Last spring my husband and I decided to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. For four days we traversed the beautiful if well-worn trail, stopping frequently for breaks and gnawing on coca leaves. As we rested, our guides gave us mini-history lessons and answered our questions about the trail, Machu Picchu and Peru in general. Our weary legs needed a break, our lungs ached from the high altitude.
Not that we really had all that much to complain about. Let’s face it … the hard work was really on the shoulders of our porters — literally. Sure, we had a day pack with water, snacks and a rain jacket, but the porters each carried up to 25 kilograms / 55 pounds on their backs every step of our journey. They carried our tents and sleeping bags, all the cooking gear, fuel, water and food — not to mention their own personal items.
I’ve been to many “gateway” cities that practically wrote the definition of the word “tacky.” Cusco, 
Travel in a new country is a steep learning curve. Cultural nuances take shape before your eyes. Local dialects sort themselves out within a matter of days. What you found in a guidebook is good to the extent that it exists as a two-dimensional depiction of a place.
