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Day
12 (September 5, 2025) Ollantaytambo
Before
Today we'll leave Cusco sometime soon and head to Ollantaytambo, where
we're staying for the next two days. The train station for Machu Picchu
is located there.
Once in Ollantaytambo, we want to visit at least the Inca
archaeological site, which closes at 5:00 PM.
The spots marked on the map are:
0- Sequeiros Garden
1- Train station to Machu Picchu
2- Plaza de Armas
3- Ollantaytambo Archaeological Site
4- Pinkuylluna Archaeological Site
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After
Yesterday we finished what we wanted to see in Cusco, and Eva is
feeling a bit better this morning, but still not well. So we're going
to have breakfast at 7 AM, and when we're ready, we'll check out and
order an Uber to Ollantaytambo. We decided to leave as soon as possible
because, since we'll be descending nearly 1,000 meters, at least we'll
avoid the altitude sickness.
The ride to Ollantaytambo takes an hour and a half. We pass through
villages, always under the imposing presence of the Andes. One of the
villages is Chinchero, where the driver tells us that an international
airport is under construction there.
We've been going down since we left Cusco and, once we have a
view of the Sacred Valley, the descent is steeper with the road winding
all the way to Urubamba, the first town we pass through in the valley.
When the driver drops us off in front of our lodge in Ollantaytambo,
it's 10:45 AM and the room isn't ready yet. We leave our luggage and
take a walk around the town.
Upon returning, they still ask us for more time, so we take the
opportunity to walk to the train station, which we would have to use
tomorrow, and ask if we needed to check in. They answer us no, that
with our printed tickets we could board the train to Machu Picchu
directly.
Once we have our room, we go down to eat. I order short ribs
with fresh pasta and Eva tagliatelle alla napolitana. For dessert, we
have a brownie with a candle for Eva's birthday. 80 soles for
everything.
All the issues with the altitude sickness have disappeared, but
Eva still has diarrhea, so she'll stay at the hotel for the rest of the
day while I head out to visit the archeological site. I pay 70 soles
for the admission fee and the first thing I come across is a grassy
area with alpacas.
The ruins are intimidating because of the climb you have to make
to reach the highest parts. In the end, I manage to explore everything
in about an hour.
On my way out I stop by the pharmacy to bring Eva some pills to stop the diarrhea and some pipettes to treat it.
I'll go out once more to buy some water. To get to the room, we have to
go through the garden, and when I arrive, I ask if there are any
hummingbirds. They tell me there are, and that they're usually there in
the afternoon, so every time I pass by the garden, both to get there
and to leave, I've gone closer to the little flowering trees looking
for them, but I'm not having any luck.
We stay in the room worried about tomorrow's visit to Machu
Picchu because, in addition to Eva's intestinal problem, it seems that
I am starting to follow the same path.
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