As from July 2019 we have increased our porters pay from 215 to 240 Soles (60.00 Soles per day) which is 30% more than the porters legal minimum wage which most porters working for other companies earn on the Inca Trail. to Machupicchu has always been in the top five companies paying their porters well. By Western standards this wage obviously appears to be low, however wages have to be seen in relation to what other people earn in Peru. Most of our porters depart on the Inca Trail at least 4 times a month (16 days work) earning about 1040 Soles(4 x 230 Soles plus tips of about 120 Soles). This is about the same wage of a professional school teacher in Cusco who earn between 1000 and 1200 Soles for working 22 days per month. Teachers in the villages earn much less than this, some as little as 900 Soles per month. It should be noted that teachers have to study for a minimum of 5 years at a university or institute and often have to work the first couple of years for wages between 600 and 800 Soles per month!! A master tradesman such as a carpenter may charge about 60 Soles per day for his services and a labourer will charge about 40 Soles. A farmer in the villages earn about 20 Soles per day so a porter can earn about the same as a village school teacher and has enough left over to pay a neighbour to work his fields while he is away on the trail. Most porters are land owners and do not pay rent, so their outgoings are fairly minimal. So on the whole if porters are paid the legal wage they are not badly off compared to other professions. Even though the Porter Law states trekking companies should pay their porters 45 Soles per day only about 70% of the trekking companies are actually complying with this requirement. Some trekking companies are still paying their porters as low as 35 Soles per day and getting their porters to sign receipts for 45 Soles per day!! Many porters feel that they cannot complain or they will be sacked and even put the jobs of their fellow workers in jeopardy.