The Inca Trail vs. Salkantay “Do the Salkantay Trek instead,” they said. “It’s much less crowded than the Inca Trail,” they said. “The Inca Trail was completely booked, so we did the Salkantay Trek instead, and we’re so glad we did,” they said. Perhaps those excuses were valid long ago, but not anymore.  Before arriving to Cusco, we met more travelers who said they were hiking Salkantay instead of the classic 45-km Inca Trail. While hiking the Inca Trail I even asked my guide, who leads both the Inca and Salkantay Trails, which trail was more crowded?  He didn’t hesitate…