What to Pack for Trekking in Peru

Last week I shared with you what I packed for my multi-city, multi-country trip to South America. I wasn't travelling alone, but our tours started out very differently. As I opted to take a warm, comfortable train to Machu Picchu, my lovely travel partner, Eimear, wanted to check off something from her bucklist and trekked there instead. 

So this week, Eimear is guest posting, detailing what exactly she packed for her 5 day/4 night trek up Salkantay in the Peruvian Andes. 

Take it away Eimear!

I did an awful lot of research before deciding what to pack for the trek. Setting out on 80km over four days in a range of different climates I needed to make sure I was really comfortable and could fully enjoy myself and not worry about being too cold or having blisters. 

I read lots of blog posts, the advice offered on official websites and I took into consideration my own knowledge and experience. I feel the cold and I didn't want to necessarily use up the full 7kg allowance; I felt bad for the mules or the men having to lug my stuff around. Bar one mistake I think I got the packing pretty spot on. On the first day my day pack was far too heavy so I pared it right back that night.

In my daypack:

A warm hat and gloves

A baseball cap

Sunglasses

2 litres of water

My dslr camera(minus the battery, I left it in my backpack in Cusco and I'm blaming altitude!)

Raincoat

Mini version of my first aid kit (plasters, immodium, ibuprofen)

Sun cream

Insect repellent

Hand sanitizer

Head torch (essential for early morning 4:30am starts *whoop!* and in the evening, sundown was around 6pm)

Coca sweets

Rain cover for the bag

Here is a list of the clothes

1 pair of trekking trousers

4 sports t-shirts (one for each day)

2 sports bras and 1 normal

5 pairs of knickers

3 pairs of trekking socks and 1 pair of sports socks

1 fleece

1 down jacket

1 pair of sports leggings and 1 nice t-shirt (for Machu Pichu day)

1 thermal top,1 pair of thermal leggings and woolly bed socks for pyjamas

First Aid kit:

Insect repellent
Antiseptic
An antibiotic
Anti-histamines
Ibuprofen/paracetamol
Anti nausea and anti diarrhoea medicine,
variety of normal and blister plasters

I also brought a camp towel with me and my swimsuit for the thermal baths. And I put in the tiny pillow they give you on the plane because I like to sleep with a pillow and sleep is essential when you're walking so much every day.

My one mistake was the sports socks, the three pairs of hiking socks I had were climacool and were perfect. I thought, wrongly, that the cycle socks would do the same job. They did not. They didn't wick the sweat correctly and they moved too much so they were very uncomfortable. I wish I'd just bought a fourth pair! 

I basically wore the same pair of trekking trousers for four days and changed my t-shirt every day. It's dirty and the trek is dirty, so if you don't like being dirty maybe take the train. The clean leggings, nice t-shirt and normal bra were perfect for the fifth day at Machu Pichu, it was nice to have clean clothes to put on after a shower in Agus Calientes and lots of people don't trek to Machu Pichu so they look all fresh and clean. 

My fleece and down jacket were needed at night, I wore both in my sleeping bag, (the first night it was -6 Celsius!) and when I didn't wear the down jacket in my bag it made a nice pillow. I didn't carry either during the day, I was fine with my raincoat if it got a bit chilly and again I wasn't willing to carry too much. In my wash bag I had: tooth brush/toothpaste; face wash; wipes (brilliant for an all over body wipe down!); moisturiser; SPF for my face; night cream and eye cream (because I'm a freak!) and shower gel. They were all travel or sample size that I'd been collecting so didn't take up too much room.

Writing it all down here it seems like a lot but it really wasn't. I had drawstring bags and divided the things up by clothes, toiletries, and underwear. It made it easier to pack and find things and I had some plastic bags for wet or dirty items. 

The trek was a dream come true for me and one of the best experiences of my life.

  

Don't miss a post! 

Sign up for email posts (found on the sidebar), like my facebook page, or follow me on bloglovin'. You can also keep up with my instagram feed and I occasionally tweet.

Let's get social