Peru: Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo is a small town connected by cobblestones streets and brown buildings on Inca stonework. There are many steps going up and down, much to my lungs' despair. I had a misstep and almost fall and tumbled down a flight of steps upon arriving at Ollantaytambo, along with my backpacks, no thanks to my clumsiness and lungs that was trying to catch up with my oxygen intake.

Julio dropped me at Ollantaytampu Hostel Patacalle. I initially booked a room with shared bath but was upgraded to one with attached bath. The reception was so cute, he asked me, "do you mind if I give you a room with bathroom attached?" Of course not! The room was clean, come with a double bed and small table. Imagine it with an energy saving light bulb with very low wattage, one with a somewhat reddish hue too. One thing missing from most of the bathrooms in hostels that I stayed in was exhaust fan. So it took awhile for the bathroom to be dry, especially after a hot shower.

After checked in, I went out for lunch! After I asked the hostel for recommendation, I headed to Apu Veronica. I ordered the set lunch menu at S/17 (~USD 5 / ~AUD 7 / ~MYR20),  which came with a starter of pumpkin soup and main of grilled fish plus a drink. I wanted to try chicha morada because I am not familiar with it at the time, unfortunately they didn't have it at the time. So I asked for a bottle of water instead. Peruvian set lunch menu is my absolute favourite thing to order when I was in Peru - local food, yummy, affordable.

After lunch, I walkabout the town. It didn't take long to finish walking the town because it wasn't big. The reception guy said it takes 10 minutes to walkabout Aguas Calientes and 30 minutes to walkabout Ollantaytambo. Haha.

After that I make myself to the biggest attraction in Ollantaytambo - Ollantaytambo ruins.

It is believed that the Ollantaytambo ruins date back to the 15th century, built by Inca Pachacutec. From afar, one can see huge terraces which were build for farming and irrigation system. At the top of the fortress is the military area. Years later, it was also a site of a major battle against Spanish during a rebellion led by Inca Manco. I was still panting and puffing with the slightest elevation and almost talked myself out of climbing those terraces. The rain that started drizzling wasn't any help in motivating me but I am glad I made my way up those steps.

I had an early night but not before I picked up some yummy picarones which are Peruvian doughnuts with local squash and sweet potatoes. I found them outside Ollantaytambo market. They were sold in four for s/1.50 (~USD 0.45/ ~AUD 0.62 / ~RM 1.84).They were made fresh, so still hot with almost crispy exteror and doughy interior with drizzled of syrup, served in a disposable plate. They were good and not too sweet!

I, unfortunately lost the photo but it was a bad photo anyway, because I was determined to bring them back to the room and and enjoyed them. Imagine me carrying a plate of 4 picarones trying to navigate the cobblestones street back to the hostel and accidentally took one or two wrong turns, despite it being a small town! Haha.. it was already getting dark anyway (not because I took the wrong turns) and remember I mentioned the room was lit by low wattage reddish light? That's my long winded story as to why I had a poor photo of the picarones.

The other site to visit in Ollantaytambo is free. I visited this the next day - Pinkuylluna.

The entrance to Pinkuylluna isn't big, it is just like an opened door with a staircase leading up to uneven walkway. I didn't hike all the way up but only until a good height to take some photos. Haha. The best thing is Ollantaytambo ruines can be viewed from Pinkuylluna.

Side note: I am running out of shows to watch... :/