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Hello. I didn't blip yesterday because the plane from San Salvador to DC needed maintenance, delaying the flight. I got home early this morning. 

I have lots of suggestions and advice for anyone wanting to do the Inca Trail, it was a fantastic, empowering experience that I would love to share, but I came home to a country traumatized and enraged and my happiness seems trite. 

One of my pieces of advice is to go. My cousin and I average 50 years old, with her at 51 and me at 49. Easily half of the people on the trail were older than me. The three guys with us were older than us and they kicked ass. They were so fit, so fast, that they zoomed through without trying. My cousin was at the faster end of average but felt slow because everyone in our group was faster than her. They were also awesome people. We really lucked out to be in the same group. But the point is, don't think you are too old to go because that is irrelevant. 

My second piece of advice is to not bring your interchangeable lens camera on the hike. Bring it for the time before the hike, don't bring it on the hike. There is nothing you can't take a perfectly lovely picture of with your cell phone and the Moment wide and telephoto lenses. I'm not just saying that because my camera and equipment failed in almost every way it could while still staying somewhat functional. (It stopped reading my SD cards, it had trouble focusing, the menu to connect it to my phone caused it to crash every time, my monopod/trekking pole broke - and I never used it to take a picture, and my Peak Design anchor broke and I was lucky to have hold of the camera so it didn't crash to the rocks or down a cliff.) I'm saying it because a one pound camera and one pound wide lens and one pound telephoto lens is three pounds you do not have to subject yourself to. There is lots of light so your modern cell phone will take great pictures. Mine was the only interchangeable lens camera I saw. I saw lots of GoPros. 

Advice three is yes, you want two poles. If you are reasonably fit I don't know that you do need to train but you do need grit. So many stairs. Stairs up. Stairs down. Days of stairs. My cousin began using a phrase summed up by me with the acronym, MFS. 

Advice four is put insect repellant on the parts of you exposed when you drop your pants to go to the bathroom because that is when and where insects love to get you. 

Advice five is to give yourself time and Diamox and coca leaves to acclimate. We saw a few people going back on the first day, giving up. Apparently some people fly into Cusco and try to hike the next day. Even with the three days at Arequipo and four days in Cusco and Diamox and coca leaves I still wished for a little more oxygen on day one and possibly day two. 

Advice six is enjoy the journey. The point is not to be the fastest, the point is to take the most pictures. Wait, the point is to see and experience and enjoy. The guys completely missed two lovely lakes because they were going too fast. It upset them and they focused on enjoying more after that.