8
Location: Ollantaytambo
Most of the girls got up bright and early to spend our last morning in Cuzco watching the beautiful sunrise from the terrace of our hostel looking over a sea of red roofs surrounded by mountains. Something we’ll never forget. After breakfast, we started to carry out hundreds of bags (or at least that’s what it seemed like) up the stairs and hill to the bus so that we could start the road trip to Ollantaytambo. Along the way, we took many stops to Sacsayhuaman ruins, a llama and alpaca farm, and Pisaq. My favorite was the Pisaq tour with everything from Inca stones dating back to the 1350s, absolutely incredible views, and many ancient neighborhood ruins; it was a remarkable place to stop when we got to the Sacred Valley. When we got to the llama farm, we learned all about the softest alpaca and the different types of llamas and alpacas. We got to feed, take pictures with, and even hug their soft fur. During the rest of the drive, there were a lot of naps, laughs, and murder mystery riddles. As we drove, we were engulfed by mountains so big that it hurt my neck to look up at them. When we arrived at lunch, it started to not just rain, but also hail, so we had a little change of plans. Instead of mountain biking through Urubamba Valley, we went back to the hotel instead. As we entered Ollantaytambo I knew that just I had fallen in love with Cuzco, this small city was just as beautiful. The first thing we did when we got to the hotel was to check the amenities like hot water and heat. At first, we didn’t. I will never take these things for granted again. After having some local food at a restaurant nearby, we barely had enough energy to get through the rest of the movie before we passed out. Another amazing day!