expect several of these...for anyone who has done the hike...

Are there showers on the trail?

Only on the last campsite before the Sungate.

If you have several of these, please just keep on bumping this thread so that it can be posted in the table of contents...

Correct. The camp site on the 3rd night has showers. Hot (warm) shower is 5 soles, 10 soles with a towel. Cold showers are free.

I just went last month. It was amazing!



"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

Depends on the trail.....on the Salkantay trail you will not get a shower until the 4th night in Aguas Calientes at the hostel.

One of my life goals is to visit Macchu Picchu.

do it while you can

We did the Mountain Travel Sobek Inn-to-Inn hike, which is not on the Inca trail, however, it is awesome! The mountain lodges are absolutely beautiful. Here was our first lodge at the base of Salcantay.



Needless to say, we had showers and jacuzzis at the mountain lodges.

[This message has been edited by RightWingConspirator (edited 6/10/2011 3:30p).]

Sounds horrible rightwing. Could never imagine roughing it like that.

Indeed it was rough. We had two porters with three horses carrying all of our gear. We also had two chefs hiking ahead of us who would set up camp and cook us a gourmet meal that was ready to eat when we arrived.

Having to walk for ourselves was beyond the pale.

And to think you had to pay for this? They should be paying you.

Actually, this trip would have cost us $14,000. Luckily, my wife won the trip, and I only had to pay for the gear, souvenirs, and taxes on the win!

guys, it's worth the trip to machu picchu. however, i would take the bus from aguas calientas to the machu picchu entrance. then there is another mountain to climb that is much higher and gives a killer view of machu picchu. this is how i did it and would recommend it.

Ryder is talking about Huayna Picchu. Here is the wife and I on top of HP with Machu Picchu in the background.

By the way, this is a tough climb!

Nevermind, don't want my mug on here, or my wife's for that matter.

[This message has been edited by RightWingConspirator (edited 6/16/2011 3:26p).]

Rightwing - it's odd, on my phone on mobile texags, your faces aren't blurred until I click on the pic to see the actual size...?

Don't be disappointed if this is your first view of Machu Picchu like mine was....

New question...

Tipping? For those that had porters and guides, how much did you tip? We have a group of 10 going. Everything I have seen says $5-$10 per day per porter...that is a lot of money if it is from each individual to each porter. And then to tip the guides...

What did you do?

Honestly, I do 10% anywhere in south america so porters would be no different.

if you cant afford 5-10 for a tip, you shouldnt be going on any kind of trip, much less Sonic.

I think the $5-10/day rule is fair. We had porters on our Salkantay trek and gave each one $20 for the 4 days they were with us on the trip. We gave our guide $100, but that was because he got a little bit shafted by only drawing a 4-man group as opposed to the usual 8-10, and he spent all 5 days with us.

Also, I would agree with taking the bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu. And whatever you do, DO NOT go down into the Gran Caverna. It is a complete waste of time and effort. Spend your energy hiking up Wayna.

[This message has been edited by albatross (edited 6/22/2011 4:09p).]

Depends how your porter was. I did not like our guide as he spent too much time with the girls but he did get us good campsites. In proportion I gave the porter more. As stated above 10% is normal in S.America. I went with english and Aussies so they always subplant money with poems songs and personal recogition.