The Adventures of Señorita Fuerte and la Mujer Pequeña: Ollantaytambo: A Crowd Favorite

So we've had our first day in Ollantaytambo. One word. Gorgeous. See for yourself in the pictures below. os a beautiful, rustic town that sits about 2,000 feet lower than Cusco. So the air is still thin, and we get short of breath just walking the 10 minutes between our hostel and the town, but we ain't seen nothing yet.

It's hard to know where to start with these things, because I'm trying to avoid word vomit and just ranting incessantly about what we've seen and done. I guess first things first, our hostel. Mama Simona's is great because it's close to town, but not in the town plaza like a lot of the other hostels. You can sleep better at night just hearing the wonderful sound of the rushing river, rather than honking and yelling. Classic city problems. The town itself, like many other neighboring villages, is surrounded by mountains (obviously) which gives it this secluded feel. See pictures below for our hostel lobby, the garden during the day and night. There's wifi, and free breakfast, which is all one really needs. Unless you're stressing about laundry and free towels, in which case, this place may not be for you.

After we passed out for a few hours upon arrival, due to our harrowing taxi ride we mentioned before, we woke up at around 12:30pm. Lunchtime (my favorite)! We walked up to the town square, and at a lovely cafe attached to one of the hostels (very common) and it was very reasonably priced. I paid 23 PEN (about 8 USD) for beef with rice, a salad, avocado, and egg; a brownie for dessert, and a bottled water. Great deal. I can't recall if we mentioned this as well, but you can't drink the tap water here, so bottled water costs about 1.50 PEN (.30 USD).

After exploring town, we went nuts in the markets! If it weren't for the (idiotic) bag regulations on our train out of here, we would have bought everything. Alpaca sweaters, handsewn bags with beautiful prints, hand-made leather bracelets, the local artwork, jewlery, decor, hand-made rugs and blankets, and everything your heart desires! Not to worry though, there will be plenty of the same items in Cusco later in our trip, at which point we can bring as many bags as we want on our way back home. Also a word to the wise, you have to haggle with the sellers. One woman told me 40 PEN for a sweater, and I was weary, so she dropped it to 35 PEN. If you act like you're about to walk, they'll lower the price. Remember, these people are very friendly, but they will try to up-charge tourists. Even still, I bought a machine-made alpaca sweater, box of chocolates, 2 hand-made alpaca souvenirs, a bracelet, and an Incan stone decoration for 60 PEN (about 20 USD). So haggle wisely, but don't be extremely cheap, because the locals put a lot of effort into what they make.

Lastly, the Choco Museum (speaks for itself) is a store that manufactures and sells local chocolate that comes mostly from the mountains of Cusco. They give out free tours, and most importantly free samples. They have a location in Ollantaytambo as well as Cusco (so I'm waiting to buy my stuff in Cusco closer to when we leave so I avoid melting). The chocolate is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO damn good. Once they crack the coca bean open, they use the shell to infuse teas and licquors. So please stop by if you're ever in Peru, or you will forever live in regret (it's thats serious).

We had a comfortable nights sleep, except Mahlmann who spent her evening in fear of spiders in her bad (she found 2 prior). We woke up to enjoy a free breakfast of tea (Manzanilla is my favorite so far), bread with butter and jam, and freshly squeezed papaya juice. Not bad, but me being the hungry SOB that I am, I at lunch soon thereafter. Overall, Mama Simona's gets a 4.5 in customer satisfaction. They are even letting us store our luggage for 2 days while we hike, AFTER we've already packed. For free!

So currently, myself and Mahlmann are sitting at a table in the garden of our hostel, enjoying the beautiful views nature has to offer. No recommendations for travel products now, but when we start hiking, look back for more.

Stay fresh,
Señorita Fuerte & la Mujer Pequeña

p.s. watch out for the stray dogs. They are literally, everywhere. All up on you, just, all the time.