August 24th 2024 – Cusco, Peru

After breakfast on our first morning in Ollantaytambo we went to have a closer look at the area’s main archaeological site west of the old town. There was already a continuous line of buses heading for the train station.
We stopped by one of the stores on plaza de armas to pick up a bottle of water. We have been buying these bottles daily for weeks now. They are always around 1 soles. When the guy behind the counter asked me for 4 soles I told him to stuff it and turned around to put the bottle back. He reacted like he was caught red-handed and insisted that I get the bottle for free. I had heard about the Peruvians being greedy around tourists, but this was my first experience with the concept.

We arrived early at the entrance to Sitio Arqueológico De Ollantaytambo. Despite the immense flow of tourists through town few seem to steep out of the current and take the time to visit the site. There were some guests around the central part of the complex, but further out we had it more or less to ourselves.

Ollantaytambo was the royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti. At the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru, it served as a stronghold for Manco Inca Yupanqui, leader of the Inca resistance. In 1536 Manco Inca defeated a Spanish expedition in what is known as Battle of Ollantaytambo, blocking their advance from a set of high terraces and flooding the plain. It was the last major Inca victory against the Spanish.

We explored every nook and cranny of the area. It was exciting and took us all morning.

The benefit of being a tourist destination is that there is an abundance of good eateries in town. The prices were high but the gastronomical level justified that. We accepted the expense and took full advantage during our stay.

After a delicious lunch we set out to explore the old town of Ollantaytambo. It is as old as the ruins we had visited in the morning and has some of the oldest continuously occupied dwellings in South America. Its layout and buildings have been altered to different degrees by later constructions but distinct traces of their Inca heritage are still clearly visible.
As mentioned earlier there is a significant presence of tourists on the main thoroughfare through town and around the central square. Just one block away from that area we experienced a beautiful and tranquil old town where life moved at a slow pace.

One of the reasons we had come to Ollantaytambo was that we were undecided as to whether we should visit Machu Picchu or not. This would be a good place to make the decision.

There is only one way to get tickets for Machu Picchu without having bought them weeks in advance online.
Every day there are 1.000 tickets up for sale for the following day. You can only buy them in person at the official ticket office in Aguas Calientes.
To get a ticket you show up as early in the day as possible to get a ticket number. That number is your spot in the line, when the ticket office opens at 3 pm. At that time you get to buy the real ticket for a specific circuit and time slot – availability depends on the people who got tickets before you.

You can get to Aguas Calientes in 3 ways – none of them include taking your own vehicle.

  1. The most common is to take a train from Ollantaytambo. One way tickets cost between $50 and $570 depending on time of day and level of luxury.
  2. Another option is to follow the Inca Trail from Ollantaytambo. It’s a 4 days/3 nights hike that covers 43 km/26 miles (one way) through the mountains.
  3. Last option is a bit alternative and significantly cheaper than the others.
    You need to get yourself to the hydroelectric plant west of Machu Picchu (maybe using the small town of Santa Teresa as a staging point). From there you can either walk or take a train to Aguas Calientes.

No matter what solution you choose, a visit to Machu Picchu will include 2 days/1 night in Aguas Calientes.
Aguas Calientes started out as a railway worker’s camp during the construction of the railroad in the late 1920s. It took off after the railroad opened in 1931 and foreign tourists started arriving to visit the Machu Picchu ruins. Today the resort village services 1.500.000 tourists every year.

Ollantaytambo gave us a small taste of what to expect if we decided to visit Machu Picchu – with the notable difference that Ollantaytambo is a charming old town in its own right where it’s easy to avoid the crowds.

I remember seeing pictures from Machu Picchu as a kid and imagining what it would be like to stumble across a place like that. The way the place was discovered, its remoteness and settings has always seemed alluring to me.

Now that I was a stone’s throw from Machu Picchu I realized that the popularity of the place had killed the magic for me. It is no longer remote, has turned into an easily accessible attraction and the only way to see it is surrounded by thousands of other tourists walking a one-way predesignated circuit.
I decided that I would rather preserve my childhood dream of the place than having it spoiled by reality. Luckily Katrine felt the same. It wasn’t an easy decision for either of us, but once it was made, it just felt right.

With Machu Picchu out of the picture we decided to give Ollantaytambo our full attention.
On our second day in town we climbed the mountainside east of the old town to have a closer look at the ruins there. They primarily consist of granaries and other storehouses. The location at high altitudes provided more wind and lower temperatures to protect their contents against decay. It was a rough climb in places but well worth the effort.

Afterwards we decided to squeeze in a hike before lunch. We crossed the Urubamba river at Puente Inca – a bridge built on an old Inca foundation. From there we followed a trail west up into the hills south of the river. It was the start of the previously mentioned Inca Trail. From across the river and as we gained a bit of altitude we came to appreciate just how big an area the Inca settlement had covered. What we had spent hours exploring during the last 2 days was only a small part of it.

We managed to pick a wrong branch of the trail and had to backtrack a bit to get down from the mountain and back across the river further west. It was a great hike. During two hours we only met one local and a few pack horses doing their thing.

On our last day in town we went to have a look at the ruins and terraced fields we had seen from across the river the previous day. Because of the terrain we couldn’t see any of it from the town and it took awhile to figure out how to get there. It was interesting to see how the fields were maintained and put to good use centuries after they were established. Even the old irrigation systems were still operational. The soil was tilled with oxen and old-fashioned farm implements.

We left Ollantaytambo on road 28B that travels the length of the Sacred Valley. It was a nice morning ride. We stopped several times to take in the scenery and to admire some of the ruins we passed. They were scattered everywhere.

Late morning we arrived in Pisac, checked into a hotel and dressed for hiking. We had a mission.
Pisac’s claim to fame is the archaeological site by the same name north of town. Most people take a taxi 9 km to the main complex at the north end of the site. We wanted to hike directly from the village.

We picked up some sourdough bread and almond croissants for lunch. Delicious stuff that is almost impossible to find anywhere in Peru except in very touristic areas. We enjoyed it at the town square before embarking on the hike.

The trailhead was just north of the town square. It was a steep climb up through ancient terraced fields. The route wasn’t always obvious. We just kept moving in the direction of the ruins we could see above us at the top of the mountain – sometimes following twisty trails other times climbing crumbling stone stairs. There was no one around but us. It was thrilling.

The ruins at the top were like taken straight out of Tolkien’s universe. “Weathertop Hill” provided a dramatic view of Pisac below.

What we thought was the top of the mountain turned out to be just the lowest point of a ridge stretching north. The whole mountain was covered in ruins. There were a multitude of trails. At every turn something new was revealed to us. It really felt like exploring. Only when we reached the main site after 3 hours of hiking did we find ourselves among other tourists.

We made our way back to town following a trail on the eastern slopes.

The town of Pisac is part of the alternate reality that nowadays comprises the heart of the former Inca empire. It has very little to do with the Peru I’ve experienced during the last couple of months. To me it feels like an artificial backdrop created to provide foreign tourists with a perceived authentic experience.

The area attracts a lot of self-centered vogue vegans in pursuit of personal growth and spiritual enlightenment. The locals provide them with what they think they need and laugh all the way to the bank.
It becomes even more ridiculous when the aforementioned tourists frequent shops set up by other westerners selling their version of whatever, that despite the branding, rarely has anything to do with the indigenous culture.
Restaurants branding themself as Peruvian serve gourmet food that has nothing to do with what the Peruvians actually eat. There is a wide range of massage, meditation, yoga and similar things on offer that are alien to the average Peruvian. The list goes on. The whole circus rubs me the wrong way. I find it intrusive, pretentious and pathetic.

The result of all this is that you can spoil yourself in the Cusco region with whatever tickles your fancy – from gourmet food to upscale cafes, wellness, parties and psychedelic drugs.

It seems to me that many travelers choose to stay in a bubble no matter how far they travel.
I sense a lack of genuine interest in the places they visit. They prefer the company of other travelers to locals
and seem to seek confirmation of their expectations rather than exploring with an open mind.
The majority stick to touristic areas that can provide them with comfort rather than venture off the beaten path to experience real life.
I get the impression that image, both in relation to oneself and others, is a big motivator for a growing part of travelers. To me the popularity of selfies confirms that. You take pictures to record and/or share an experience. If you appear in the majority of your own pictures it indicates a certain level of narcissism.

Breakfast was included in our stay. We enjoyed it in the company of the lovely family who owned the hotel. The ground floor was their living room, but also the reception, a small convenience store, breakfast restaurant and kitchen. It created a very homely atmosphere.
The wife ran the hotel. The husband helped her out and ran a motorcycle rental company at the premises. He showed great interest in our bikes. We talked while we packed the bikes and got ready to leave.
I had noticed that the vast majority of tourists we had encountered in the Sacred Valley were Europeans. I told him that I was surprised that we hadn’t seen more Americans? His explanation was that most Americans only visit Machu Picchu and maybe Cusco.

Our destination for the day was Cusco, less than an hour’s ride away. That was not enough to satisfy our appetite for riding so we ditched the direct route in favor of a much longer one. We started out along the Urubamba river. The riding and scenery was nice. We left the official part of The Sacred Valley behind as we traveled south from Pisac. As a result there was no traffic and trash along the roads returned with a vengeance. The majority of Peruvians are wonderful, but I’ve never encountered a people with less regard for the environment. The country is one big dump site. It’s an appalling contrast to the otherwise stunningly beautiful scenery.

It was still morning when we reached Pikillacta, a large Wari culture archaeological site. It was a pre Inca settlement occupied from about 550 to 1100 AD. We were allowed to ride the bikes inside the compound. There were no visitors aside from us, only a handful of custodians.

Our route returned us to the Sacred Valley and Pisac around noon.

We stopped for lunch in a nondescript village along the river before making a left turn at Urubamba to climb out of the valley for the last time.

The ride over the mountains to Cusco presented us with some amazing scenery. We pulled over at Machu Colca to have a cup of coffee and enjoy the views. After a nice day’s riding we arrived in Cusco late afternoon.

I had booked an apartment 1 km north of the central square. The apartment was significantly bigger than I had expected with 2 floors, 3 bedrooms, big kitchen and bathroom. It was located in a quiet residential area on what can best be described as a construction site. The 4 story building we stayed in, and where the owner lived with his family, was finished but a building about 3 times the size was under construction. When it was done it would become a proper hotel with a rooftop restaurant and everything. It was an ambitious project.

The accommodation was basic but also very comfortable. Most of all because it was completely quiet at night (that is a rare thing in Peruvian cities), but also because of the really hot shower (another rare thing in Peru). In addition to the apartment, we had free access to a large covered roof terrace with comfortable furniture.
After we had settled in we went for a walk in search of dinner. As soon as we approached the downtown area we fell in love with the city. It was old and charming (much like me) with steep winding streets and a pleasant atmosphere. The choice of good places to eat was overwhelming. We ended up at a cafe that served portions big enough to feed a family.

Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th century until the 16th-century Spanish conquest. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, designated as the Historical Capital of Peru and often dubbed the ”Rome of America”. Cusco is the most important tourist destination in Peru. It hosts over 2 million visitors a year and provides passage to the whole region.

The Inca Empire was unique in that it lacked many of the features associated with civilization in Europe at the time. Even without the use of the wheel, draft animals, knowledge of iron or steel, or even a system of writing it was one of the greatest imperial states in human history. Notable features of the Inca Empire included its stonework, extensive road network, agricultural innovations and production in a difficult environment, and the organization and management imposed on its people and their labor.

When the Spanish arrived, the Inca empire was weakened by a war of succession, unrest among newly conquered territories and not least epidemics of smallpox, influenza, typhus and measles that had spread from Central America and killed a large part of the population.
Even with relatively small forces the Spanish managed to take control over the Inca empire within a couple of years and 40 years after the first engagement all resistance had been annihilated.

The Inca heritage is very evident in Cusco and the surrounding countryside. Katrine and I have spent the last 3 days exploring on foot.

The biggest Inca complex, Saqsaywaman, is located just north of the city center. We went there early in the morning to beat the crowds. The plan worked. Only when we were getting ready to leave after a couple of hours did the tourist buses start to roll in and dump their load.

We bumped into 3 young guys from England just as we exited the complex around 9 am. They were completely wasted. When I commented that it was either very late or very early for them to be in that state, one of them replied: “It’s very late. We have been at it for 48 hours straight” – only for one of the other guys to exclaim: “No, it’s still early as we have booze and drugs for at least another couple of days”. They were hilarious and did a good job keeping up the Brits reputation.

The city itself is very diverse and has much to offer. Most sites, shops and restaurants are located in the downtown area, but the San Blas neighborhood takes the price when it comes to charm and character. Cusco is a fun place to let your feet guide you.

It’s easy to get stuck in Cusco. Life is comfortable and there is plenty to see and do. We have enjoyed it while it lasted, but the urge to get back on the road is growing. There are more adventures to be had and time and tide wait for no man.