Southern Exposure

Thursday, February 12

In the morning we went back to the Vicuña factory store and purchased some of the things we set aside yesterday. The arranged taxi driver picked us up at 11 am from the hotel and took us to the town of Ollantaytambo from where we were scheduled to take a train to Aquas Calientes.

We grabbed a quick lunch at the train station cafe, ordering burgers. We agreed they definitely did not taste like beef, concluding that we probably had alpaca meat. It tasted a bit like game, and yet again, my preference lies with traditional meat choices.

The train ride was about 1.5 hours and was very pleasant taking us through picturesque mountain scenery along a mountain river with a very strong current and turbulent rapids. We later found out that this river goes all the way to the Amazon.

We were met at the station by the hotel staff and taken to our room. Alfredo promised a room with the view of the river, but we got one with the view of the noisy street construction. We complained, and the hotel girl who was extremely nice said rooms with the river view were under construction and had no water. We really wanted to sleep with the sound of the river by our side, so we asked to take the room with the view and use the bathrooms in the room across the hall. She agreed and we were content, as the rooms were pleasant and clean contrary to what we prepared ourselves for.

It was about 3 pm in the afternoon, so we decided to take a hike to Putucusi mountain opposite Machu Picchu that was supposed to offer spectacular views of the ruins and the surrounding area.

We hiked 400 or more meters up, which took about an hour, and at that altitude we had to stop frequently to catch our breath. There were about 4-5 ladders along the trail that were almost vertical. The views at the top however were breathtaking and worth all the effort. We could see Aquas Calientes, the surrounding mountainas and valleys, the whole Machu Picchu complex, the zig-zagy road to it, and Wayna Picchu which we were to climb tomorrow morning.

After half an hour the sun was starting to set so we headed back down. We grabbed dinner at one of the numerous “pizza+everything else” restaurants, where I also had Ensalada Rusa, a Russian potato salad. I’ve seen those on the menu at other restaurants in Peru. In addition to potatoes they have beets, making it a fusion of potato and beet (vinigret) Russian salads.

We fell asleep to the cool sounds of the river anticipating to get up at 5 am to get in line for the bus to Machu Picchu.