Inca Trail - head's up

I almost waited too long to book my place on the trek. The Peruvian government has limited the number of total trekkers that can start the Trail on any given day to 200. I eeked onto that list for September 1, booking way back on April 18.

Another mistake on my part: I had read this, of course, in my prior research on the Inca Trail but was watching the GAP Adventures website for the tour to "guarantee" before I booked. My thought was what if I book my flight and they can't get the minimum number? Then, suddenly, overnight it seemed, my trip's status went from available to waiting list. I rushed down to the GAP Adventures office in a frenzy.

I was on a "let's wait and see" list over the weekend so as a back-up plan, emailed Peru Treks, a highly-reputable local trekking company and asked if they had space. A swift response supplied me with all the information but stressed urgency. It was with some regret that I emailed them back Monday afternoon to say that GAP had come through for me. If I had been more experienced at solo travel, I would have liked to have booked with them.

flights

I looked at flights before I picked my trip dates. As soon as I found Air Canada offers the only direct flight to Lima (one cannot fly direct to Cusco), I stopped researching other airlines through Travelocity.ca and other such flight comparision flights and focussed on dates. Flying is torturous for me. Once I knew what dates were available, then I booked my trip with GAP Adventures.

GAP also booked my Lima to Cusco return airline ticket, though looking back, I could have taken care of that myself as LAN Peru has a good website. I think I did it that way so they would be sure to meet me at Cusco airport as I am flying in 2 days before the rest of the group.

One experiment I am trying is seat selection. When you purchase your ticket on the Air Canada website, you can choose your seat ahead of time by way of a handy diagram indicating whaich seats are already taken. The plane was about 1/3 full. On the way down, I chose a window seat, hoping that no one would claim the aisle seat. On the way back (which is a night flight, leaving Lima at 1:30am), I chose an aisle in a row of three, hoping people would be mainly travelling in pairs. Interestingly enough, today I logged on and someone had chosen the aisle seat in my pair, but my three was still intact. So I changed my seat to another three. It's night anyway - I really just wanted a window to lean my head against. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Air Canada also has the ability to fill in your traveller's information (compulsory afater 9/11) and to obtain your boarding pass in advance so it is well-worth exploring. The site is secure and they send you an e-ticket shortly after you pay with your credit card.

A mistake I almost made: The return flight was listed as being on Saturday at 1:30am. For some reason, I misread that and thought I would have all day Saturday in Lima. Luckily I reread it before booking with GAP or I would have to change a lot of plans!