Sleep for twelve hours.
Ollanta is a really lovely Andean village during the day – adobe houses, narrow cobbled streets, friendly people. The main square’s a mess; they’re digging it up completely.
Walk around the extensive Inca ruins along the side of the mountain. The views of the valley from the top are amazing. Spot another set of ruins directly across the village; I don’t believe they’re mentioned anywhere and it looks like there’s just as good a view from up there. Ask around, and the proprietress of the nicest budget guesthouse tells me how to get there. Find the footpath leading up and mark it on my map.
It’s getting late-ish, so I grab some vegetarian burritos at Hearts Café on the square. It’s a project started by an old British woman who moved to Peru a few years ago, and all proceeds go towards various projects involving battered women and children, abandoned elderly, etc. I do wonder why it takes foreigners sometimes to start to sort things out, why there’s a lack of home-grown Peruvian philanthropists.
Wild ride back to Cusco via Urubamba in combis (shared taxis). Both drivers go too fast and duck into the correct lane at the last second. There’s a funeral procession taking up a chunk of the street. “Queremos justicia para Amilca” read the placards. Looks like it’s a murder victim.
Check into a real cheapie gem – Hostal Andrea. It’s a wee walk from the main square, but my room’s got a superb view of Cusco, a double bed and cable TV – all for 25 soles. The only downside are the ice-cold showers. Thank goodness for my Russian childhood.
Swept up in yet another parade by Plaza San Francisco; there are dancing gorillas, men in intricately embroidered outfits that resemble Spanish conquistador clothes until I notice that some of them have Egyptian pharaoh heads and pyramids on them. Puzzling. There are some kids practising some kind of dance routine in front of the cathedral as well.
Check out Qorikancha, the site of the largest Inca temple where a lot of the original stonework survives with a Spanish church on top of it. Apart from the perfect precision of ancient doorways, the complex showcases a painting of the night sky. The Incas thought of the Milky Way as the ‘celestial river’ and gave names to the constellations of darkness – the dark spots on the Milky Way between the stars. You have the llama, the toad, the partridge and the serpent. I want to learn more about the Inca astrological beliefs, but the planetarium is only open on Saturdays.
Spend an hour at the bus terminal, gathering practical info on various routes and bus companies. Buy the most expensive bus ticket of the trip so far – an overnight super-cama to Nazca, complete with super-plush seats and on-board meals.
Try Korma Sutra for dinner. It’s got the best mango lassi I’ve tasted in ages and large portions of Indian food, though the spice mixture in the tikka masala tastes different from what I’m used to back home. Am treating myself because am supposed to fast tomorrow before the night ceremony involving the hallucinogenic ayahuasca vine.
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