Gary Nunn

Contributor

Gary Nunn is a contributor to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.

When I realised I’d paid far more for my trip than I should have, I felt like an idiot. But I wasn’t the only one falling for this dodgy practice.

A man dripping in sweat notices me nod with polite alarm in his direction. “Won’t tell you what it’s like,” he says, wheezing. “You’ll turn back.”

I saw a colourful, poor neighbourhood from a distance and wanted to visit it. But I learnt just how thorny, divisive and nuanced the issue is.

It’s 2am on a balmy Wednesday and I’m sitting sipping a cocktail in a bookstore. Yes, a bookstore.

It’s one of the world’s seven wonders, but there’s a heap of things that can go wrong when trekking Machu Picchu – and I should know.