Trekking at last

---

Ollantaytambo

Packed up after breakfast and headed for the public bus station. Taxi driver was having trouble with my Spanish but as he admitted that he was Italian there was probably some fault on both sides. Bus to Urubamba was 3.5 Soles (approx 90 minutes) and we were early enough to get a seat. Trip was extremely scenic not as bad as wed thought it would be in terms of road safety - certainly no better or worse than most SE Asian countries.

We then boarded a collectivo (mini-van) for the 30 min trip to Ollantaytambo (2 Soles), was fairly packed and again a very scenic trip.

Our pre-booked accom at KB Tambo ($26 USD/room/night) was ready for us but like most accom on the Internet it was somewhat less than advertised. A lot of other hostels had better rooms available for less but in a month or so the busy season will see room prices rise and they will need pre-booking.

Spent the rest of the day getting our bearings in the town. A major stop on the Sacred Valley so many stalls around. A fiesta (celebrating Mothers Day) was occurring in the town square with many in national/festive costumes. Entertainment consisted of bands, puppet shows etc. There was also some kind of lucky ticket draw for women in the crowd and also Bingo. As evening drew on the bands got louder and most of the women and kids disappeared leaving the menfolk to drink on.

Food prices rise the closer you get to Machu Pichu and here is no exception. There is little variation in price between the large number of Cafes in the town so we have been eating in a Cafe (Heart Cafe) that supports womens shelters and kids in the Sacred Valley.

What is unusual here is that a number of the stalls (tourist) sell clothing and handicrafts in coarser materials and with more subdued colours than you normally see. I suspect that these may be more traditional but the brighter, softer (synthetic?) fabrics sell better to the tourists.

A lot of the stalls also have minerals for sale but mainly poor quality and again no information about locality. An exception was one vendor who had two magnificent pyrite caves but they were both too large for me to try and hide in Jill´s pack!

For our second day we explored the Inca and Pre-Inca ruins on the hills on both sides of the town. Very exhausting and we were both relieved to be able to return to the hostel in the late afternoon when some drops of rain began to fall. Hope that this is not a portent of what we will get at MP.

On our last day in Olly we decided to make a trek up a tributary valley of the Urubamba River to some Pre-Inca ruins. Was said to be an easy trek of 2-3 hours each way. We started at 2,800m and slowly rose as we walked up the valley passing a lot of (Inca?) terraces. Eventually we reached a bridge and at this point the trail climbed up the side of the valley in a series of switchbacks. Even though the ascent was gentle it was still taking a lot out of us. We finally saw the ruins but still had at least two switchbacks to cover before reaching them and at this point the weather started to close in. The previous afternoon this area had suffered heavy rain and hail and we were not prepared for this so reluctantly decided to turn for home.

Even though we never made the ruins it was still an interesting and beautiful trip.

Next stop Agua Caliente, for the assault on Machu Pichu

---