05/08/2019 Cusco to Aguas Calientes, Peru

We woke up at 0800 and started packing our bags up. We had the hostel breakfast before getting all our stuff out of the room so we could officially check out. We used the showers, packed our overnight bags, and left our main luggage in the luggage storage room upstairs. The luggage storage room seems to never be locked and is on the unattended roof terrace, so we were happy that all our stuff fits into my rucksacks plane cover bag, which can be locked. It’s not fool proof but it’s something! We walked past our local and favourite bakery (we are familiar faces now!) and grabbed coffee and croissants to go and then walked through the market streets filled with fruit and veg vendors to the street with the collectivo service (group taxi/minivans) we were looking for. The locals are so small here, I don’t think I have ever felt so tall! We walked into the office and requested a minivan, as this is the cheapest service. They told us there were no minivans and they only had a private car (more expensive) we thanked them and said we would take the cheaper car service from the street. When they realised they were going to lose customers they quickly changed their mind and said actually they would do a minivan service for us. We stood in the waiting room for a good 20 minutes. A 26 year old couple from Lima were waiting for a different collectivo service, and we managed to have a full conversation with them. It is always satisfying to navigate a full conversation in Spanish, even if you do use a little bit of mime/smile and nod technique, although it can be a bit mind frazzling too! After about 20 minutes we got ushered out of the office and into a minivan, where we sat, static for a good 40 minutes. Collectivo services are SO South American, they have no time schedule, rather depart when they have enough passengers to make the journey financially viable (we had luckily taken this into account when planning our journey, although Josh did start to get a bit fidgety towards the end!) We only started our journey when a fellow passenger got fed up and started to leave, the driver managed to get him back in the minivan and we were off. We drove through Cusco, all the while the drivers partner (with her toddler on her lap in the front of the van) was shouting our destination ‘Ollantaytambo’ out the window to see if they could pick up more passengers on route. As we joined the main road the lady jumped out and said goodbye to the driver. Josh and I both had a little doze during the nearly two hour journey to Ollantaytambo. It cost us about 10 soles or £2.50 each for the journey. Ollantaytambo is a village in the sacred valley of Peru, and is an Inca archeological site. The minivan dropped us at the small towns main plaza, it was beautiful blue skies and there was a good atmosphere, quite a few tourists and souvenir shops lining the streets. We found a café on the main square for some lunch, with a view of the ruins up in the mountains.

Ruins on the hill

We wandered slowly to the train station and got our tickets checked. The journey was with Inka Rail, which was quite a posh service! The comfortable waiting area had complimentary WiFi, tea and coffee, and there was a guy playing the panpipes. He played panpipe versions of the Beatles and Queen, which was amusing!. We boarded the train, it was very comfortable with big windows, although due to a delay it was dark by the time we pulled into Aguas Calientes. We played some Monopoly deal on the train and were served a drink and snacks too! When we got off the train at Aguas Calientes we found our hostel right next to the train tracks. It was very basic, we had a small room with bunkbeds and a shared bathroom.

View from hotel doorway

There was a hot shower, provided towels and soap so we were happy, it is the little things like not having to pack a wet microfibre towel back into our rucksacks that make us happy! The family that owned the small hostel all lived in one room with bunkbeds and their kitchen consisted of a small sink and a gas canister connected to a small camping stove top. It does make you think of how much we have at home! I saw into the families room, they didn’t have cupboards or drawers, all their worldly belongings were in a couple of sacks on the floor. Aguas Calientes is such a small town, I wander what school is like here for the children and what opportunities there are here. After quickly setting our stuff down in our room we went into the small town to find bus tickets for tomorrow morning. We found the office closeby and queued up for our bus tickets. For a short 25 minute shuttle bus journey up the mountain, it wasn’t cheap! However the alternative is a dusty walk up the mountain beside the bus route, which I have read is not very interesting or safe! We bought our tickets and then did walked up the main street to go somewhere for dinner. We had read the town was pretty unimpressive, dingy, and only worth going to as a means of sleeping before an early start the next day. However we found it totally the opposite. There was a great atmosphere, lots of excited tourists, hustle and bustle, busking and music on the streets, lots of market stalls, lots of cafes and restaurants and people offering massages to weary trekkers. We went to the restaurant ‘Julian’ recommended by our friends Goldie and Marky. The town was slightly more expensive than we are used to in Peru, but I suppose they can get away with it here! After dinner we wandered back to our hostel through the market that was just closing up, had a shower and got into bed. We fell asleep watching some David Attenborough. The wooden slats on the bunk beds were homemade and shuffled around, so I did wander if Josh might fall through at some point in the night but thankfully that didn’t happen! Thankfully the trains stopped passing for the night, so we didn’t have the racket of the trains going past whilst we tried to sleep.