Ollantaytambo Hotels
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Running Water
Entry 14 of 24 | show all | print this entry |
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Surprise, surprise! There is internet in Ollantaytambo, at our lodge! It´s relatively expensive (4 soles per hour, as compared to 1, elsewhere) and more than relatively slow, but nonetheless, it is internet!
Well, what to say about this city, before I head out on the trek, tommorrow? Ollantaytambo is, I´ve been told, the last Inca city... yep, it still uses it´s original Inca foundations, and even the original Inca aquaducts provide the water. Pretty neat! Everywhere you go, you can hear running water, and most of the time, you can see it (although it does go underground, at points). In addition, the city is almost entirely built out of stone with some kind of cement in between. Neat. Visited the ruins, which are practically in or just on the outskirts of the city (I say city, though it´s more a small town, really). Lots, lots, LOTS of stairs, ugh. Neat, though. Took about a million and a half pictures, perhaps. Happily, the entrance was covered as part of my student tourist ticket from Cusco. Spent about an hour and a half just wandering them, observing the Inca aquaducts, the carefully constructed walls, and just the views in general. There were quite a few other tourists on the ruins, as well (Ollantaytambo is a general staging point for Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail, from my understanding).
Our lodge is great. It´s probably the nicest place we have stayed, so far. It´s only about two years old, is fully enclosed, and nicely landscaped. My room has two beds, and a private bathroom (no TV, but the niceness of the rest of the lodge makes up for that, easily). There is also a bar, coffee shop, internet room (where I am... with two computers, new ones, the nicest ones I´ve seen here), and tons of hand-crafted wood furniture to relax on. Sweet. Haven´t tried the shower just yet, but if it does indeed have hot water, as claimed, I think I may be in love with this place. We all got bamboo hiking sticks. I didn´t really want one, but at 3 soles a piece, our leader suggested that if we found we didn´t like them, we can just get rid of them. Fair enough, I guess. Also got a really sweet, sweet pair of mittens for 7 soles... don´t know if they are wool, Alpaca, or what, but they are the "convertible" type, where the top flips back so you can use your fingers (there is even a thumb hole!), and to make them that much better, there are llamas on them. Oh yes.
Dinner was excellent. Don´t recall the name of the place, but they do pizza, pasta... log cabin type building, menu in English, so obviously touristy, but then, also obviously SAFE to eat at. Had a pizza with tomatos, mushrooms, garlic, onions, basil, cheese... YUM. Plus a glass of banana milk (like a milkshake, really). Couldn´t have asked for anything more, I guess! Well, I think that´s about it. We leave for the Lares trek at 8am tommorrow! So, I will perhaps update again in Aguas Calientes, but if not, then in Cusco! Hasta luego! More thumbnails ...
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