wow! MP!

Hola
we´re back in cuzco from Macchu Picchu and it was amazing! the town near by was a total tourist town but the site was incredible!
Peter even climbed Waynu Picchu and loved it, tho it was very exhausting.
while he climbed I hung out with the resident llamas and wandered around a bit more. I didn´t do the climb as apparently there are alot of sheer cliffs and i´m a bit afraid of heights.

On Tuesday we went to a little town in the Sacred Valley called Ollantaytambo and went to the very impressive ruins there. The INka really had urban planning down. On one hillside they had the religous area which are the ruins we visit today. then in the valley between the hills they had the village living space and agricultural areas then on the other hillside they stored food. We took a collectivo taxi to the village and tho I swear I had been clear that it was 15 soles por dos (for two) it suddenly became 15 each when we arrived. oh well! i´m just learning to bargain here. We went to the market in Ollantaytambo and listened to a blind harpist. That night we meet an international couple (oz-finland) who were traveling for 5 months in South America (SA). They were a blast and we played the frog game that was in our hostel. There is a golden frog on a stand with holes around it and a drawer underneath. You attempt to toss golden coins into the frogs mouth and or other holes. We almost won but not quite!

The next morning we climbed the hill with the food storage areas and hung out up there for a while. The village was really neat with water diverted from the river to run through the streets and Inka type houses and people leading their cows and sheep around. We discovered a local cheese which is full of whey and kind of like feta but not crumbly.

That afternoon we took the train to Agua Calientes (hot water- there are hot springs but they aren´t upkept). This is the town for Machu Picchu (MP) and the only way in is to either trek for a fe wdays or take the train. On the train we met a Canadian couple from London Ontario and went for pisco sours with them. Later we went out for the menu touristica (set menu) and had grilled alpaca - quite good. We were joined by an older couple from Costa Rica. Sylvia used to be a pianist but she now runs a craft colelctive in costa rica with her own designs which was really neat.

Okay I have to change rooms. More about MP coming up! stay tuned!