Machu Picchu, Peru

It was the night before leaving the lodge in Ollantaytambo that we finally, and with much back and forth especially on Ben’s part, decided where we would be heading the next morning; Santa Teresa. There was a large group of artists partnered with a University that was taking over the lodge for the next 11 days, and the room we had been staying in would soon be occupied. We packed our bags, quickly said our goodbyes (as we knew we would be back to pick up our extra stuff a few days later), and ran down to the plaza to catch a ride. We were told getting a ride shouldn’t be too hard, but that getting an actual seat may be a different story. We sat on a bench in the plaza for about 20 minutes before a large passenger van pulled through asked where we were wanted to go. So sure enough, catching the ride was easy, and in Ali’s case the seat as well; Ben’s bucket, however, was quite a pain in the ass. What is literally one of the worst drives in the world is bad enough in a comfortable vehicle, but while sitting on a bucket scrunched between a full row and the van’s sliding door just brought it to another level. But hey, the views were pretty awesome.

Ben looks thrilled for the windy road trip ahead.

Motion sickness guaranteed or your money back!

Since the ride was headed all the way to the hydro-electric station, which is past Santa Teresa and on the way to Aguas Calientes, or Machu Picchu Town, we decided to skip Santa Teresa for the night and go ahead and knock Machu Picchu out. We had a quick pit-stop in Santa Teresa for the tour group to eat a late lunch, and Ben was able to run into an old friend who was kind enough to offer us juice and a snack, and we then hit the road and started our next challenge. It’s a little over a 2-hour walk from the hydro-electric station to Aguas Calientes if you’re really moving, though with heavy bags and headed up-hill it’s not the most enjoyable, and Ben clearly failed to inform Ali on what was involved.

The beginning of our trek to Aguas Calientes.

Ali about 40 minutes before she regretted not taking the Peru Rail train.

Just over two hours later we arrived, thirsty and exhausted, to Aguas Calientes. It’s a quaint little tourist trap at the base of Machu Picchu with no roads and a ton of over-priced everything. We found the cheapest hostel we could, which was back in the locals’ area, and grabbed a quick dinner. The Huaynu Picchu tickets (the higher mountain peak you can see behind Machu Picchu in all of the typical pictures) were already sold out for the following morning, so we bought our standard tickets and hit the hay. We planned on waking up around seven, but didn’t make it out of the hostel till around 9:40. Check-out was at 9:00, so after a brief conversation with the annoyed hostel worker we decided it would be best to head elsewhere to leave our bags for the day. We dropped our stuff off at another hostel and took the $18 bus the few hundred yards up to the ruins’ entrance. We’ve been told that this is the most expensive public transportation per distance traveled in the world. Regardless, after our previous days walk, the hiking involved at Machu Picchu, and the return walk that awaited we were happy to fork over what would typically be just shy of our daily budget to save ourselves from the 2,000-some steps. Machu Picchu, as anyone who has or has not been knows, is absolutely and spectacularly stunning. As Ali said in a previous post, the Incans were just badasses. The weather wasn’t great, and we got rained on near the end of our visit, but we almost preferred the view with the clouds. Seeing the contrast of the sharp mountain peaks reaching out through the tops of the clouds creates an even more surreal and magical sensation. You really do feel like you’re on another planet up there. We hung around a few English tour guides and picked out a little information here and there, but just explored the ancient village on our own for the most part.

Established 1450.

Lucy the Llama (Ali’s entertainment for about 35 minutes).

Machu Picchu has the most incredible views from literally any direction.

¿Qué hora es?

Ben tries his best to look excited to be at Machu Picchu (for his fourth time).

After the late rain shower died out we decided to head back to Aguas Calientes. We sat down for lunch with a father and daughter from the states, shared some chips and guac, tacos, as well as a few stories, and grabbed our bags for the not-so-short walk/run back to the hydro-electric station. We arrived back just after dark, sat around with four others waiting for a ride, and 30 minutes later were in a van heading to Santa Teresa. Ben was exhausted, but already giddy to be back “home” (as were his Peruvian godchildren).

Ollantaytambo, Peru (Part Dos)

While we hadn’t planned on spending more than a few days in one place, we are glad that we did as it gave us the opportunity to fully immerse ourselves in the culture and live as locals for a few weeks. Hey, we even got the local’s discount at the best restaurant in town (and I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Ben is friends with the owner).

For those of you that have followed our blog, there is sort of a pattern that you may have picked up on by now; we’re not big planners and are more fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants travelers. We also like to do things for free. This mostly works out in our favor, or as Jim Vazquez would say, “mooostly.” Our favorite experiences so far have, for the most part, been by accident or a last minute opportunity that just happened to present itself. Case in point:

1. “So You Think You Can Dance?” Peruvian Style

While walking around one night, we saw a large crowd gathered in the Plaza and kids of all ages running around in traditional Peruvian costumes and so we decided it would be worth checking out. As it turned out, we had arrived in Ollantaytambo just in time for the annual school dance competition where each grade competes against one other with their own uniquely choreographed performance that paints a picture of a traditional Incan story.

Our co-worker at Apu Lodge, Pancha was at the competition and told us that this was just the warm-up;  the real competition was the next morning and would be an all-day event. The next day we walked over to the schoolhouse, located at the edge of town to watch the kids from Ollantaytambo perform. While it was apparent that we were the only gringos there, nobody seemed to mind!

Pancha’s son, Jose Julian shows us his moves.

One of our favorite moments was when the bull, made up of two boys underneath a black sheet ran awkwardly after the bull-fighter as they tried not to trip over each others feet. Meanwhile, a local dog became quite curious about this bull and ran after him trying to nip at its tail. This caused quite a scene and was very comical to watch: dog chasing bull, bull chasing boy, boy running for his life.

UnBULLievably funny.

This little girl was all smiles during her grade’s performance.

2. Sweat Lodge, Regret Lodge

Another very unique experience that we had while Ollantaytambo was the opportunity to participate in a Sweat Lodge, a spiritual ceremony for some that took place in a dome-shaped structure covered with tarp and leaves that is located on the grounds of Apu Lodge. It was exactly as it sounds, a lodge where people sit and sweat for hours as the temperature rises with each hot stone that they place in the hole located in the very center. It’s similar to a sauna but a bit more enjoyable due to the fact that the ceremonial leader beats a drum and chants while encouraging everyone to sing along. It was quite strange at first but we got the hang of things and the weirder noises we made, the more less we thought about how hot it had become.

It was all fun and games until Ali drank the water. Since we are in fact in South America, most things are conducted in Spanish so someone did not get the memo that the cup of water being passed around, in the pitch black tent while everyone was singing and chanting was actually water for pouring on yourself and not for hydration purposes. As it turns out, the water was from the river aqueduct built by the Incans that runs through town. This particular river also happens to be where all of the sewage from the Sacred Valley runs into and is 100% guaranteed to make you sick as a dog as Ali found out at about 2 a.m. Two words: No Bueno.

3. Salineras and Moray and Chinchero, Oh My!

Our friend and co-worker, Ruth asked us for our help by having us go with her and the Ollantaytambo Tours group to take “professional” photos of the archaeological sites, as well as their fleet of vehicles and drivers to allow them to create an official website. The request could not have been more welcomed as we were hoping to visit at some point for our own travel experience. I guess you could say our “professional” photos sold for 160 soles, as this is the typical price for the tour of Salineras, Moray and Chinchero (all very worth the price!).

Our favorite, Salineras is a pre-Incan salt mine where their original processes are still used today. A 50kg bag of hand-refined and recovered salt sells for a salty 25 soles, or the equivalent of $9 USD! The image of the 350 salts pools was breathtaking and seemed to be from another world. We definitely recommend a visit if you’re ever in the Sacred Valley.

The views outside the Sacred Valley are unreal.

A salt mine worker carries a 50kg bag of salt ready to be sold.

Working at Salineras is not an easy job.

Ali catches Samir, Ruth’s son perfecting his “blue steel” during our stop at Chinchero.

Incan archeological terraces at Moray with Ruth and Samir.

Ben playing photo hunt.

4. Hike to Heaven, Decent from Hell

Our third to last day, we decided to hike Pinkuylluna Mountain with the goal to reach the flag placed at the very top, a flag that can only be seen from the Plaza square. How we were going to get up there was unclear, but we packed up our backpack with the essentials and were on our way. The views were incredible and only got better the higher we climbed, and the number of ruins we sighted at such a high altitude was astounding. Those Incans were pretty badass.

This should have been a good indication of what our hike would be like; scary!

The view of the flag from the plaza (you may need a magnifying glass).

Photo op!

Our view overlooking the Sacred Valley.

As we approached the top of the mountain, we were shocked to realize that the flag was still was light-years away (or so it seemed at the time), not to mention on a completely different rock formation. WARNING: If you are Ben or Ali’s mom, you won’t like the decisions made and we recommend that you skip to the bottom to avoid having heart failure! ; ) By this time, we had been hiking for over 2 hours and could now hear the flag flapping in the wind, making us more determined than ever to reach the top. But how? After about 20 minutes of contemplating our options, rock climbing was the only answer we could come up with besides giving up, and so we slowly (and carefully) climbed our way down one very steep and sharp rock formation and up another. Our muscles ached, our eyes were watery and faces burned, but the sense of accomplishment we felt as we reached the flag was well worth the exhaustion.

Ben climbing to the flag. Can you spot them both?

So close yet so far…

Ben paving the Rocky road to victory.

Victory is ours!

Taking in the view.

Time to rest…not!

To our surprise, there was one other person at the very top which was great because we really needed to find a safer way to get down as the rocks were basically climb or die. He was impressed at the way we came as it was “muy dificil” compared to the path that he took that lead you between two valleys and around the large rock formations. We figured easier and quicker was the way to go, or it would have been if we ever did find that path…

An hour and a half later, we were still fighting our way through large bushes and cacti while trying to stay upright on the mountains steep incline. At this point Ali was seriously regretting not buying new tennis shoes before the trek as she had little to no traction on her shoes, but thankfully Ben was a gentlemen and made sure she said safe (moooostly). The saddest part of all was we really didn’t get anywhere during that time; we could still hear that damn flag flapping in the wind, and sunset was only an hour away. We knew that if we did not make some serious moves we would be sleeping on the mountain, and our only viable option was to free climb directly up the rock formation back to where we had originally started. While Ben ranked it as an average M3 or M4 (for those of you who climb), instead of having a nice 8-inch bouldering pad below to break our fall, a slip of the hand or a lost footing had the real possibility of causing a serious fall down the rocky mountain. We moved quickly and worked together to find the quickest and safest (HA!) way to the top while we both did our best to make light of the situation and keep our increasing concern of our predicament to ourselves.

Recently recovered footage documents Ben’s (although the pony tail could be mistaken for Ali’s) ascent.

We made it a little past the halfway mark when the sun went down, and although hiking in the dark on loose rocks is not ideal, it gave us the most beautiful aerial view of Ollantaytambo at night that we’re sure not many tourists have experienced before. How do we know this you ask? Well, once we arrived to the bottom of the mountain, we realized that the gates had been closed and padlocked and barbed wire covered the only manageable gap between the gate and the top of the old Incan stone wall. The fact that we managed to, for the most part, safely make our decent down the mountain to only be trapped a mere 50 yds. from the warmth and comfort of our room was almost comical at this point. What made it worse however was watching everyone walk by freely while we stood trapped behind the gates just a few arm-lengths away. We figured we had spent a good portion of our day overcoming obstacles, what was one more? After consulting with Louise about our best method of escape, scaling the old Incan wall that offered very few hand holds, won out. Our obvious first stop after awkwardly climbing up and over (and lots of butt grabbing  by Louise and Ben on Ali’s accord) was to pick up two very large Cusceñas, the local Peruvian beer. Thanks again Louise, for picking up our phone call and entertaining our elaborate escape plan, as well as the tasty and much-needed alphabet soup!

The entrance (and usually the exit) to Pinkuylluna Mountain.

Ollantaytambo is such a special place and we are really grateful for the the friends we’ve met, the Spanish we’ve learned (especially Ali) and the time we’ve spent exploring the ancient ruins and Sacred Valley of the Andes Mountains. But it’s time to move on to our next Peruvian adventure, so stay tuned!

The Uninvited House Guest

With 46 different species of Scorpions in Peru, they may not be hard to come by, but they are hard to remove from your room.

We found this little critter crawling on the floor in our room, just moments before Ben almost stepped on it with his bare feet. We’re not exactly sure if it was poisonous or not, but we were definitely not willing to find out for the sake of science. Besides, Ben has already been stung once in Peru during his 9-month stint in Santa Teresa and would advise against it.

Let’s just hope releasing him alive doesn’t come back to bite (or sting) us in the ass!

Ollantaytambo, Peru

It’s great to be back, Peru. If nothing else I’ve sure missed your avocados. I can finally attempt to prove to Ali all the claims I’ve been making the last two years about Peru’s world class avocados. And I think we can both agree I wasn’t lying! We were a little sad to leave Colombia, as well as sad to leave Fernando there at the airport (Fernando you seemed a little sad too), but have loved every minute since arriving in Peru. We’ve spent the first two weeks entirely in Ollantaytambo (other than an hour or two in the still small neighboring Urubamba), so Ali’s only Peruvian experiences stem from this one essentially large neighborhood, but we really are loving it here. The views in the Sacred Valley are heavenly, the food and drinks are cheap and delicious, and most of all the people are just amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many friendly kids in my life. From the 10 year-olds playing basketball who looked up and saw us and stopped to wave, to the girl selling street food with her mom giggling as she noticed us watching her receive a little family hygiene care on the street, everyone has just been awesomely genuine. I now remember why I’ve missed it so much.

We found the Peruvian Santa Claus!

Two girls pick some wildflowers before their dance performance.

To get in we flew from Bogota to Lima, had a five hour layover in a lounge-less and wifi-less airport (first world problems, especially after United’s 1K status), caught a taxi to Grau Avenue and then a combi straight to Ollantaytambo. The combis are privately owned and operated 3-4 row vans that carry 8-12 people as part of the typical public transportation system. The gentleman in our row started chatting with us as soon as he got in; he was a teacher at the Urubamba Elementary School. After an extremely scenic two-hour ride, we arrived at our home for what would be the next three and a half weeks. We walked up to the main plaza, asked for directions, and showed up at Louise’s door 20 minutes later. Louise is the owner of the B&B, Apu Lodge, we would be volunteering at as part of a work exchange and was putting us up in her house until the spare room at the lodge opened up. She’s an awesome lady, originally from Scotland, that planned on visiting Ollantaytambo for one day but has stayed here for what has now been 10 years. We received a very warm and homey welcome by her, her two daughters Nina and Mayu Rumi, as well as the rest of her house mates. We didn’t work more than a few hours a day while we were living with her, but this gave us a few days to pick up the responsibilities and learn the ropes while we settled in a little, as well as acclimate to the change in altitude. Bogota is decently high on it’s own and offered a nice altitude warm-up, but Ollantaytambo is located at over 9,000 feet and your lungs can really feel it.

The view from Apu Lodge.

A neighbor of Apu Lodge spends a few final moments with her sheep.

The largest Incan ruin in Ollantaytambo.

We started hiking around a few of the what must be hundreds of local mountain trails right off the bat. We had to stop to catch our breath every few minutes, but we could also reasonably blame our frequent stops on wanting to take in the magnificent views . The valleys are unreal with the drastic and dynamic mountainous landscapes that completely encapsulate the small ancient town of Ollantaytambo. The B&B sits under one of the smaller ancient Incan ruins in the area, on the Pinkuylluna mountain side, at the top of a slight hill a few minutes walk from the main plaza; just enough to offer a spectacular view over the town. It’s not far, but the old Incan cobble-stone streets will quickly wear you out on even your shortest trips. There’s a reason we make it a point to advise all the tourists before they try to hall their suitcases up from the train station at 5 o’clock in the morning, or better yet after a full day of hiking Machu Picchu. The views really are stunning here. We’re not sure if it could keep us for 10 years, but we understand the almost magical draw and how Louise has come to make it her home.

Ancient Incan storehouses on Pinkuylluna mountain.

Our first hike of many!

Hiking through the sacred valley.

Are we in Germany or Peru?

The work exchange itself has been quite enjoyable. The locals we work with are all awesome, and Pancha and Carina cook a mean lunch. Our daily chores include working at the reception area, preparing and serving breakfast on our one morning shift per week, washing (in a washing machine) and hanging laundry, picking up around the reception area, and worst of all chatting with friendly guests. We’ve met loads of awesome people and made quite a few friends throughout the last few weeks, and even plan to visit a few along our travels.

Hasta la próxima vez!