We were able to catch a luxury ride to Ollantaytambo in a sedan for about 20 soles. Upon arrival we had absolutely no idea where our hostal was. However, the good karma from picking up Jonas' laundry that morning was intact (although why he chose a street with a zillion lavanderias, requiring me to go into each one asking if my ticket was for that particular store, I will never know) and we happened to literally be standing in front of our hostal's doors.
We walked around the little town; we were literally able to walk from one end to the other in under thirty minutes. It was gorgeous, and the ambience provided by the little creek was lovely. We found a fair trade store that had been recommended to us by the group of Brits staying at our hostal in Cusco, and the girl managing the the shop that day was the absolute sweetest, offering us advice about Machu Picchu and where to eat in town.
Classic us, we following none of her advice and chose a hole in the wall place where we noticed several "Policia Nacional" officers were eating named "Bar-Restaurante Sergio". For 6soles we were able to have a corn crema soup and this delicious plate of veggies, rice, meat, and potatoes. Heaven. Perfection. Chelsea vs. Madrid Athletica was playing on the T.V. so we were also able to simulataneously get our fix of watching fútbol with the locals. Me being me, obviously started a convo up in Spanish with the lady sitting next to us. It was an ideal meal to start off our countdown to one of the great wonders of our world!
We then decided to hike to the "free ruin" up on the hillside. The "gratis" factor completely makes sense as it is rather treacherous getting up to the steep hillside ruins. We agreed that we both experienced mild vertigo when climbing down the hillside, because you could see clear over the ledge. However, it was absolutely gorgeous at sunset and completely worth it... We had established a strict rule that neither of us were permitted to get sick or injured prior to Machu Picchu, so no unnecessary risks were to be taken. The view of the town was stunning and we were able to see clear over the valley to see the "not-free" ruin on the opposing hillside.
We rewarded ourselves with a tea, learning that "ginger" was not, in fact, "jengibre" as we originally thought, but "kion" in Peru. [Lesson learned: never let a Frenchman eat each you words in Spanish!] The mint tea was delicious, the plum brownie even more so. We ended up people-watching and observing (and cursing) the insane, loud, honking, photo-taking tourists and their absurd number of tour buses in the Plaza de las Armas. Real dinner was in order, so we decided to try the soups at this little corner restaurant called "La Esquina" ironically enough. The owner insisted we only speak in Spanish to him so we could practice, and was extremely supportive of our Spanish education. The quinua (as Peruvians spell it) soup and the zanahorria/kion soup were superb and satiated our craving for cooked and sterile vegetables. Eventually this sweet older American couple sat at our table. They asked about our trip and our lives and told us about their daughter who was working for a medical fellowship. It was kind of like having a mom and dad at the table, discussing topics ranging from life advice to locations we wanted to travel to taking the ritual ayahuasca plant (we now have a documentary to watch about this particular ritual once we return home]. There is something nice about talking to travelers who have enough life experience to make me actually want to listen to their advice. We ended up sitting with this couple for almost 2 hours as the lady drank two cappuccinos, claiming they were the absolute best she had ever had. All in all, Ollanta, as the locals call it, definitely treated us well, but I am practically antsy with excitement for Machu Picchu!
Buenas noches,
EmBoss
P.S. This hostal, Chaska Wasi, is our first official hostal that requires us to turn the water on/off in our dorm's bathroom in order to shower or use the servicios... Super random and hilarious!
