My first steps onto the Inca trail When I took my first steps onto the historic Inca Trail, I was too excited to be nervous about the challenges ahead. I’d received many warnings from my guide, Jose, about what was likely to come: achy knees, shortness of breath as the altitude increased, and maybe even genuine questions of whether I could finish the trek. There was humor in his voice when he shared these warnings, but his message wasn’t a joke: he wanted our group to be prepared for the Inca Trail difficulty ahead. But those first few hours, I wasn’t thinking much about what Jose said. I was too busy chatting with my fellow hikers, oohing and ahhing over the fast-changing microclimates, and getting to know friendly locals along the trail. When we reached our first truly challenging incline a few hours in, my hiking companions and I were tired but determined. Bring it on, we thought. But as the day wore on, and the final hours of the afternoon stretched seemingly forever through endless hills and bridges and complicated mountain turns, we started to doubt ourselves. When we finally reached that evening’s camp, where our porters greeted us with drinks and a warm welcome, we were bone tired. Day One was supposed to be a simple day of acclimating, but it took the wind out of us. Day Two, said to be the toughest part of the trail, loomed large ahead of us - could we do it? From the outset, the Inca Trail might not look too difficult - in relative terms, anyway. It’s 26 miles, the total of a marathon, but instead of crammed into four hours of frantic running, those miles are spread out into four days. Yes, there are steep inclines, we were told, but there were also plenty of even-keeled stretches of the trek. So why, then, do some