Day 16: Ollantaytambo

Our two night stay at the rail side hotel in Ollantaytambo was meant to be a bit of a decompression after the activity of the trek and Machu Picchu.   Though there is plenty to see in and around this small town, we have the kids the day off.

Last night, we hiked up the 1km slope up to the main square.  It was very touristy but we found a decent place to eat.  We got a tuk tuk back and he insisted he could take all 8 of us... luckily it was downhill - the engine was choking all the way.  The kids had a blast!

The adults walked up the main road toward the small touristy square of the town in the morning, though we turned left and walked towards the ruins the town was named after (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollantaytambo).   There was a plethora of tourist shops near the entrance of the fort.   I am still shocked  at how many trinkety, Alpaca-ty (??) shops there are in this country.   There were more trinket shops in the little shops outside the fort than the Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, Pyramids of Giza, Angkor Wat and Tower of London combined.   

Ollantaytambo was pretty cool.... large in scale and played a cool part in the short history of the Incas during the Spanish invasion.  It was very hot in the sun and since the Inca loved building things facing east, we were frying.    After about an hour, we sought out the cool setting of a nearby restaurant where we had a great lunch and Alex and I continued to dominate in Euchre (15-6 lifetime, by the way Kim and Beth!).

We reconnected with the kids in the afternoon, only to learn that their butts were sore, Tynsly code meaning they need some nice cold sugary ASScream (ice cream, for the slow pokes out there....).  We lazed about the rest of the afternoon, playing cards, reading, napping and Beth even indulged in an in-room massage.

Dinner at the hotel was incredible... a real feast only made better by the new expected creative presentation that seems typical of almost every meal we’ve had in Peru.    

Tomorrow will be a long day.   It seems like forever ago that we arrived in Arequipa but I’m sure the trip will feel very short when we are back at work I a couple of days.