They carry equipment in actual backpacks topped with rain gear. Other trekking companies’ porters wear worn clothing, torn up shoes (or sandals … or Chuckies!) and have equipment tied around their backs with oversized blankets and tarps. The further along the trail we got, the more appreciative I became of how well the porters at Llama Path were cared for. As we hiked along the Inca Trail, passing over peaks and making it through long and strenuous days were exciting milestones for me. I’ve referred to them as mini Everest achievements. Well, if this is a mini Everest achievement, the porters must be the next greatest thing after sherpas. Let me tell you, these guys can HAUL! We would leave camp in the morning while the porters were breaking down tents, washing dishes and packing. About an hour later, they would pass us as we labored on. By the time we reached our lunch stopping point, our porters and chefs would have a meal tent set up, water boiled and a full-spread buffet completely prepared. After lunch we would leave again while the porters cleaned up after us, and an hour later, our porters would pass us again. Within minutes they would become a microscopic line of red-colored ants running away and we would continue hiking. Once we reached camp for the night, not only would the meal tent be pitched and the food prepared but all of our tents would be up and our belongings were tucked inside. It was like camping at a 5-star hotel!

The other truly incredible thing about the porters is how fast they can climb. We struggled up the path to Dead Woman’s Pass with virtually nothing on our bodies, and the porters pushed on and passed us. Even more impressive was their technique to descend the mountainsides. They ran. Yes, you read that right. They ran down the steep, slippery stone steps, their feet barely touching the ground before they leapt onto the next one. Both Matias and Klaas tried this strategy and they said it worked well, but I was more interested in checking out the flowers and waterfalls.

Each porter had a particular duty to perform in the group. In addition to our chef, we had a waiter, men that were in charge of pitching the tents, assistants to the chef, etc. This whole porter thing runs like a well-oiled machine, but I guess when there are so many people on the trail, there is little choice but to be.

The saddest thing about the porters is that few, if any, of them have ever been to Machu Picchu. After the final morning on the trail, they rush down to Aguas Calientes to catch a porter train back to Cusco so that they can prepare for the next hiking group to hit the trail. I think there should be an option to donate toward a pool of cash that allows for porters to visit this World Heritage Site that just hangs out in their backyards. Our journey to Machu Picchu would have been drastically different without the strength and abilities of our porters. I might not hablo any espanol, but I did learn enough to tell each and every one of them gracias.

Seeing red ~

JoAnna