2 Best Sights in Huanuco, The Central Highlands

Also known as Huánuco Viejo, this 2-square-km (0.8-square-mile) complex was formerly the capital city of Chinchaysuyo, the northern portion of the Inca Empire. The town was constructed in the late 1400s, during the reign of Túpac Yupanqui, and served as an important administrative outpost for the region. Here the Incas would temporarily house agricultural products en route from the Pacific coast to Cusco, as well as settle disputes among the vassal tribes their generals had overrun. When you visit, you'll find temples, storage areas, and kanchas (single-room structures encircling an open patio), all built around a central ushnu, or platform. Note the trapezoidal double-jamb doorways—an Inca hallmark. The site is near the small village of La Unión, a S/50 taxi ride from Huánuco.  During the last week of July, the Fiesta del Sol (Sun Festival) takes place at the ruins.

Considered one of South America's oldest religious sanctuaries, the 4,000-year-old Kotosh is famous for its Templo de las Manos Cruzadas (Temple of the Crossed Hands). The partially restored ruins are thought to have been constructed by a pre-Chavín culture whose origins are still unknown; some of the oldest Peruvian pottery relics in existence were discovered below one of the niches surrounding the temple's main room. Inside, you'll see only a replica of the image of the crossed hands: the original mud molding is dated 2000 BC and stored at Lima's Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología e Historia del Perú.

The site was named Kotosh, Quechua for "pile," in reference to the piles of rocks found strewn across the fields. Taxi fare is S/30 for the round-trip journey from Huánuco, including a half hour to sightsee.