Ollantaytambo
After a good night’s sleep, I made my way back to the airport this morning to catch my 11:10am flight to Cusco. The Cusco airport is very small, with only three conveyor belts in baggage claim and 30 feet beyond those is the taxi stand area. I grabbed my bag and went outside where I found Cesar. I booked a taxi to take me to Ollantaytambo, and he was outside waiting holding a sign with my name on it. We introduce ourselves, and he asks if I speak Spanish. I tell him “un poco,” and that’s about how much English he speaks, so we had a quiet two-hour ride through Cusco and then countryside until we got to Ollanta (the shortened name of the town people use). It’s a pretty little town, and I look forward to exploring a little this evening and then more fully tomorrow. I haven’t had any symptoms of altitude sickness yet, but I’ve read it’s smart to really take it easy the first couple of days to get acclimated.
Once I got to my accommodations, a cute little “lodge”ran by a married couple (she’s a local to this region, while he’s Belgian), Edith checked me in, and I got settled into my room. There’s no TV, which I think will be nice for a while, though there is internet. I’ve been advised not to take a shower from 10:00pm to 6:00am due to low water pressure. No problem. There’s no A/C, but it’s very mild here, and the window opens. Unfortunately, my window looks out over the street instead of the river, though I can hear the river unless there’s a loud vehicle passing by.
[Photos above: My room and the view outside in the late afternoon]
On the way here, I saw a wide variety of wandering animals, including a lot of obviously stray dogs wearing sweaters, as well as: donkeys, chickens, sheep, goats, cows, and what some free-range pigs (no sweaters on any other animals, sadly). I also saw a woman selling cuy (guinea pig) tamales at her roadside cart, and I’ve been hungry ever since!
I already researched a place I want to try for dinner called Apu Veronica. It’s a 15-minute walk from the lodge, and I decided to have a walk around town to get my bearings before landing at the restaurant. It’s a lovely little town! I will say that I picked a poor time to go for a walk, because it was right around the time all the day tours were getting back so the very narrow streets were absolutely packed with vans and buses. There are sidewalks, in theory, but people just kind of walk wherever and no one seems to mind too much. I survived my walk, and I feel like I know a basic layout of the town now. It’s time to eat dinner!
[Photos above: Urubamba River looking back towards the lodge I’m staying at; Ollantaytambo; street dogs]
Apu Veronica was fantastic! I tried my first Inka Cola, which smells like bubblegum and tastes more or less like cream soda. Then I ordered a local IPA, which was excellent, to have with my main course called envidia. From the menu description: “Combinations of volcanic stone-grilled meats, tenderloin, alpaca, and lamb, served with organic salad, Andean potatoes, and house sauces.” I’d estimate it was 4oz each of the meats, and they were all melt-in-your-mouth delicious with some chimichurri and a lemony mayo.
After dinner, I walked around a bit more, picked up some bottled water, and headed back to the room. I’m going to take it easy for the remainder of the evening so I’m fresh tomorrow morning. I’m thinking I will have breakfast and go for an early hike to one or both of the archeological parks (Incan ruins) in town followed by more exploring!
Daily step count: An underwhelming 12,070. It’s tough to get steps on travel days, plus the steps in Ollantaytambo should be worth more since I’m at 8,000ft!
