5 Best Sights in The Central Highlands, Peru

Recent excavations at this massive archaeological site have uncovered multilevel underground galleries, burial chambers, circular plazas, arched portals, and other architectural magnificences. Together they make this capital city of the Huari culture one of the most impressive non-Inca ruins in the Peruvian sierra. The Huari flourished from around 700 to 1200 AD, and wandering the quiet alleys of this 5,000-acre complex gives you a sense of how its 60,000 residents lived, worshipped, and died. Especially noteworthy are the temples and communal tombs. There's a small museum on-site with mummies and ceramics, as well as a lounge to rest in after roaming the cactus-covered grounds. The best way to visit is to take a tour from a travel agency in town for S/30, as taxis andcollectivos to the site are sporadic and hard to figure out.

Four long hours south of Ayacucho on winding, unpaved roads is the former Inca provincial capital of Vilcashuamán, set where the north–south Inca highway crossed the east–west trade road from Cusco to the Pacific. You can still see the Templo del Sol y de la Luna and a five-tiered platform, known as the Ushnu, crowned by an Inca throne and surrounded by stepped fields once farmed by Inca peasants. An hour's walk from Vilcashuamán (or a half-hour's walk south past the main road from Ayacucho) is the Intihuatana, where Inca ruins include a palace and tower beside a lagoon. Former Inca baths, a Sun temple, and a sacrificial altar can also be seen on the grounds. Check out the unusual, 13-angled boulder, one of the odd building rocks that are an Inca hallmark. Ayacucho travel agencies can organize tours of both sites (S/65), or you can catch a bus or colectivo for S/15–S/20. Ask around to confirm where these public transport options are leaving from, as pickup points change frequently.

This ruined temple was built by the pre-Inca Huanca culture between 800 and 1200 AD. It consists of stone walls enclosing cells where captives were held prior to being sacrificed, as well as underground conduits to bring water to the region. You can still see the sacred spring that flows through the channels; legend says that this spring gave rise to the foreparents of the Huanca people. Several mummies have been discovered at the site. The closest village is Huari, which has a little museum on the main square with ceramic figures, pottery, and a few bones and skulls.

Considered one of South America's oldest temples, the 4,000-year-old Kotosh is famous for the Templo de las Manos Cruzadas (Temple of the Crossed Hands). Some of the oldest Peruvian pottery relics were discovered below one of the niches surrounding the main room of the temple, and the partially restored ruins are thought to have been constructed by a pre-Chavín culture whose origins are still unknown. Inside the temple you'll see re-created images of the crossed hands. The original mud set is dated 2000 BC and is on display in 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/20 for the round-trip journey from Huánuco, including a half-hour to sightsee.

Also known as Huánuco Viejo, this was formerly the ancient capital city of Chinchaysuyo, the northern portion of the Inca Empire. These highland pampas contain Inca ruins and are near the town of La Unión, a S/30 taxi ride from Huánuco. Note the trapezoidal double-jamb doorways, an Inca hallmark. During the last week of July, the Fiesta del Sol (Sun Festival) takes place at the ruins.