UKC

Hi, I will be in Peru doing research for my dissertation, after I have finished my research i would like to do some trekking, some of my course mates ae talking about doing the Inca trail but i have been put of my various reasons and have been doing research in to alternatives such as Cachiccata Trail, Vilcabamba,Lares Trek,Choquequirao and the Cordillera Huayhuash trail, the latter being the one i am most interested in but i would like to do two.
I will be looking at trekking duting the Month of august.
I am looking for two things, firstly i would like opinions on the Inca trail and it's alternatives and any advice and opnions on either and secondly i am looking for people to trek with as i can't seem to convince my course mates to do something other than the Inca trail, one of them even said "i don't want to go all that way just to some cheap 2nd best"
So if you are interested or looking for a partner then please let me know.
Thanks

In reply to robhf:

The Santa Cruz trail is less crowded with spectacular scenary.

In reply to robhf:

Inca trail has awesome scenery and culture but quite a few people (although one day in April I didn't see anyone else until camp and was hiking on my own most of the day). It is also very developed but this also helps keep people apart and make the actual walking more pleasant.

If you have a decent amount of time I would recomend doing Cusco / Inca trail and trekking around Huaraz. This is a great area and you can do some very remote treks. Hopefully you have time to do both and have two very different experiences.

Phil

Also I was quite impressed that the view out of my tent looked like a North Face Catalogue

http://photos-by-philip.fotopic.net/p28376525.html

In reply to robhf:

Despite being rammed, I really enjoyed the Inca trail and Macchu Pichu was awesome. Nearly didn't go as I new it would be "touristy" but glad I did.

Choquequirao is meant to be pretty cool.

In reply to robhf:

The trail is wonderfull, and you'll regret not doing it.

The views are fantastic, and seing MP for the first time through the Sun Gate will knock your socks off!

In reply to robhf: I´d second the Santa Cruz trek in the Andes near Huaraz (about 7 hours in bus from Lima if I remember correctly). The mountain scenery is far more spectacular than the Inca trail and it is unspoilt and generally not very busy. When we did it there was only about 5 other people on the trek. I don´t how much time you have but the best thing would be to do the Santa Cruz trek and then go to Cusco and Machu Pichu but without doing the trek. Cusco is a fantastic town- great architecture, amazing ruins within walking distance (Sacsaywaman or something along those lines!) and good cheap hostels and food.

In reply to benji: Sorry, I meant to say "go to Cusco and Machu Pichu without doing the Inca trail".

Thanks for your opinions, it is going to take me a long time to decide.

In reply to robhf:
We did part of the Santa Cruz trek as an approach route to Alpamayo and it was nice. Sometimes it looked a bit crowded but the scenery is amazing.

If you want to visit the Machu Picchu it's a very good idea to stay one night at Aguas Calientes. The village itself is boring but you can take a minibus to Machu Picchu early in the morning and avoid all the crowds. You'll avoid most of the hikers too because they start to arrive around 10am.

Machu Picchu is amazing place early in the morning when it's empty of tourists. It gets a big circus later in the day so it really is a good idea to get there early in the morning.

In reply to benji:
Another vote for this approach, esp if you have limited time. Whilst we wanted to visit MP, we didn't want to be part of an organised group and we had planned to trek in the Blanca later anyway. Therefore, we took the train to Aguas Calientes and walked up to MP before dawn which was very memorable as the clouds parted shortly thereafter. We later ended up in Huaraz and did the fabulous Santa Cruz trek which was (almost) deserted as we were out of season. We hired a tent in Andean Kingdoms in the main street, who were very helpful. This way, we felt we had the best of both worlds.