A culture shock is defined as “ the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone when they are suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes ” and they can be as joyful as they are unnerving, as the Herald ’s Travel and Lifestyle team knows all too well. Roasted guinea pig? No gracias, señor! I like to think I keep an open mind when it comes to local foods. However, in the Cuyerias of Peru, there was one delicacy at which I drew the line.

Guinea pig is not an everyday treat but you’ll see them everywhere in the Andean highlands. Like little sucking pigs, with rodent buck teeth. Kept on the floor of kitchens and the roadside pubs serving corn beer, the fluffy free-range rodents are treated like house pets.

That is until someone orders “roast cuy”. You’ll see them in Cusco market stalls as well as the local churches. In the Cathedral Basilica on Plaza Haukaypata you’ll see one being served to the Apostles in a painting of The Last Supper.

Well, if it’s good enough for Jesus. - Thomas Bywater, Travel Journalist and Multimedia Producer Raise a glass It’s the accidental encounters you remember most. Like the time husband Phil and I gate-crashed a wedding in Vietnam.

It was peak summer, a steamy 35 degrees, and we’d gone on a bike ride over a dauntingly steep hill to a little fishing village north of Da Nang. Following the sounds of raucous music somewhere nearby, we came across a huge open-sided marquee that had been set .