Our Incan Blood Super Porters

When you decided to do the 4 day Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu, you must have heard that there are really strong people that carry all your equipment and help the tourists(hikers) all along the trail.You will also learn that among them there is a man that still has enough energy to cook amazing meals for our hikers without regular kitchen equipment and in the middle of nowhere.

Those people are our Incan Blood Super Porters and cooks who work together carrying everything from site to site all along the Inca Trail.They are the most important people for us, and that's why we always ensure that we treat them well.

At Inti Sun Trek, we are really, honestly saying that.
In the beginning we did not tell each tourist all we do to treat each of our Super Porters the best we can because we realize that they are the most important element in making every hike we go on exceptional. We did not do it before, because in the beginning, we wanted to let each tourist see for themselves. We wanted them to see that despite the fact that we are a young company, we have employed over 50 porters, 10 cooks, and 7 tour guides per year for the two years we have functioned as an Inca Trail operator.
We also supply free bags, pants, jackets, hats, t-shirts, trekking shoes, and safety bells for their back packs for each porter. However, the most important thing we believe in to show how much we value our porters is that we have ensured that they all have health insurance paid for by INTI SUN TREK, and we provide them with a very competitive wage.

At Inti Sun Trek, we are tired of hearing the common, yet untrue, stories that some companies tell about how they treat their porters in order to get more tourist to sign up for their treks. That's why we have decided to write this paragraph- to shed light on this situation, and to show you what a company who is truly equitable looks like.

Here are some example of these stories:

Many companies in Cusco claim that they treat their porters well, but don't supply health insurance, even though they know that this is difficult job for most people. Some of this companies who claim to be fair force their porters to wear specific uniforms, but make the porters pay for their gear.
Yes, they charge their own porters!!! They even keep their porters away from their tourists, not allowing the trekkers to interact with them.
What is the government of Peru doing for the Porters?
In the past few years, they have created some regulations for the treatment of porters, prohibiting any company who works as Inca Trail operators from making a porter carry more than 20 kg and making sure they receive at least 170 soles per trek.
We do not think these laws go far enough in protecting our men and making sure they are appropriately compensated for their hard work. Because despite this regulation, some companies still overload and pay them less that the Peruvian government established, with no consequences.
 
How many kilos does an Inti Sun Trek porter carry on the Inca Trail?
 
At Inti Sun Trek, we always guarantee that each of our Incan Blood porters carries only 17 kilos/34 pounds of our company gear and 4 kilos/8 pounds of their personal gear.

What is Inti Sun Trek planning to doing for their porters in 2014?

At Inti Sun Trek, we are planning to do following things:
1.- Train all porters in first aid because we understand they are our only support along the trail.
2.- Provide them with first aid kits.
3.- Supply each of our porters with new sleeping bags and mats, because during our first 2 years as Inca Trail operators, we have realized that some of them do not have good professional sleeping bags and mats. With this we will ensure that they will have a good rest to continue their amazing job the next day.
 
Can we have time to interact with the Inti Sun Trek porters?
 
Of course! In the afternoon on the first day of your Inca Trail hike, you will have the opportunity of getting to know your porters you hike with. You can even amaze our porters with your knowledge of Quechua!

Here are some phrases in Quechua that you can use along the trail:

English word            Quechua word

Hello                   Rimaykullaykil                                                   

Hi                      Napaykullayki                                                     

Friend,Brother          Waykicha

What is your name?      Iman Sutiyki?  

My Name is Jesus....    Ñuqa  sutiymi.Jesus.

Good day                Allin p’unchay

Goodbye                 Tupananchis-kama                             
Bye                     Ratukama                                                 
Yes                     Arí

Not                     Manan

How are you?            Allichu?

Thank you               Sulpayki

You’re welcome          Imamanta

Excuse me               Dispinsayuway                        
Sorry                   Pampachayuway              

Use some of these words in Quechua to ask your porter their name and about their family. If you can not get the pronunciation, your guide will be able to help you and translate the Quechua words so you can communicate with them.

At Inti Sun Trek, we guarantee that we will always keep our word to give our porters a good salary, health insurance, and free, well maintained gear. Because the Jesus Villafuerte the founder of Inti sun trek became a porter on the Inca Trail while also balancing that with his studies at a local university and He realized the importance of  treatment of porters