Talk:Inca Highlands

Merge?

I believe that this article covers the exact same subject as the existing Inca Trail article. Is that correct? If so, it should probably be tagged with {{merge}} so that the information isn't spread across two separate articles. Hopefully the author can comment to clarify whether there is expected to be a difference between this article and the existing itinerary on the Inca Trail. -- Ryan • (talk) • 15:37, 20 September 2015 (UTC)

Hi Ryan,

This article is very intentionally distinct: it is for the whole trip to Peru, featuring the Inca trail, not about the Inca trail itself. It's everything you do before and after (just like city vs. neighborhood articles).

Including this information in the Inca trail article would substantially bloat and distract from the Inca trail article: this article in 11,700 bytes, while the Inca trail article is 13,000 (and I'm in the middle of expanding it substantially). The Inca trail itself is complicated enough, without this.

For example, talking about stops in Lima, the Sacred Valley, and Cusco is out of scope for the Inca trail article, as is extended discussion of alternative treks. Conversely, discussion of trek gear, tour operators, trek timing, etc. is out of scope for this overall article.

This also permits an extended discussion of how to plan the overall itinerary to avoid altitude sickness, which would significantly complicate the Inca trail article: for that article "acclimatize and take ACZ" is enough, since by the time you hit the trail you should be acclimatized.

As they stand I think there's minimal overlap in content, and I can reduce it further.

However, agreed that the name is really confusing; perhaps it could be renamed to be more clearly different, like "Inca highlands"?

—Nils von Barth (nbarth) (talk) 23:15, 20 September 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for clarifying. I definitely think a rename would help avoid confusion, whether the article is renamed to "Inca Highlands" or something else. As the author I'll happily defer to your best judgment on what name to use, but if you need help renaming let me know what name you decide to use and I can assist. -- Ryan • (talk) • 01:33, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Thanks Ryan; I've renamed it and rewritten in (as of this edit) so it's much less Inca trail-centric, and moved the alternative trek info from Inca Trail, helping that article too.

Rewriting it really helped clarify and focus the article; thanks for pushing me to do this!

—Nils von Barth (nbarth) (talk) 03:48, 21 September 2015 (UTC)