Friday

These women were in the main plaza of Ollantaytambo - one of the most picturesque of Peruvian villages.
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How could I have doubted?!  We did indeed find our way out of our "secret garden".. but only because Mario & Natali picked us up the next morning with the van. We were scheduled for a visit to the most important town in the Sacred Valley - Ollantaytambo, a 'Novo Andean' lunch, & then a train trip!

Here you can appreciate the wonderful natural setting of the town and its vibrant development as a tourist center.
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First we stopped in O-town, itself, to pick up a couple necessities, but didn’t really have time to look around much. A pity because I think I liked this place the most of any small town I saw in the whole of Peru!

Stick with the program!

Then we drove up into the ruins… what a lot of steep terraces! (We were told that this was one of the few places the Spanish lost a major battle against the Incas…& I could see why.) There were also intriguing storehouses carved into the cliffs and, of course, the mystery: Just how exactly did they get ALL this stone, ALL that distance… and especially without the help of wheels! Natali told us that the Incas never used written language, much less bothered with other things that we normally consider marks of an advanced civilization. YET…

Stones, steps, and terraces
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After marveling at the ruins, we got back in the van for a short drive (Hey,  the whole Sacred Valley is SMALL, with walls steeper & closer than you might think!) to our lunch destination: The Casa Andina (see review). Then it was time to take the train from Ollantaytambo up to Aguas Calientes, at the base of the Machu Picchu sanctuary. The train is the only way to do this, as there’s no road and the ill-conceived helicopter has been suspended. Unfortunately - Dic, Karen, Jim & I had been spoiled by the train trip we took in Mexico’s Copper Canyon, so we were not impressed by the Vistadome cars (Fare on this date = $38.50 U.S.D). Dic had to sit in a frog position the entire time – while Penny & I entwined our thighs – to even manage in the face-to-face seats we were assigned. Maybe I’d take the Hiram Bingham train if I ever have it to do over… heaven forbid the “Backpacker!”

More stones, steps and terraces - these particular ones showing the Inca mastery of same in Ollan.
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Upon arriving in Aguas Calientes (thank God it was only about an hour and a half trip on the train), we were hustled up to the  Pueblo Hotel, given our refreshing washcloths and “orientation” in the main lobby, then whisked off to our rooms. Once again I felt a little breathless, and – once again – it seems we arrived too late to do the activities I had chosen out for that evening (The “Twilight Walk” offered on the hotel’s grounds) Why we were always too late for stuff I don’t know: the train runs on a set schedule, & it’s not like we dawdled between the station & the hotel!

The Inca people also knew enough about hydraulics to be able to build a 'bath' where the water pressure can be altered with just a tap of the hand. AND, it's still working to this day!
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Oh well. We did get the a la carte dinner in the Pueblo’s breathtaking main restaurant (all glass and sparkling reflections… that I WISH I’d gotten a photo of!) and it was wonderful. But then we went to bed. Our specialized new guide for the next day’s tour at Machu Picchu, Wilma, had more or less told us “Forget any plans of seeing the dawn on your own & “communing” with any spiritual vibes. WE HAVE TO GET THERE EARLY AND JUST DO IT.”. In other words, “Stick with the program!”

In fact, the entire town of Ollan is a "living museum" of Incan knowledge in construction, hydraulics and agriculture. Incan water channels still thread the streets.
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I’m not saying she wasn’t a good guide (She was.) And I’m not saying she was wrong (There were HOARDS of people at the later hour when I’d hoped to arrive). Nonetheless, it was a sort of a disappointment that we only had this one day at our trip highlight. If only...