2 Best Sights in Pisac, Cusco and the Sacred Valley

The market is held every day but is even larger on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, when the ever-present ceramics, jewelry, and textiles on the central plaza share the stage with fruits, vegetables, and grains spilling over onto the side streets. Sellers set up shop about 9 am on market days and start packing up at about 5 pm. The market is not so different from many others you'll see around Peru, only larger. Go on Sunday if your schedule permits; you'll have a chance to take in the 11 am Quechua Mass at the Iglesia San Pedro Apóstolo and watch the elaborate costumed procession led by the mayor, who carries his varayoc, a ceremonial staff, out of the church afterward. Note that the market is not all it used to be: prices have escalated along with its popularity, and you now typically buy from middle men, not the actual weaver.

From the market area, drive or take a taxi for S/15–S/20 one-way up the winding road to the Inca ruins of Pisac. Archaeologists originally thought the ruins were a fortress to defend against fierce Antis (jungle peoples), though there's little evidence that battles were fought here. Now it seems that Pisac was a bit of everything: citadel, religious site, observatory, and residence, and may have served as a refuge in times of siege. The complex also has a temple to the sun and an astronomical observatory, from which priests calculated the growing season each year, but this part of the site was closed in 2015 for safety reasons and there is no set date to reopen. Narrow trails wind tortuously between and through solid rock. You may find yourself practically alone on the series of paths in the mountains that lead you among the ruins, through caves, and past the largest known Inca cemetery (the Inca buried their dead in tombs high on the cliffs). Just as spectacular as the site are the views from it.