- Bring your own toilet paper. In many places, the public bathrooms did not have any. Additionally, usually you should throw the paper in the trash rather than the bowl as they are prone to clogging.

- Carry small change especially in remote areas where large bills can be hard to break.

- Allow yourself enough time to acclimatize to the high altitude if you a visiting areas such as Cusco or the Sacred Valley. The first day I got dizzy while riding a bus. Do not eat large meals or consume alcohol.

- Consider using a reputable tour agency such Explorandes. They are relatively inexpensive and can handle much of the grunt work arranging for tickets and tours.

- The Inca trail can be difficult even if you are in good shape. For example, one of the days involved going from 8000 to 12000ft over about 6 miles of hiking. The highest point on the pass, Warmiwanusca is almost 14000 ft high and even the porters who are used to higher altitudes had difficultly.

- Although the most heavily traveled portion of the Inca trail is only about 20 miles long, most of that distance is either going up or down over rough stone steps which can be tough on the knees.

- You can expect to find many internet cafes, even in relatively remote areas. The cafes are incredibly cheap, just a few soles per hour, so they are good way of staying in touch with friends and relatives not lucky enough to go with you.

- Bring sunscreen and insect repellent. Mosquitos are a problem both in the Amazon and in central mountain areas.

- Don't count on having working phones in hotel rooms.

- Learn the words "no gracias". Because Peru is a very poor country many people are very entrepeneurial and try to make a living selling tourists merchandise. Furthermore, in many areas restaurant maitre d's will follow you while you walk, trying to convince you to eat at their establishment.

- It helps if you learn at least some basic Spanish. At a minimum learn the numbers.

- The airports all have a departure tax. You should find out ahead of time and plan to have enough money to pay for this.

- There are many laundromats in areas such as Cusco which are very cheap to use.

- If you are using a portable hard drive to store your digital images, they will work fine at high altitudes. Just set it on a flat surface and be careful not to bump it while transfering data.