Day 3 was all bonus! The original plan was to hike to Ipsayqocha, campsite for night 2, to Patakancha, where the bus would pick us up and take us to Ollantaytambo. Since we did the entire 3 day trek in 2 days, today was all a bonus!
I had my wonderful wake up call of in tent tea and got ready for the day. Breakfast was the best yet! We had toast and an omlette with cheese, spinach, veggies. It was really good! After breakfast, we had another meeting with my entourage becuase I wouldn´t see the porters again. I thanked them for all they had done and told them what a treat it had been for me to visit thier country and then offered my appreciation by tipping them. They do this sort of formal ceremony for presenting the tips on the 2 treks I´ve done with GAP. Its a nice touch and opportunity to make sure they know much you appreciate all they have done for you the past few days (setting up your tent, taking it down, cookng, carrying everying, etc.).
After that, we headed out for Ollantaytambo. It was supposed to be a 4 hour trek, but we made the 15 km in 3 hours. It was all flat or downhill so it was easy trekking. Still plenty of villages to go through. And lots of interesting people along the way. At one point, we heard these horns blowing and as we rounded the curve, you saw a group of villagers parading down the road. They were all traditionally dressed or most were and it was very much a parade of people walking. One carried a statue of Mary and Jesus in a box on his back and others carried an umbrella over it. Lots had flowers or other "offerings". They were on thier way to another village for a New Year´s celebration. I am telling you, these Peruvians take Christmas and New Years very seriously! They celebrate forever!!
We didn´t have rain until the very end when we finally had to break down and put on the poncho, but it wasn´t bad. The people made this trek for me and seeing all the small villages along the way. From Patakancha to Ollantaytambo, we walked on both roads and trails. Even on the roads, I never saw but 5 cars. One of those was our van going to pick up the cook and our stuff. Two were with the parade of people on the New Years celebration. So, really only 2 cars all day. Mainly the people use the roads. They are more like wide dirt trails than roads anyway. I was really glad we decided to go ahead and hike this last 15 km. It was easy hiking, but more of a chance to see the small villages and people.
We arrived in Ollantaytambo and Freddy took us to Puppy´s Bar, which I found funny. There are dogs EVERYWHERE in Peru. And I mean EVERYWHERE!! So, I loved that we went to Puppy´s Bar. It wasn´t open, but Nancy let us in. The owner just quit being the local GAP manager and opened this bar in Ollantaytambo, so they didn´t mind us taking over the place. It was really nice. Freddy and I had a Cerveza and congratulated ourselves on a good three day trek. After that while we waited on Mario to cook lunch, I walked around town and tried to find a handwoven blanket. I found what I wanted and went back and got Freddy. He told me the guy was lying it wasn´t hand woven and helped me find an authentic hand woven blanket like I wanted and I haggled for the price of course. Then we went back and had our last lunch prepared by Mario. Garlic bread and asparagus soup. Then a tortilla with cheese, onion, some sort of grains or cereal is what they kept saying in it. All i know is it was good! And we had rice with veggies also. A tasty last meal from Mario!!
After lunch, I wandered around town a bit more and gave the quick update and replies to comments. Then it was time to catch the train to Agus Caliente. That was my treat. .. I got to ride in the 3 wheel taxi. I loved it! You see these everywhere. Freddy had said he called a taxi to take us to the train station and that is what pulled up! How fun. The train ride to Agus Caliente is beautiful. You see the Urumba river and the start of the Inca Trail. And of course, the Andes. When we got to the hotel, I headed straight to the hot springs and soaked for about an hour. It felt good, but the hot springs at Lares are nicer. After that, I had a quick dinner and then bed. Wake up for tomorrow to see MP is going to be 05:00. We will take the 06:00 bus to MP.
