Porters and guides near kilometer 88 on the Inca trail. Peru.
Photo #9684

The Inca trail is strictly regulated and in order to hike it, one must book the trip through a licensed trek operator. In practice, this means that you will hike the trail with a guide and a number of porters. For my group of four hikers (counting myself), we had two guides, two cooks, and fourteen porters. The extra help allows one to travel very lightly - normally you would carry a small daypack and all the heavy camping gear would be carried by the porters. The additional staff also makes it possible to carry safety equipment such as an oxygen tank and a stretcher.