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Peru went through multiple architectural periods with the older Incan and other tribal civilizations moving into the European colonization. Much of Peruvian architecture is a combination of older styles mixed with Spanish architecture. As well as this, Portuguese influence made the use of tiles in houses along the river.

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Although it may seem odd to us, guinea pig is a key part of Peruvian cuisine. Guinea pigs aren’t domesticated household pets like they are in the United States and are merely an indigenous animal of the region. Cuy, or guinea pig, is a delicacy in Peru and has been a staple in Andean cuisine for the past 5,000 years. Most of the time, cuy is eaten fried or roasted similarly to how we prepare chicken.

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Don't leave Peru without trying...

Cuy (pronounced "kwee"), which is...guinea pig. While it might seem unconventional to tuck into furry critters better known as domesticated pets in the West, this indigenous mammal has been a staple in Peru's Andean diet for around 5,000 years. (It even has its own national holiday on the second Friday of October.)

How it's prepared

These rodents require little space and happily hoof up vegetable scraps, factors that make them ideal to farm. Gourmet cuy, however, are fed an exclusively alfalfa diet to ensure the meat is as tender as possible. They're often cooked whole-yes, with the head, teeth, ears, and other parts left intact-and doused in salt and garlic to crisp up the skin.

Two popular dishes are cuy chactado, a dish native to Arequipa which is squashed under stones then fried; and cuy al palo, where it's roasted over a spit. A wave of Lima's avant garde chefs are going gourmet with the ingredient, using cuy in Nikkei dishes instead of smoked fish, or smoothed out as terrine in tasting menus. There are also cuyerías, restaurants specializing in guinea-pig, found in the Arequipa and Cusco regions. As for the taste, it's sort of like a cross between rabbit and chicken.

How to eat it

With your hands. This is totally acceptable in any restaurant; in fact, confused looks will be cast in your direction should you try to eat it any other way. Keep a bundle of napkins on hand, as things can get a little messy.

How to order

Ask for cuy chactado, the classic, deep-fried, flattened version. In the Andean region, it's accompanied by chunky corn on the cob, yellow potatoes, and a simple salsa criolla. In metropolitan restaurants, fries and an ají huacatay sauce are the norm.

How to pay

At a cuyería, which is most likely in a rural location, payment will probably be cash only. A 10 percent tip is the norm.

Local tips

Do try just a bite. If you're visiting a friend's home or it's your birthday, cuy will likely make it to the table. Given that it's a delicacy and brought out on special occasions, it would be rude not to sample it.

Don't order a cuy to share-it's not large enough for two appetites.

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The One Dish to Try in Peru Is...Guinea Pig

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Cuy (pronounced "kwee"), which is...guinea pig. While it might seem unconventional to tuck into furry critters better known as domesticated pets in the West, this indigenous mammal has been a staple in Peru's Andean diet for around 5,000 years. (It even has its own national holiday on the second Friday of October.)

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Polleras are a typical dress skirt worn in Peru that vary in design and color. They became popular for Peruvians to wear after the Spanish colonized Peru. Polleras are often hand woven with wool and embroidered which makes them time consuming to make, but durable. Many Peruvians also own fancier polleras for festivals and special occasions.

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The history of polleras begins with its name. During Spanish colonization of the Americas, European fashion trends quickly crossed the Atlantic. One of the popular outfits was the long and elegant skirts worn by women. This garment's volume was similar to the round shape of a bird cage (hence the name pollera; pollo means chicken). Soon Andean women began wearing polleras made of sheep or alpaca wool, and mixed the Spanish garment with their pre-Hispanic fashion.

Nowadays the heirs of the first polleras are often seen wearing the garment on any given day, although they tend to bring out of the closet their most special polleras for carnivals and other festivities like Virgen de la Candelaría festival in Puno, where they can wear up to 15 other polleras - or under dresses. Although it would seem that wearing so many layers is too much, it's an Andean custom for women to protect themselves from the cold climate in regions located at higher altitudes.

The delicate process of hand weaving a pollera could take many days. The straps that surround the polleras - and often stand out the most - are called puytos. They're hard-weaved onto the wool fabric and the colors are often bright neon yellow, green or purple. The designs can be themed or represent a special event or memory.

Women with polleras are also seen in Lima. Congresswoman Claudia Coari Mamani was even praised by Bolivia's president Evo Morales for wearing a pollera to Congress meetings with pride and not being afraid of showing her heritage.

Aside from traditional events where women wear polleras, in La Oroya, a town located 12,303 feet (3,750 meters) above sea level, 18- to 60-year-old women gather on International Women's Day - March 8 - to take part in a running race called Nuna Warmy, which means "women's soul" in Quechua. Despite windy and rainy conditions, these women's dress up in polleras and run as a symbol of strength and perseverance. Another sporting event where women wear polleras, especially students from different schools located in high altitude regions, is soccer. Last year, as a celebration of Copa America, girls from different schools in the highland zones of the Lambayeque region played an entire soccer tournament in their polleras.

In the last decade, polleras have also made an appearance in the fashion world. Qarla Quispe is a fashion designer who understands that polleras mean identity. Quispe's work revolves around empowering women and youth, and featuring their cultural heritage in polleras by using urban elements can help them define who they are and where they come from.

Another attempt at promoting the colorful art of polleras at an international level is Polleras de Agus, a project that seeks to rescue the pollera art from regions like Cusco, Huancayo and Huamanga. If you are in Lima and would like to see how they are made, you can visit Gamarra, Lima's biggest clothing outlet, where there's a block dedicated to tailoring this vibrant garment.

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A Brief Introduction to Peru's Vibrant Polleras

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The history of polleras begins with its name. During Spanish colonization of the Americas, European fashion trends quickly crossed the Atlantic. One of the popular outfits was the long and elegant skirts worn by women. This garment's volume was similar to the round shape of a bird cage (hence the name pollera; pollo means chicken).

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Andes Folklórico is a type of music that comes from the Andes region of South America and is said to have originated in Peru specifically. This music uses the countries national instrument, the charango guitar, as well as others like the pan-flute to create a unique melody and rhythm.

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San Pedro market located in Cusco is constantly filled with energy and life. The streets are filled with vendors selling the most exotic of Peruvian cuisines such as alpaca and bile, as well as everyday staples like homemade sausage and bread. The market also is often filled with classic Peruvian music played on the pan-flute.

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A Peek Inside the Massive San Pedro Market in Peru

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17 things you can buy from bags of bile to salted alpaca. ...

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A popular art form in Peru are murals. Murals are seen all over Peru, especially in Lima as many artists are paid to paint buildings as a form of paid and legal street art. The murals often carry a social or political message and can be controversial at times. However, they are most often beautiful and make the city more lively and colorful.

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So what's the main difference between a mural and graffiti? Murals have legal permission from the owners of the facilities or from local government authorities, while usually graffiti doesn't. Also, murals involve more paint and other techniques, while graffiti is more commonly just spray. Regardless of the latter's legality, both are considered street art.

The importance of murals in urban spaces like Barranco is that art becomes democratic, everyone can have access to it. It's also a way to intervene where places that have been abandoned. Murals often follow a more realistic line to make a message clear and understandable for everyone. They tend to carry a social message (sometimes political) connecting with the observer's world and concerns.

2015 was a rocky year for mural artists. A terrible offense took place that March, when the city's current mayor covered over 60 murals in yellow paint (the color of his political party) because he thought these murals didn't match Lima's Historic Centre's character and could eventually lead to its World Heritage Site title removal by the UNESCO. Yet, it seems that Barranco has found that murals embellish the area's hipster atmosphere mixed with the architecture from the more aristocratic era. Murals in Barranco are everywhere, on the facades of bars, museums, cultural centres, as well as parking lots.

In 2015, Barranco's authorities announced a mural contest called "Las Paredes Hablan" (The Walls Speak), where each winning artists was awarded with a space in one of the 15 walls suitable for a span of two years. First prize also received a 5,000 soles award. Around 100 sketches were submitted. The main prize was won by Jonatan Rivera, also known as "Jade", whose art is influenced by magical realism and other figurative expressions. His work can be seen at the Bajada de Baños walkway or on Grau Avenue, near the Metro supermarket. This year, a new contest is scheduled to take place.

Also, Péndulo, a Peruvian artist management platform and traveling gallery put together a one day event called Sinergía Urbana, where renowned artists like Elliot Tupac were summoned to paint murals in the Pasaje Oroya, a passage of the Bajada de Baños walkway. Since then, Pasaje Oroya has become a must-see destination in Barranco. Another initiative to "muralize" the district was "Muraliza tu barrio", a festival organized by the Red de Artistas Barranquinos, a network of artists from Barranco with the aim of democratizing art by promoting a stronger sense of community and identity, and to keep private and public property from getting vandalized.

Even though street art is often disapproved of by certain local authorities, it has become clear that Barranco is becoming Peru's biggest public art gallery.

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A Murals Lover's Tour of Lima's Barranco District

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So what's the main difference between a mural and graffiti? Murals have legal permission from the owners of the facilities or from local government authorities, while usually graffiti doesn't. Also, murals involve more paint and other techniques, while graffiti is more commonly just spray. Regardless of the latter's legality, both are considered street art.

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Machu Picchu is a world wonder as it is one of the oldest cities still remaining in the modern world. It was built in 1450 by Incas for their emperor Pachacuti. However, after the Spanish conquistadors arrived, the Incas were forced to abandon the city only a century later. It is visited year round as one of the most historical sites in South America and in the world.

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In Cusco, at 11,000 feet the mountain weather is kaleidoscopic, and the Inca tradition is palpably present. Cusco is every single thing that Santa Fe, New Mexico would like to be - magnificently Spanish colonial, profoundly Indian, filled with often brilliant crafts, and made entirely of real adobe. Just up the hill is the famed Sacsayhuaman complex of behemoth stones perfectly fitted together by Incan engineers. (A nice place to stay in Cusco is the Hotel Monasterio - a restored monastery now run by the Orient Express.)

The train ride to Aguas Caliente is worth the trip all by itself. Surprisingly, Machu Picchu (at nearly 8,000 feet) itself is in fact lower than Cusco, and it's northwestward, down into the Amazon jungle. As one travels along one sees the biomes change before their eyes. Along the whole way are spectacular rivers, especially the Urubamba, plunging white water without end for miles - it is so relentless and violent, that to this day it has never been kayaked. (When the train stops jump out for some hot corn on the cob offered by locals, with kernels seemingly as big as Inca stonework and purely delicious.)

One is also reminded they are in the Andes. They dwarf all other mountain ranges. So godallmighty huge and steep and inviting and menacing and one marvels at the skill of the Inca and their predecessors, to imagine their mastering these mountains as they did.

If we judge the Greeks and Romans highly because of the excellence of their architecture, what do we make of the Inca, who could be said to surpass them architecturally? In fact the Inca surpass everybody in their reverence for stone and water.

At Machu Picchu sixteen stone waterfalls sequence down one side of the site. All over Machu Picchu massive crafted stones are fit together in near perfect harmony and celebrate the sun, the year cycle, the surrounding mountain shapes, and the way humans take a step.

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In Cusco, at 11,000 feet the mountain weather is kaleidoscopic, and the Inca tradition is palpably present. Cusco is every single thing that Santa Fe, New Mexico would like to be - magnificently Spanish colonial, profoundly Indian, filled with often brilliant crafts, and made entirely of real adobe.