2 Best Sights in The North Coast and Northern Highlands, Peru

This ransom chamber is the only Inca building still standing in Cajamarca. After Pizarro and his men captured Atahualpa, the Inca king offered to fill the chamber once with gold and twice with silver. The ransom was met, up to a marking on the stone wall, but the war-hardened Spaniards killed Atahualpa anyway. Today, visitors aren't allowed in the room itself, but if you look closely, you can still make out the marks the Inca left in an attempt to buy off his captors.

To see Huaraz's colonial remnants, head to Jirón José Olaya, a pedestrian-only street that's one of the few places left untouched by the 1970 earthquake. The handsome white-and-green facades stand east of the town center, on the right-hand side of Raimondi and a block behind Confraternidad Inter Este.The best time to visit is on Sunday, when there's a weekly feria de comida típica, a regional street festival with local food and craft stalls.