While some parts of Peru have become increasingly popular, such as Cusco, and are filled to the brim with bustling tourists, there are still some secret spots that are well worth the adventure and will bring you into contact with the real Peru. Below are some not to be missed spots where it’s guaranteed you’ll be the only foreigner around for miles.
Ayacucho Peru’s highland indigenous peoples still live nestled in the rolling hills of the Andes Mountain range and continue to retain many of their traditional lifestyles.
The best opportunity to visit and see the richness of this historical culture is travel to Peru’s most delightful Andean City, Ayacucho, which due to violence in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as its lack of roads connecting it to other parts of Peru, remains one of the least-visited cities in the whole country.
This gives you the opportunity to soak in its colonial atmosphere and original architecture as well as its surrounding mountains and archaeological sites without any crowds of jostling tourists.
A trip to Ayacucho, the jewel of the central Peruvian sierra is of course not complete without seeing the famous handicrafts so make sure to visit the Museo de Arte Popular to see the beautiful woodcarvings and weavings that indigenous people still hand-make.
The cathedral and Plaza de Armas in Ayacucho are arguably the best-preserved colonial architecture in Peru. One of the best sites is the Vilcashuaman Archeological Site which was an important Incan administrative center.
Here remains the ruins of a town that was once home to 40,000 ancient Incans. Visitors can still see a large plaza where ceremonies were performed surrounded by the Sun Temple and the Ushnu, a pyramid with interesting designs known as the Seat of the Inca.
Kuelap, Chacapoyas Rival in size and beauty only to its southern counterpart, Machu Picchu, Kuelap is a breathtaking fortress on the top of a mountain in Chacapoyas, built as a citadel by an ancient jungle culture and nearly reaching into the clouds, invisible to passerby below the mountain.
The ruins are located in tropical jungle region of Peru and are about one hour from the town of Chacapoyas or 3-4 hours from larger Tingo. To reach these ruins is considerably daunting and the lack of comforts in the journey has kept many tourists away.
First take a bus either from Cajamarca or Chiclayo to arrive to the town of Chachapoyas. The route is bouncy, but the views are incomparable in their beauty.
Plan to spend a couple of nights in Chachapoyas as there are no other hotels close to the ruins and the town is surprisingly beautiful as it is nestled in the clouds and overlaid with a mysterious mist. From there it is about 27 km to reach the ruins but it can often take over three to four hours to arrive via collectivo. Once you arrive expect to be completely alone in the cloud-covered fortress, enjoying the ancient citadel and taking in the views down in the valley.
source :http://articles.submityourarticle.com/Travel_&_Leisure
