The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
October 31 - Ollantaytambo
We stayed at the Hotel Pakaritampu, a short way out of the center of town along the river. It was really a pleasant property with large rooms ... and a marvelous method of lawn trimming. For the zoologically curious, these are alpaca, not llamas. This was the end of the busy season, so we had the place nearly to ourselves. They really did a nice job with the facilities and the gardens, all at a very reasonable price.
The town is dominated by the remains of the Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo which was never finished. It was abandoned after the Inca uprising of 1536 but was really quite a structure.
A few shots of beautiful downtown Ollantaytambo and its Sunday market. The people were all very pleasant with a minimal amount of street hustling.
The town is too small to support taxicabs, so this is the main means of transportation-for-hire. For less than a dollar, they will take you anyplace you dare to go!
It is time for the Machu Picchu adventure, so we boarded a one-car local train for the hour-long run along the river to Aguas Caliente, the jumping-off spot for Machu Picchu. More on that in the next few days.
© 2004 Restaurant Doctor
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