Mercado "San Blas"

This guide to the Mercado San Blas in Cusco steps away from the souvenir stalls of San Pedro and into the artists' quarter, where a small covered market has opened at six every morning for more than half a century. You'll meet the neighbors, painters and grandmothers who fill it before the tour buses are even awake, and hear what lands in the bowls and on the counters: caldo de gallina, steaming tamales, fresh-blended juices. It's less a sightseeing stop than a way of watching a neighborhood wake up and eat, one plastic stool at a time.