Ollantaytambo & Cuzco (June 22 & 23, 2006)

Lincoln and I had slept in yesterday while the others got up early to go to MP, so we volunteered to get up early this morning to go buy train tickets for everyone. We thought that there might be a big backlog of people wanting tickets since so many trains had been cancelled the previous day, so we wanted to get there as soon as the ticket office opened. Unfortunately for us, the ticket office opened at 4:30am! We made it there by 4:20 and there was already a line, but it was all locals so we figured we were okay. There was a train at 5:45 that the locals wanted to get on, but we wanted the 8:30am train. We got to the front of the line and the lady said there was lots of space on it, which was great. We couldn’t buy the tickets for the others because we didn’t have their passports, but the lady said that they could come around 7:00 and there wouldn’t be a problem. In the end we could of slept in, but we figured it was better to be safe than sorry. We went back to the hostel and went back to sleep until around 6:30.

We managed to get free breakfast at the hostel. It was included with the matrimonial room, but not the triple, but the lady said we had stayed there enough nights that it didn’t matter! We had been there four nights, and while AC is in a nice setting, we were glad to be leaving and moving on.

The train arrived in Ollantaytambo at 10:15, which would give us enough time to visit the ruins and then continue on to Cuzco. We told Maria at Kuntur Wasi that we would all be returning on the 22^nd and we knew she would worry if we didn’t arrive. We walked into the town, stopping to eat on the way in and a very little restaurant with tables in the garden. After we ate and continued walking, we wished we had waiting a bit longer because we passed several restaurants that looked nicer. We also passed some very nice hotels/hostels and wished that we could have spent a night here. The town is small, and 70% of it is built on original Incan foundations, with quaint cobbled streets and original Inca walls everywhere. The ruins are right beside the main square, overlooking the town, and it was easy to imagine what the town must have been like five hundred years ago. We hired a guide (Rodney) to show us around the ruins, and he gave us an excellent tour that lasted almost two hours. The ruins were much bigger than we expected, and also had sections that were from pre-Inca civilizations.

After visiting the ruins, we went to the small local museum that had some interesting exhibits on the local culture and small models of the town. We then toyed with taking the local buses back to Cuzco, which would involve a change in Urubamba and would take about 2 ½ hours, but in the end we opted for a taxi that cost 50s, and crammed five of us into it. I sat on Lincoln’s knee the whole way back, which was 1 ½ hours. When we arrived in Cuzco, there were more parades going on for Corpus Christi. We realized that except for the days we were hiking or on the tour of the Titicaca islands, and one day in AC, we have seen a parade every single day that we have been in Peru. We don’t know if it’s just the time of year or if they have parades this often all year long, but it’s certainly entertaining!

We went to Jack’s for dinner because were in the mood for some non-local food. It wasn’t cheap, but it was yummy. Jessica bought us dinner to thank us for all the work we had done arranging her trip for her (lots of research and info provided to them!). Thanks Jessica!

June 23

Today was mostly a relaxing day – we slept in, went for breakfast at the bakery, downloaded pictures, and wandered around Cuzco. We also booked our jungle tour to Manu, after deciding to do the four-day trip with Manu Adventures, which includes some mountain biking, river rafting, and a zip-line canopy tour. It is actually only two days in the jungle, since the first and last day is spent driving there and back.

Jessica, Kat and Phil took a half-day city tour in the afternoon, which includes the ruins that are just outside Cuzco. Lincoln and I wandered around the town a bit more and then went back to the hostel to get caught up in our journals and read until the others returned. They got back late (7:00), and we were super hungry by then. We decided to go to the only Indian restaurant in town, and it is actually run by people from India so it was very authentic and delicious. It is new and has only been open since March of this year. If anyone is looking for it, it is near Plaza San Blas. Tonight was Phil & Kat’s treat, also to thank us for all the work we did planning their trip. Thanks Phillip & Kathleen!