Hello from Ollantaytambo near Machu Picchu,
(Text from the Machu Picchu page) 

All of the trains from Cuzco to Machu Picchu Pueblo (the new official name for Agua Caliente below the ruins) leave early in the morning and don't arrive until the afternoon. Learning of the luxury Vistadome service starting at the halfway point in Ollantaytambo, I decided to take the Sacred Valley tour and hop off the tour bus near the end of the tour in Ollantaytambo. We made several stops on the way: a spectacular arts and crafts town near the ruins of Pisac and the ruins of Ollantaytambo and adjacent village where the railroad connection to Machu Picchu is located. Arriving a little before noon I checked out the train station and close-by accommodations. The resort like three star $89 Hotel Pakaritampu located a half block from the train boarding platform had no available rooms and the receptionist suggested another "good hotel" that must have been run by a very close friend of hers as it would have been inaccurate to describe any aspect of the bare boards place as good.  

Checking around the plaza (all towns in South America have a central plaza!) I found an open door marked "Hostel" and went in. A friendly girl with a bare smattering of English showed me the room she had: simple, view of the ruins, clean, hot water, breakfast and 35 Soles (about $10). I took it. After checking in I walked the kilometer back down the hill to the train station ticket window and bought my $35 ticket for the 10:30AM run the following day on the fabled Vistadome rail service. The ticket window even at this late hour had hoards of tourists clustered around it. Everyone seemed to have a complicated question that needed an involved answer. Finally I reached the window and had my uncomplicated ticket in a minute! Before returning to my hovel I stopped in at the Pakaritampu Hotel and had a wonderful avocado-chicken salad dinner complete with a glass of white house wine, all for under ten dollars. 

The next morning at 5:30AM when I awoke an old guy sweeping up around the hostel indicated the included breakfast might be ready at 9AM, guiding me as he spoke in Spanish to a sleepy cafe around the corner. With over three hours to kill, I climbed around the ruins for a while where early risers were bathing in the still functional Inca baths supplied by the channeled river water. Crossing to the other side of the river I walked the still inhabited ancient residential area along the bank of the river. Ollantaytambo is the last living Inca town in the world. Many people who live here still speak the ancient Inca language. Some of the older people didn't even seem to understand my attempts in Spanish to be pleasant. Walking the narrow warren of corridors that serve as interconnecting streets in this charming Indian enclave proved to be the highlight of my brief stay here. I could easily imagine life in this simple collection of stone neighborhoods five hundred years ago. Little has changed. After being satisfied I had seen enough of the surviving Inca lifestyle I went back down to the luxurious Pakaritampu Hotel for an excellent $6 buffet breakfast with the hotel's registered guests before returning to get my things in preparation for the train ride down the river to Machu Picchu Pueblo.  

Fed and packed I strolled down to the gated fence which separates the throngs of hotel touts, taxi drivers, waiting tour buses, and anxious passengers from the actual boarding platform. At 10:00 sharp the gate keeper allowed those of us with visible tickets to pass into the inner sanctums. For the next hour multiple blue engines, some with one or two passenger cars maneuvered back and forth in front of the station. Each time one would stop our cluster of 10:30 passengers would line up to board. Finally, a half hour late the distinctive Vistadome cars appeared and after departing passengers cleared we all climbed aboard to find our assigned seats. Service on this luxury train is like that on an airline. Stewards pushed refreshment carts up and down the isle dispensing complimentary light snacks and beverages...

This story continues in the full Machu Picchu page.

Peace,
Fred L Bellomy

 
Short 3 minute YouTube video: Visit to Ollantaytambo & Pisac

Ollantaytambo Peru: Carpenters building a new roof for one of the stone houses in the still used residential section of Ollantaytambo.

Ollantaytambo Peru: One of the foot paths through the still used residential section of Ollantaytambo.

Ollantaytambo Peru: Water supply at the entrance to my $10 no-name hostel.

Ollantaytambo Peru: A view of the ruins at Ollantaytambo.

Ollantaytambo Peru: Diagram of the ruins at Ollantaytambo.

Ollantaytambo Peru: Statue of an Inca king sitting in the center of the plaza.

Ollantaytambo Peru: Children at play on the walls around the central plaza.

Ollantaytambo Peru: Some of the newer buildings in the village.

Ollantaytambo Peru: A view of the ruins at Ollantaytambo: channeled water supply for the baths which were being used the day I visited the site.

Ollantaytambo Peru: Tourists and locals mingle around the central plaza.

Ollantaytambo Peru: On the way to Ollantaytambo during our Sacred Valley Tour we stopped at Pisaq ruins.

Ollantaytambo Peru: Ollantaytambo ruins.

Ollantaytambo Peru: Ollantaytambo ruins.

Ollantaytambo Peru: Most houses have one of these "good luck" sculptures on the roof.

 

Ollantaytambo Peru: Display of a few of the sixty different varieties of corn in this region.

Ollantaytambo Peru: Waiting for our train; it arrived a half hour late.

Ollantaytambo Peru: Ladies offering crafts to passengers waiting for our late train.