Ollayantaytambo, Quillabamba

July 10-12

We cycled into Ollayantaytambo in the late afternoon. A tiny, touristy but super cute town, I wished I'd had more time to wander Ollayantaytambo. We were up early in the morn to explore the ruins of Ollayantaytambo, which are amazing examples of Inca terraces. I learned that the Incas did not invent the agricultural terraces, they were developed by pre-Incan cultures. However, the Incans perfected the terraces as they did the irrigation systems.

After our tour, we piled into the van for an hour's climb up to 4300m altitude to begin cycling at the Abra de Malaga Pass (14,419ft). We biked down hill and even though I had several extra layers on, I froze my fingers off. The air chilled my nose and ears, as we cycled through the clouds and mist. It was breathtakingly stunning but I was too cold to stop and remove gloves for a photo-op. The morning ride began at 37' but by the end of the day we were in the high jungle of Quillabamba, and it was a hot and sunny 91'. We descended 10,938 ft over the course of the day! That has to wreak havoc on the human body. We spent the night in Quillabamba.

Louise our guide kept up on the gossip about the Cusco teacher strikes. To be sure to get us into Maccu Piccu on Thursday, we had to be up at 430am on Wednesday to start the journey. We drove to Santa Theresea and then the van left us at the hydroelectric plant (Hidroelectric). Louise had intended that we would all take the train into Aguas Calientes, but the strikes stopped trains from running. New plan: we would hike the 11 k to get to Aguas Calientes. Despite the protests, we made it to Aguas Calientes in time for lunch.