El Albergue

Ollantaytambo

We had decided to stay in el Albergue a B & B that was right on the railway station in Ollantaytambo. Lots of people had raved about it. It was run by an American Artist Wendy Weeks and seemed the chilled out place we wanted to stay. We were not wrong. Although it was strange to walk onto the railway platform and through the front door into this quaint, homely place with lovely flower and herb gardens. We had a second storey room where the balcony overlooked the swarms of people rushing to get the train!!!

We walked up to the dusty village, where people in traditional dress sold bits and pieces on the street, tourist buses with bored or sleepy faces roared past us spraying clouds of dust into the air

We decided to have a drink and watch town life..the sights and sounds were fascinating, people singing and dancing…..a line of about 8 people in their ‘Sunday best’ marching out of step to an out of tune band, dodging the tourist buses!

Local buses where people carrying huge baskets chatted and sang.

We ate at local restaurant which overlooked the river which swirled below us. We couldn’t believe the energy in all of the rivers. Superb food. Ready to get up at crack of dawn for our Macch Piccu experience tomorrow.

5.00am and breakfast was served. Fruit, cereal, eggs, toast, tea, coffee an juice. We then walked out of the restaurant onto the train. When we booked we didn’t realize what a good idea it was. Swarms of people were pressed against the entry and train guards tried frantically to check tickets and get people on board.

The train cranked up and started to move, people were running, stumbling and leaping onto the train. Families were separated and then everything was calm. There was nothing more to be done than to sit and as the train dodged through the rainforest. Most people used the tracks as a roadway and the train honked its way up to agnes Calientes, the last stop before Macchu Piccu.

The only way up the hill was via these buses that sped their way agilely around hairpin bends, afraid that if they lost speed they would slide back down the hill. Luckily we were on one of the first buses and so we only met one bus on its way down… and thankfully that wasn’t on one of the many hairpin bends!

It was cold and misty with a light rain as we arrived and started to walk up the hill. No sight of Warren or any of the other peaks. As we wound around narrow paths buildings would loom out at us or a llamas hot breath would stop us in our tracks.

It was incredible to watch as the sun burnt off the mist and the green terraces spread out beneath us.

We were surprised at how busy it was and so after a short walk we decided to walk to the old Inca bridge. Normally about a half hour walk but because of the altitude it took us about an hour. So glad we did it as when we got back the crowds had thinned and we could take our time exploring!