Blogs from Ollantaytambo, Cusco, Peru, South America - page 5

To be fair, neither my words nor my picutures will ever come close to capturing the beauty of Ollanta. Even as I experience it, I cannot grasp it. What follows is thus an endeavor in futility. These are my first impressions. Every morning I awake to the song of birds and the smell of a wood stove. Sun light beams through my window and beckens me to my feet. The balcony is aglow with early morning light. I stretch and hear the familiar sound of our neighbors radio. This morning, the rythym that could only be a Latino salsa fills the crisp morning air. A rooster anounces the begining of a new day. A humming bird seems to move to the salsa, weaving in and out of the flowers below me. The green mountains take on ... read more

Driving through the Sacred Valley was awesome, unfortunately, the pictures cannot capture how beautiful it really is, and unfortunately for some of you, I tried to take a picture of each changing landscape...which you may be subjected to seeing at some point. :) My goat-like stomach has allowed me to try many of the local specialites, such as guinea pig (never had one as a pet, so I didnt have an issue with that,) lots of cerviche, tea de cocoa for the altitude. We got better view of Lima on the way back. Visited the El Mar restaurant, which was incredible! Then walked to the beach-cliffs. Getting to know my way around Miraflores shops, restaurants and bars. Happened by an art fair last night and I couldn't pass up a painting of Machu Picchu painted by ... read more

Wednesday 14th September I was just thinking a few days ago how lucky we had been that neither of us had been the least bit affected by the food,hygiene or altitude challenges here - and then it hit me! Yesterday saw me laid up in my little ol' single bed (because Shane prefers twin rooms these days lol ) with a good dose of the squirts! Eeeww. Shane met a couple of nice blokes upstairs so he came back to check on me a few later and asked what I felt like for dinner. Now I wasnt feeling too bad at this stage, things had slowed down if you know what I mean, and I felt ok. So we shared a delicious pizza from across the road. Bad move, and this is why we find ourselves ... read more

Tulimme kimppataksilla Ollantaytamboon. Takapenkilla oli lisaksemme perulainen, jonka kanssa riitti juttua koko ajan. Tama kyla on syvassa laaksossa. Kavimme ensin syomassa ja sitten katsomassa paikallisia raunioita. Kävin yksin vielä kiertämässä kylän vanhoilla kujilla. Söimme illalla paikassa, joka lahjoittaa tuottonsa hyväntekeväisyyteen.... read more

We left Ecuador on Thursday afternoon and spent a day and a half in Lima, Peru before catching a flight to Cusco, Peru and then a bus to Ollantaytambo. A couple of small observations about Ecuador. In Banos the local garbage truck drives around and plays music like it is a Mr Whippy Ice cream van. At the Quito Airport they don´t use sniffer dogs they actually use the customs staff to sniff your bags. True story. It happened to us. Ollantaytambo is a beautiful town. It is set in the Sacred Valley and is surrounded by huge mountains, a river that runs through the town and old Inca ruins which are over 500 years old. Our hotel is at the foot of a huge mountain and about 500 meters above our hotel are some Inca ... read more