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Published: February 2nd 2016
When I returned from Machu Picchu, I stopped first for lunch as I was starving. And thirsty! I picked a cute little restaurant which looked right out on to the river. I ordered a soda and a water, as well as a personal pizza and avocado vinegarette, the appetizer that I had the previous night that I just loved. Unfortunately, this was not nearly as good - it was smothered in a mayonnaise based dressing rather than a vinegarette. Yuck. Oh well, at least I got to check my email on the slow connection.
Then I went next door to my hostel, where i had told the guy that morning I anticipated I would be back around 3. It took about ten minutes to get anyone to come see me at reception and even then, I had to shout upstairs at the guy in spanish with the raging river noise in the background when he then proceeded to tell me the room wouldn't be ready at 4. He was not the most friendly about it either. After the previous hostel in Santa Theresa, I was tired of being treated like an annoying backpacking tourist. They are seriously so mean in
some of these places. They don't like the gringos, so why do they put them up? I decided to walk around and see if I could find another hostel. Instead, I found a small hotel tucked up in the corner of town right next to the main square called Gringo Bill's. Oh em gee. What a difference this made! The head guy came downstairs and offered me a room for $40 a night so I said yes. I went back and got my bag from the crappy hostel and when I went to my new room, I knew I made the right decision. I had a huge, comfortable, queen sized bed, a balcony, a huge bathroom with hot water, soap and shampoo, buffet breakfast included, and a flat screen tv. So. Much. Better. And for just twice as much. Not to mention how incredibly nice the staff was too! The only thing that was weird was there seemed to be a peep hole in the door that stared straight at the bed; I covered it up. So, I took a nap and was able to watch tv for the first time in two weeks.
The next day, I got
a phone call at 7:30 telling me breakfast was ready. Wow, what a breakfast - a buffet of fruit, bread, made to order eggs with cheese, and pancakes. I was so full. I wandered around town that morning and rebooked my train ticket for the next day, telling the hotel that I would stay an extra night. I mostly took it easy during the day, taking a nice long shower and watching tv. Late afternoon, I walked up to the hot springs. It was a great walk and cost 10 soles to get in. However, I guess I got spoiled from the springs at Santa Theresa as I almost turned around here. The baths were small, dirty and very crowded. I seriously stood there looking down debating on whether I even wanted to go in. I decided I was here and I may as well try. So, I picked a tub toward the bottom with less people and it was like tepid bathwater. I guess it was dirty because the bottom is rocks, but I also didn't see any type of circulation through the pools either, so I'm guessing they were pretty dirty as well. Feeling gross, I tried one
more pool at the top, which was marginally hotter. I think I stayed for a total of 7 minutes before I left. Oh well.
My last day, I had planned to hike up Putukusi, which is the mountain across from Machu Picchu, but it was dumping rain and it gave me an easy excuse to not go! 😊 After another big yummy breakfast, I took a nap, then walked through town, doing some souvenir shopping at the crafts market. At around 10 am, the power went out and after about half an hour I went to town instead. Turns out the entire town was out of power; I never got an explanation as to why. I later had a small lunch at the Italian restaurant near my hotel. The pizza here actually looked really good and authentic, but I just had bruscetta and beer. While here, it started to pour rain yet again and it was pretty neat to see the drainage systems working so well throughout town. The hotel had told me I could pay half price and stay until it was time to catch my 4:22pm train, so I did.
When it was time to leave,
it was raining again, but I walked the short 7 minute walk to the station and waited. I think with the power out there was some confusion when it came to boarding locations. It was a tiny station, but there were two train companies operating at different doors, which was not initially obvious. But I found my train and my seat, a little sad it was not a window seat, but I shared the table with three friendly older Australians who had done the Inca Trail trek. There were also skylights above which were amazing when we started to move through the canyons. There were two coach attendants who gave us drinks and a small snack. The train itself was absolutely lovely on the inside and well done. As discussed with an English girl a few days before, I don't mind paying money when you can see where it goes and I have to say that they do some good work in this region with the tourist revenues.
I was a little worried upon arriving in Ollantaytambo because this was the end of the line for the train and I was unsure about how to get to Cuzco. No
Peru Rail
back to Cuzco!problem since as soon as I stepped off the train, people were shouting for "taxis" to Cuzco. A guy offered me a ride for 10 soles and so I said ok and he walked me to the shuttle bus. Turns out the Australians were on that bus too, not to mention a group of very loud Germans who literally talked the whole entire two hour journey. One of the interesting things I noted on the bus ride was how many people I saw peeing out in the open; a local woman squatted down right next to us, and I saw at least two guys peeing into the ditches as we drove by. Strange. It was a nice ride, busy and only on a two lane twisting road, but we made it back to the old town area a little after 8 and I was in my room at my hostel by 8:20pm. And pretty much straight to sleep!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Peru
Loved our time in Peru. Thank you for the memories.