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Machu Picchu Adventure: The Porters & The Food
The Porters
Porters are the life blood of the Inca Trail. They carry & transport everything from base camp to base camp and ensure that each hiker has everything they could ever need to complete the Inca Trail successfully. For our somewhat small group of 7 hikers and 1 guide, we had 12 porters. Porters carry everything from tents, chairs & sleeping mats, to every morsel of food we consumed on the trail as well as all the equipment required to cook it (more on the food below!). Mac, E, & I also hired a porter to carry 15kg of our belongings (mainly our sleeping bags, as well as any toiletries or articles of clothing we wouldn’t be needing while hiking). Our fellow hikers, Neil & Nola, and Verenis & Richard also did something similar.
At base camp on the second day, we were finally introduced to the porters that made our hike possible. The twelve of them ranged in age from 18-52 and they have been hiking the Inca Trail from as little as 4 months, to as long as * years! Many porters spend half of the year as farmers, and the other half on the trail when there is little to be done in the fields.
Porter welfare is a heavily talked about subject, and one that the three of us really considered before choosing a tour operator for our trip. In past years, the weight that porters carried was not enforced and some companies would load up their porters with unbearable amounts of weight. Recently, a maximum weight was set (20kg) and is enforced at each control point. Many companies provide their porters with proper backpacks as well as back braces to assist with the heavy lifting. I was shocked at some of the porters from other companies that passed us hauling nothing more than a huge burlap sack (a glorified backpack) tied around their necks (thankfully, this was highly in the minority. Most companies, like Wayki Trek, hold their porters with the highest regard).
The sheer strength and ability of these guys is amazing and astounding. As I would be huffing & puffing up a hill with my walking poles, hiking shoes and barely 5kg on my back, the porters would practically run by me with backpacks as big as me on their backs, some in blue jeans, and many wearing only sandals! They’d get to base camp hours before we did, with all of our tents set up, and a hot meal waiting to be served and they’d applaud us as we arrived!!! To say I was humbled is a huge understatement.
The Food
Oh! The food!! Where do I even begin?? I didn’t know what to expect in terms of meals while we hiked the Inca Trail. I mean, everything that we were to eat was going to be transported by a porter, as well as all of the equipment needed to make the food! I was totally & completely blown away by the deliciousness & creativity of the food that we had! Of the 12 porters, there is one head chef porter, and one assistant chef. I mentioned in the forms we filled out for Wayki Trek that I was vegan and I figured my meals would just be simple adaptations of the others’ meals, sin carne. I couldn’t have been more wrong! Myself, along with everyone else in our group ate like kings & queens! Here’s a recap of our meals on the trail:
Day 1: Lunch – an avocado wedge with carrots, potatoes, & green beans; pumpkin soup; sautéed eggplant, onions, tomatoes; & a cob of corn. Everyone else had trout, vegetables & salad for a main course. For a beverage, we had chica morada (translated: purple drink). It’s made from boiled purple corn and is seasoned with cinnamon, cloves & sugar.
Day 1: Dinner – pasta & vegetable soup; rice with vegetables (with a cauliflower fritter with sauce); and tomatoes with vegetables. The others had stuffed chicken, vegetables and fried rice. Dessert was a mango cake/flan for everyone, while I had poached apples.
Day 2: Breakfast – toast, jam, fruit, granola, pancakes, teas, & porridge (lots of good food & carbs for our hard day to come!)
Day 2: Lunch – sautéed broccoli & potatoes for appetizer for me, a spinach, egg & cheese ‘pizza’ for the others. Vegetable soup; lomo saltado was the main course – without lomo for me (lomo saltado is a common Peruvian dish featuring slices of beef, with sautéed tomatoes, peppers, potatoes & mushrooms in a tomato-based sauce). I also had a stuffed potato with vegetables. The others had salad & rice as well. Dessert was peaches in a simple syrup.
Day 2: Dinner – rice soup; corn fritters; cauliflower & stuffed peppers for me, everyone else had chicken and spaghetti as well. Dessert was bananas covered in chocolate (yum!).
Day 3: Breakfast – bread & jam; plantains; yucca; potato fritter for me, & omelette for everyone else.
Day 3: Lunch – “mountain ceviche” – mushrooms & onions over sweet potato; toasted corn (another Peruvian staple); barley soup; yellow carrots & potatoes with sauteed vegetables. Everyone else also had aji de gallina (shredded chicken, with a mildly spicy yellow pepper sauce, topped with black olives & hardboiled eggs), with rice & veggies. The chef served a J-ello cake for dessert – which, when you think about it, is SUPER impressive! He made the J-ello in the morning after breakfast, and it set while the porters hiked to our lunch spot!!
Day 3: Dinner – quinoa soup; mashed potatoes; sautéed vegetables; & a lima bean & pea mash. Everyone else had pizza, meatloaf & rice (as well as mashed potatoes). For dessert this time, the chef outdid himself and presented the group with a fully baked cake!! (“Feliz viaje a Machu Picchu” = “Happy travels to Machu Picchu”).
Day 4: Breakfast – because the porters had to leave camp so early to catch the train back towards Cusco, we were given brown bag breakfasts. Cookies, juice boxes & sandwiches.
Tea Time
Before every dinner, we also had tea time. It usually consisted of plates of crackers with jam; popcorn; and a variety of teas. On the third day, we also had a platter of jam or cheese stuffed pastries.
Extras
Every morning and every meal time we were greeted with warm water baths to wash our face and hands. Also in the mornings, we were served cups of coca tea. These little touches went such a long way and were certainly appreciated (though mine & Mac’s feet weren’t able to fit in the Inca-sized water tubs!).
PS. Want to read more about our Machu Picchu Adventure? Check out these posts!:
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