From: Mark David Barnes
Subject: Barefoot on the Inca trail
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2005 20:41:45 -0000

Dear barefooters

It is now over a year since my trek along the Peruvian Inca trail, but my
happy memories of it are still fresh in my mind.

I had wanted to hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu for many years, and
eventually persuaded my partner to join me for a 4 day camping hike as part
of a 3 week tour of Peru. We had trained for the walking as well as time
allowed before leaving UK. This included hiking up Mt Snowdon (the highest
peak in Wales) and other UK hikes in addition to my routine barefoot
lifestyle. I find that foot toughening is like any other physical
attribute, you have to push the limits at least twice a week to make any
difference. By the time we arrived in Peru, I was reasonably confident in
my barefooting ability, but welcomed the 10 days before the trek to
acclimatise my feet as well as the rest of my body! Our tour leader was
initially very concerned when I  told her that I was planning to hike the
trail barefoot, but started to relax during the early days in Peru when she
observed that I could walk the streets if Lima and various Inca ruins
without incident. I reassured her that I always carry emergency sandals
when hiking, but have only needed them twice in 8 years of barefoot hiking.

Our group of 16 had a head guide and 2 under guides in addition to tour
leader, cooks and porters. At the start of the hike, the head guide did ask
where my boots were, but was almost unconcerned by my dismissive reply. The
guides were English speaking and 'western' in their hiking attire. The
other crew wore more traditional Peruvian cloths, ponchos and thin sandals
which they had to pack with straw to reduce the rubbing and soreness that
they produced. The porters hike (or run) at about twice the speed of the
tourists to set up the next camp, while carrying all the provisions. Many
porters from other groups as well as our own would pass me every day. Many
times throughout the day, porters would stop in amazement to see the
tourist hiking barefoot. I quickly learnt how to say 'I do not like shoes'
in their local language (Quetcha). Their response was always a big grin and
sometimes a thumbs up!

The 'classic Inca Trail' starts at reasonably low altitude along a wide
stony path. After the first day, the altitude increases and much of the
path becomes stones and steps. Much of the path has been restored, but the
stones are very uneven and irregular which makes them very interesting to
walk on. Everyone has to carefully judge each step regardless of their
footwear. Sometimes there were small streams to wade through, but mostly it
was mile after mile of irregular steps. The Peruvians are very concerned
about path erosion caused by the huge number of hiking boots. We all know
the best answer to that problem. One of our guide books explained the
problem by saying that the ancient Inca routes were 'designed for Llama
hooves and bare human feet'!

During the day, when the sun came out, it felt quite warm due to the thin
air and physical exertion. After dark, it quickly became cold and sometimes
wet. It dropped below freezing on some nights, but my feet were warm enough
with many layers on the rest of me.

On the fourth day, we approached Machu Picchu in the late afternoon. A
truly amazing sight and quite emotional for all of us. Just time for the
traditional photos before a quick walk down through the site before
dusk. We had the whole of the next day to explore Machu Picchu properly. I
was delighted to see 3 other people walking barefoot around the site, I
suspect for spiritual reasons. From looking at the way they were walking,
they were not regular barefooters. I passed them on the steep and narrow
path up the 400m peak overlooking the site (Wayna Picchu).They were still
barefoot which I was impressed by, as this path was the most challenging
and exciting barefooting of the whole trip. I tried to talk with them, but
there was a language barrier.

I spoke with many people on that mountain peak as it is popular with day
visitors to Machu Picchu, and the climb is slow to allow other to
pass. During the steep climb, you spend much of the time looking at the
feet of those up the path ahead of you, or while giving way to those coming
down towards you. You are very conscious of what others have on their
feet. All but one of the comments were positive, but most of them found it
hard to believe that I had trekked barefoot on the trail to get to Machu
Pichu.

Our guide was also an author, and a university history lecturer. When we
parted, he told me that he was writing a book about the Inca trail, and
would include me in it as the tourist who proved that it was possible to
walk the ancient Inca paths barefoot, without incident. Unlike many in our
group, I was not complaining about blisters and aching feet.

I completed the rest of our Peruvian visit barefoot, accept while trekking
in the Amazon Jungle, where as on previous jungle treks, precautions
against aggressive snakes seemed wise.

There are pictures of my Inca trail trek, and other places I have been, on
my barefooting web page. Follow the link below, (and cancel the request for
login.)

http://www.doctors.net.uk/DocStore/DSView/Album.aspx?folderid=35155

Mark
Hampshire, UK