Huánuco, Peru - Polarsteps

Huánuco, Peru: population: 236,000. Huánuco sits in a mountain valley at 1898 meters (6227 feet). It's a very pretty valley and quite close to the Amazon region. Huánuco was founded in 1539. The economy is based on agriculture, mining, cattle ranching, oil production, and of course, commerce. The town has a large commercial center. As for interesting sites in the city, other than a couple of old churches there really isn't much of interest. Nothing to attract tourists, anyway. But, outside the city is a different story. One area of particular interest is "El Templo de las Manos Cruzadas" which means "The Temple of the Crossed Hands". It is also called The Temple of Kotosh. It is believed to be one of the oldest temples in the Americas, at about 4000 years old. A few kilometers south is the village of Huacar where you can find a church that dates back to about 1600 and routes to the archeological complex of Atash. You can also visit the Incan ruins and pre-Incan ruins in the area. So, my impressions: There's not much in the city to attract tourists. There is a small lake with an island and two bridges to get to it for sitting in the shade or picnicking, etc. You can rent paddle boats and putter around the lake and around the island. Along the river is a decent park pretty much through the length of the city. There are a couple of very old churches, and that pretty much covers it. The area of the downtown Mercado, the marketplace with hundreds of vendors selling just about anything, is dirty and the surrounding streets, when I was there, were littered very badly. But, the rest of the downtown area was clean. The traffic is, as in all these old cities, terrible.