Peru Blog: 6/2 5:25 pm, Yucay

Continuing with the Peru logs...

I wasn't in Urubamba before.

This hotel used to be an hacienda -- a town within walls -- before it was a fancy tourist town within walls. But that's what it is; there's a restaurant, two bars (w/live music), a church, a museum, and even our own handicraft market. There's another "unsanctioned" market outside the hotel featuring very insistent saleswomen and girls. They tend to swarm, and we've had to be quite firm.

I particularly remember one little girl selling these awful finger puppets. She was the most insistent of the lot...

We started in Pisac, a huge handicraft market. There are hundreds of stalls, but really much less variety of goods. We did all find some nice gifts and souvenirs, though. I'm disappointed that it was all we did in Pisac. My guidebooks tell me there are some great ruins just beyond the city.

I was very put off by the hard sale tactics. It's difficult to get used to; I guess it's what they feel they have to do. They can be so plaintive, so desperate. There was one fellow who offered to sell me "real, original Inca pottery"! It was adorable, really. He walked to the back of the shop, crouched under the counter, moved aside some rags to show... The Secret Trove! Sadly, after talking to Bob it seems he reveals his secrets to everyone, not just his special friends like us.

We then went to Ollantay (the town) and Ollantaytambo (the fortress). It's amazing how much of the Inca town has survived - not just the archeology and ruins, but the town itself. Many of the homes are built on Incan foundations and the aqueduct that waters the town, too.
The Inca aqueducts are still present and running, but they count on ice and snow runoff from the Cordillera Blanca. Want disturbing evidence of climate change? It hasn't snowed in those mountains for 25 years. (I should note here that Eric heard what our guide said differently. He heard that the quantity of snow had been diminishing for 25 years. Caveat lector).

The Ollan. fortress, in my experience, is pretty much a bunch of stairs. This altitude is murder. 20 stairs and my heart was pounding. Eric said the interesting thing was that your muscles don't ache, but your heart is racing and you're gasping for air.

Speaking of hiking, Machu Picchu is tomorrow.