There was a time on the Inca Trail when rules barely existed.
No real regulations.
No protection.
No balance.
Only the mountains… and how much suffering your body could endure.
This was the 1980s and 1990s.
Back then, the trail was very different from what travelers experience today.
The Weight We Carried
In those years, the ratio was almost the opposite of today.
Six or seven porters for eleven or twelve tourists.
Now, six travelers might have twelve porters supporting the journey.
But back then… we carried everything ourselves.
In my case, I carried close to 50 kilos.
Not just on my back.
Potatoes in my left hand
A gallon of kerosene in my right
Tents tied behind me
Step by step…
Walk 20 meters. Stop.
Another 20 meters. Stop again.
It wasn’t trekking.
It was survival.
We Were Always Behind
Porters almost never arrived first at camp.
The tourists did.
Not because they were stronger or faster…
but because of the weight we carried.
The loads slowed us down.
And the system pushed us beyond human limits.
Nights Without Shelter
Sometimes, on the first night, we stayed in small homes in Huayllabamba.
After that, there was nothing.
We slept:
under rocks
beneath thin plastic sheets
or directly under the freezing sky
No sleeping bags.
No proper equipment.
Only exhaustion.
No Food, No Support
Most agencies did not provide food for porters.
We ate leftovers… if there were any left.
Sometimes, there was nothing at all.
We had to buy our own bread, our own canned food, just to get through the day.
Cold nights.
Frozen hands.
Frozen feet.
That was considered normal.
The Hardest Days
The climb to Warmiwañusca felt endless.
Then came the descent.
Then another climb.
Some porters simply couldn’t continue.
They left their loads behind and turned back.
And the rest of us?
We carried what they no longer could.
A Different Time
Back then, most of our payment depended on tips.
There was little fairness.
No guarantees.
No protection.
Only work… and hope.
I walked that trail week after week.
Month after month.
And over time, I realized something important:
This should not continue.
What Changed
Today, things are different.
Porters now usually carry:
around 20 to 25 kilos
proper equipment
better meals
fairer wages
Not everywhere.
And not perfectly.
But progress has been made.
Why Llama Path Exists
Years later, in 2003, I founded Llama Path.
And I never forgot those nights.
The cold.
The weight.
The silence.
I didn’t want the next generation of porters to experience the same reality we lived through.
So we decided to do things differently.
Not perfectly.
But intentionally.
Final Thought
The Inca Trail is beautiful.
But behind that beauty…
there are stories most travelers never see.
This is one of them.
“Let the spirit of the Andes guide your next adventure.”
