the oldest city in the Americas

Some of the ruins at Caral, a few hours north of Lima, date back to 3,000 BC, making this the second oldest civilisation in the world behind that of Mesopotamia.  Despite this, it is not one of the better-known sites of Peru.  Of course given its age it has suffered a lot of damage, but is still well worth a trip, with at least a dozen different pyramidal structures remaining as well as a couple of sunken circular structures rather like amphitheatres.  You are not allowed to clamber about on the ruins but just following the paths takes over an hour and there is the benefit of few other tourists.  It is also nice to get out of the cold and fog of Lima and into the sunshine...

I had nearly given up on a visit there, due to the price of the tours - the one offered by my hotel, for example, was US$350.  But at the last minute, searching again through the links thrown out by Google and the reports on Trip Advisor, I found a link to a Peruvian government website offering weekend one day tours for an all-in price (transport from and back to Lima, lunch, site entrance and guide) of S/100 - roughly US$30.  Yes it was a little more hassle than a regular tour as once I had filled in the forms I was told to go to a branch of the bank where the government has an account, pay the fee into the account, and then email the receipt number to the government rep.  But it worked, and the tour was excellent value.  For anyone reading this who wants to go, the website is http://www.zonacaral.gob.pe/viajes-educativos/