Things to do in Central Highlands
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Detrás de la Catedral
This well-run, attractively presented place exudes a woody, warm feeling and has garnered plenty of regular patrons with its broad menu selection – helped by a user-friendly picture menu decoder. Enjoy filling burgers (veggie or carnie), specials like asado catedral (barbecued meats done in house style) and tasty desserts like chocolate-drenched pionono helado (pastry with caramel filling). Surrealist paintings grace the walls.
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La Leña
This is the most lavish place around (check the waterfall at the entrance) to sample parrilladas (grills), as well as the usual chicken dishes in the company of well-heeled, carnivorous locals. Several branches are found city-wide and it does delivery.
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Casa del Artesano
Casa del Artesano, on the south corner of the plaza, has a wide range of art souvenirs for sale in a somewhat secure environment.
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Semana Santa
Ayacucho's Semana Santa celebration, held the week before Easter, has long been considered Peru's finest religious festival and it attracts visitors - though relatively few foreigners - from all over the country. Rooms in the better hotels are booked well in advance, and even the cheapest places fill completely. The tourist office has lists of local families who provide accommodations for the overflow.
Each year, iPerú prints a free brochure describing the Semana Santa events with street maps showing the main processions. Visitors are advised to use this detailed information. The celebrations begin on the Friday before Palm Sunday and continue for 10 days until Easter Sun…
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Museo de Arte Popular
The Museo de Arte Popular is in the 18th-century Casa Chacón, adjoining the Banco de Crédito. The popular art covers the ayacucheño (natives of Ayacucho) spectrum – silverwork, rug- and tapestry-weaving, stone and woodcarvings, ceramics (model churches are especially popular) and the famous retablos (ornamental religious dioramas). These are colorful wooden boxes varying in size and containing intricate papier-mâché models; Peruvian rural scenes or the nativity are particularly popular, but some interesting ones with political or social commentary can be seen here. Old and new photographs show how Ayacucho changed during the 20th century. Opening hours here change fr…
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Temple of Kotosh
The archaeological site of the Temple of Kotosh is also known as the Temple of the Crossed Hands because of the life-sized mud molding of a pair of crossed hands, which is the site’s highlight. The molding dates to about 2000 BC and is now at Lima’s Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología e Historía del Perú; a replica remains. Little is known about Kotosh, one of the most ancient of Andean cultures. The temple site is not in great shape, but is easily visited by taxi (S12, including a 30-minute wait and return) or the bus to La Unión. In the hills 2km above the site, Quillaromi cave has impressive prehistoric paintings. Kotosh is about 5km west of town off t…
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Cathedral
The 17th-century cathedral, on the Plaza de Armas, has a religious-art museum. The cathedral and a dozen other colonial churches from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries are well worth a visit for their incredibly ornate facades and interiors, mainly Spanish baroque but often with Andean influences evinced by the plants and animals depicted. Ayacucho claims to have 33 churches (one for each year of Christ's life) but there are in fact several more.
The most important of Ayacucho's churches are marked on the map. Except for during Semana Santa (when churches are open for most of the day), opening hours are erratic; ask at the tourist office.
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Señor Alejandro Cipriano
Perhaps the most interesting excursion on the east side is a visit to the twin villages of Cochas Grande and Cochas Chico, about 11km from Huancayo. These villages are the major production centers for the incised gourds that have made the district famous. Oddly enough, the gourds are grown mainly on the coast, in the Chiclayo and Ica areas. Once transported into the highlands, they are dried and scorched, then decorated using woodworking tools. The house of Señor Alejandro Cipriano is recommended for seeing the finished products.
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Museo Arqueológico Hipólito Unanue
The Museo Arqueológico Hipólito Unanue is in the Centro Cultural Simón Bolívar at the university, located more than 1km from the town center along Independencia – you can’t miss it. Wari ceramics make up most of the small exhibition, along with relics from the region’s other various civilizations. While there, check out the university library for a free exhibition of mummies, skulls and other niceties. The buildings are set in a botanical garden. The best time to visit the museum is in the morning: afternoon hours sometimes aren’t adhered to.
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Wari Ruins
An attractive 37km road climbs about 550m to Quinua, 20km along which you will pass the extensive Wari ruins sprawling for several kilometers by the roadside. The five main sectors of the ruins are marked by road signs; the upper sites are in rather bizarre forests of Opuntia cacti. If you visit, don’t leave the site too late to look for onward or return transport – vehicles can get hopelessly full in the afternoon. Note that you have to pay the full fare to Quinua and remind the driver to drop you off at the ruins.
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Alfonso Sulca Chavez
Ayacucho is famous as a handicraft center, and a visit to the Museo de Arte Popular will give you an idea of local products. The tourist office can recommend local artisans who will welcome you to their workshops. The Santa Ana barrio is particularly well known. The area around the Plazuela Santa Ana has various workshops, including that of Alfonso Sulca Chavez, whose family has been weaving here for three generations.
Sulca's weavings cost considerably less when bought directly from the artist rather than from shops in Lima.
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Huancahuasi
The local eatery of choice for breakfast through to early evening is this classy establishment. A flower-filled courtyard and walls decorated with San Pedro de Cajas tapestries and local poems set the ambience for tucking into regional goodies like pachamanca, papas a la huancaína and ceviche de trucha (river-trout ceviche). It’s all well presented and the service comes with a smile. North-west of town, Real becomes Mariscal Castilla in El Tambo district. A taxi ride from the center is S3.
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Feria Dominical
Feria Dominical, the Sunday craft market, occupies numerous blocks along Huancavelica to the north-west of Piura. There are numerous non-craft items as well as weavings, textiles, embroidered items, ceramics and wood carvings. Mates burilados (carved gourds) and many other items from various villages in the Río Mantaro valley are also sold here – handy if you don’t have time to make the trek out to the villages yourself. Keep an eye on your valuables though.
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Prefectura
Most of the old mansions are now mainly political offices and can be visited, usually during business hours. The offices of the Department of Ayacucho (the Prefectura) on the Plaza de Armas are a good example. The mansion was constructed between 1740 and 1755 and sold to the state in 1937. On the ground floor is a pretty courtyard where visitors can see the cell of the local heroine of independence, María Parado de Bellido. Go upstairs to see some excellent tilework.
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La Estancia
Northwest of town, Real becomes Av Mariscal Castilla in the El Tambo district. La Estancia does a great lunchtime pachamanca containing cuy, pork, lamb, potatoes, beans and tamales among other possible ingredients, wrapped in leaves and cooked in an underground earth oven (basically, a hole in the ground). Go early and watch them disinter it. Cheaper plates also available.
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Museo Andrés Avelino Cáceres
The Museo Andrés Avelino Cáceres is housed in the Casona Vivanco, a gorgeous 16th-century mansion. Cáceres was a local man who commanded Peruvian troops during the War of the Pacific (1879–83) against Chile. Accordingly, the museum houses maps and military paraphernalia from that period, as well as colonial art: check the painting of the Last Supper – with cuy !
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Astronomical Observatory
Tarma is high in the mountains and the clear nights of June, July and August provide ideal opportunities for stargazing, though the surrounding mountains do limit the amount of observable heavens. A small astronomical observatory is run by the owners of Hospedaje Central: admission includes an entertaining talk (in Spanish) on constellations and a peek at some stars.
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San Cristóbal Mineral Springs
These mineral springs are fed into two large, slightly murky swimming pools. The lukewarm water supposedly has curative properties. You can rent a towel, soap and a bathing suit if you’ve forgotten yours (though the selection is limited and unlovely). You can reach the springs via a steep flight of stairs – enjoy the view of the city as you climb.
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Restaurant Señorial/El Braserito
Two restaurants rolled into one (just one side is opened if it’s slow), this is the local favorite, judging by the non-stop crowds. Sprightly service, huge portions and cheerful surroundings with mirrored walls and neon signs lure diners in. The wholesome menu features the usual Peruvian standards, including traditional dishes like cuy (guinea pig).
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La Pergola
Upstairs with a plaza view and courtly atmosphere, La Pergola offers a varied menu ranging from inexpensive sandwiches and snacks to full-blown meals. The daily midday menú is usually a very good option though the chicken fried rice is exceptionally filling and goes down well with a bottle of Cusqueña Malta (malt) beer.
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Panadería Koky
This modern bakery-coffee shop is a contender for the best breakfast stop in the Central Andes, serving tasty sandwiches, pastries, empanadas, real espresso and other coffees. It’s lively from morning until evening and now even does a line in pizzas and other more substantial fare. There’s live music sometimes from the upstairs balcony.
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Palacio del Marqués
On the north side of the plaza are several fine colonial houses, including the Palacio del Marqués, at Portal Unión 37, which is the oldest and dates from 1550. There are various others scattered around the town center, many housing professional offices; the tourist office can suggest which ones to visit.
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El Mejorcito de Tarma
From Chiclayo, the owner of this restaurant decided upon arrival in Tarma some years ago that the restaurant food in town wasn’t good enough. The positive result is the Mejorcito (the ‘bestest’). The modest menu runs the gamut of Peruvian favorites, with grilled trout being a less obvious but excellent choice.
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Adolfo's Gourmet
If you can score one of the seven outside balcony tables, you'll dine with one of the best views in Ayacucho: the Plaza de Armas and all its activity. Upstairs on the 2nd floor Adolfo's does pizzas, pastas and a sprinkling of Peruvian dishes. Good sangria and excellent pizza make for a satisfying feed.
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La Divina Comida
Capitalizing no doubt on Dante's comedy classic there is nonetheless nothing infernal about the simple meatless fare at this busy hole-in-a-wall. Hearty fried rice, tortillas with spinach and lomo a la macho feature on a small but refreshing menu in an otherwise meat-dominated culinary scene.
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