Thursday 17/05
Vlog by Jules: see below.
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By me:
We start with a minibus drive of 20′, up to a nice village with girls going to school with their traditional dress.
The first part is uphill, like yesterday. We see a herd of llamas (and a few alpacas) getting “loaded” with bags on their back.
We reach the pass (at 4,450m) at 11:15am.
We have lunch near a lake, further down.
Like yesterday’s, the views are amazing and the weather is good. What a beautiful trek! It’s great to see so many llamas and alpacas. It’s also great to see people working in the fields.
We end the walk in Patacancha, at 3:45pm. We’ve walked 16km today (in 6h30h).
The minibus is waiting for us; it drives us (45′) to Ollantaytambo (2,800m). We see a lot of corn (yellow and black) drying along the road (in the habitations).
We check in in our hotel at 5pm. We are keen to get a warm shower but they have a problem with the hot water. After one hour, we can finally take a (not too hot) shower. Kids were happy to be on their electronics devices for a couple of hours, in their bed.
We go to the main square (Plaza de Armas) around 7pm. We first drop our laundry in a ‘lavanderia’ (we’ll come back in Ollantaytambo on Saturday) and then go and eat a wood-fired pizza in one of the dozens pizzerias of the town. After eating the 2 familiar pizzas that we initially ordered (including one half with avocado), we order an additional small one; we are starving!
We are in bed by 8:30pm. Tomorrow we will have our first ‘view’ of the Machu Picchu! I can’t wait!
