Essential Spanish phrases

Altitude sickness. At 3,400 metres it is not a metaphor — headaches, breathlessness, nausea and sleeplessness in the first days are the normal experience, not a sign something is wrong.

Coca leaf tea, offered everywhere on arrival. It genuinely helps with the first days at altitude, it is entirely legal in Peru, and it will show on a drug test elsewhere.

The foreigner ID card issued by MIGRACIONES to residents, renewed every 365 days. Cusco has a regional office, but capacity is smaller than Lima's and appointments go quickly.

Your Peruvian tax status. Until you acquire domicile, Peruvian-source income is withheld at a flat 30% with no deductions — and the switch only happens on 1 January.

The electric water heater, often mounted at the showerhead. At 3,400 metres with no central heating in any building, how a flat heats water is a question worth asking before you sign.

The authority that must approve works in the historic centre. Renovation, signage, cabling and even a satellite dish can require its consent, and refusals are common.

High season, roughly June to August and the dry months either side; low season, the rains from November to March. The whole city's employment, rents and mood run on this cycle.

Seasonal work. Guiding, hospitality and tour operations hire hard in April and shed staff in November, which is why Cusco's foreign population turns over so visibly.

A strike or blockade. Regional paros close roads and sometimes the rail line to Machu Picchu with little notice, and they are a normal feature of life in the Cusco region rather than a rare event.

'How are you?' in Quechua, still the first language of much of the Cusco region. A few words earn a warmth that Spanish alone does not, and are noticed immediately.

105 for the National Police, 116 for the fire service, 106 for SAMU ambulances. Free from any phone, including with no credit.