You'll be pleased to know that Inti Raymi, or ‘the festival of the sun’ to you and I, no longer involves mass sacrifice as it did once upon a time. There's no bloodshed in the nine-day theatrical reenactment happening in Cusco, Peru; instead involving huge banquets, colourful costumes, speeches in the native Incan language and folk dances to celebrate the winter solstice. There's a fake llama execution too, which still sounds a bit creepy. peru.travel
The Palacio del Inka has history on its doorstep. Not only is it right in the middle of historic Cusco, but it's opposite the preserved ruins of Koricancha, dubbed the ‘Temple of the Sun’. Even the hotel's spa treatments draw on indigenous Inca traditions, while the restaurant serves up excellent Andean cuisine. This is about an Incan as you're ever going to get, folks.
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Peru’s frothy national cocktail might not look that appealing, but it makes a refreshing cocktail to end a day of fake llama executions. It's made from white grape brandy, egg whites, lemon juice, sugar and bitters, and the Peruvians insist it was concocted in Lima, despite cunning Chileans trying to claim it as their own. It doesn't really matter where it came from, let's be honest – we're just interested in drinking them.
