recommended by the guide book for being cheap. You get what you pay for... instantly regretting paying for the room we started to look around town for something a little less scary. Just in time to catch everything shutting down for siesta hours, our impression of Ollanta was less than excited. We stopped at a nice looking restaurant (Orishas) on the river to share a bite to eat and stumbled upon the worlds most amazing lemonade! It took almost 10 minutes to make the fresh squeezed juice (from a mixed citrus fruit) which was then blended and frothed and sugared. The glass must have been laced with something as we returned for a second dose on our way out of town the next day. I dont think the waiter was amused with our sharing a bowl of soup and ordering $1 drinks that took 10 minutes to make.
Attracted to a sign in a distant alley we ended up at a very cute little outdoor restaurant overlooking the Ollanta ruins and had a cerveza. This led to the nicest place we stayed... HOT shower and CLEAN linens and an amazing view over the ruins. The place certainly did not look like it was run by Peruvians. Hostal Iskay II is sadly missing from the guide book. We had some tasty dinner at the Heart cafe. Set up by an old british woman, all the proceeds go to support the highland children. And, thus began Jon´s love of veggie burgers. We returned to our lovely hostel had some hot coca tea on the balcony and retired.
Back to Cusco/Pisac. Because I missed my first flight, this was my first taste of Cusco. We took a very nice hour taxi ride from Ollanta to Cusco. The city was huge in comparison to the little moutain towns. Bustling with cars and tourists, tons of restaurants, hotels, and the tradtional plaza de armas. It was raining so we found a tasty Indian buffet and had a mellow evening. In the morning we got lost around town looking for the minibus (aka someones 6 seater car) for a day adventure to Pisac. It was just what the doctor ordered. A cute tiny little town. The weather was stormy but warm enough to enjoy a beer and listen to the electronic mu
sic rolling in the background (Rachelle, you´d have loved it here!) on the balcony of a little restaurant (Mullu`s) overlooking the market square with the creepy Avatar like tree. Some tasty lunch followed by a banana and chocolate batido. RELAXING. We did a little shopping in the craft market and then the rain came. We waited it out for a bit (I fell asleep again on Jon´s shoulder listening to the music in the restaurant) and then we caught a combi back to Cusco. Combi is another name for the minibus, you can either pay the price of the taxi (about 25 soles) or wait til the car fills up with other people (hence, combi) and pay your share of the fee. It was getting late in the day and raining so I dont think the guy wanted to wait for more people and we ended up paying the full price. His car was the sketchiest yet. The back end was sure to come off some time soon and there were no seatbelts, but he was friendly and smiled and we were happy to help him out with our business. We had him drop us off at the top of the mountain into Cusco at Christo Blanco.
A huge white statute of Christ that overlooks the city and is lit up at night. Trying to beat the rain we took some pictures and then began to hike down the mountain, totally getting lost in the little city streets, we eventually made it back to our hostel (Samay Wasi). Wasi means house in the Inca language, took a while to figure this out as you see it everywhere. The hostel was ok. Cheap enough, but the rooms were COLD, musty and the shower was luke warm. We went out for dinner at an australian place called Jacks and drinks at an irish pub overlooking the square to people watch. Jon was a good tour guide in Cusco as he had already spent the first day there alone when i missed my flight.
sic rolling in the background (Rachelle, you´d have loved it here!) on the balcony of a little restaurant (Mullu`s) overlooking the market square with the creepy Avatar like tree. Some tasty lunch followed by a banana and chocolate batido. RELAXING. We did a little shopping in the craft market and then the rain came. We waited it out for a bit (I fell asleep again on Jon´s shoulder listening to the music in the restaurant) and then we caught a combi back to Cusco. Combi is another name for the minibus, you can either pay the price of the taxi (about 25 soles) or wait til the car fills up with other people (hence, combi) and pay your share of the fee. It was getting late in the day and raining so I dont think the guy wanted to wait for more people and we ended up paying the full price. His car was the sketchiest yet. The back end was sure to come off some time soon and there were no seatbelts, but he was friendly and smiled and we were happy to help him out with our business. We had him drop us off at the top of the mountain into Cusco at Christo Blanco.
A huge white statute of Christ that overlooks the city and is lit up at night. Trying to beat the rain we took some pictures and then began to hike down the mountain, totally getting lost in the little city streets, we eventually made it back to our hostel (Samay Wasi). Wasi means house in the Inca language, took a while to figure this out as you see it everywhere. The hostel was ok. Cheap enough, but the rooms were COLD, musty and the shower was luke warm. We went out for dinner at an australian place called Jacks and drinks at an irish pub overlooking the square to people watch. Jon was a good tour guide in Cusco as he had already spent the first day there alone when i missed my flight.
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