Sacred Valley- Ollantytambo

We arrived in Ollantytambo at about 2pm after Pisac. Again, thanks to Nooner, we were told to stay here and break up the journey to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu. Again, this town was really lovely. A little more hustle and bustle than Pisac, but beautiful. Probably our favorite part about the town was the bed and breakfast we stayed at, Hotel El Albergue, right on the train tracks. it really is! Once again Lonely Planet came through, but i don´t even think their write up did the hotel justice. If you come to the Sacred Valley you must stop in Ollantytambo and stay at this hotel! Joaquin Weeks, who runs the hotel, is absolutely wonderful and was incredibly kind to us during our stay. The hotel, as i said, is located right on the train tracks, but the bed was so comfortable ( i called it my cocoon) that I didn´t even hear the 5am train this morning, even though our room was the closest to the tracks! The hotel has these lovely gardens behind it with fruit trees and flowers galore (Dad you´d be in heaven!) I took a bunch of pictures so everyone can see when I get back. In the back of the gardens is this relaxing area with hammocks which was a great place to nap in this morning after our hike. But last night after being exhausted from the hike in Pisac we decided to eat dinner at our hotel. Only $10 for a 3 course meal, and a delicious home´cooked one at that! It was actually candle lit and we dined with another older American couple and a funny Australian named Phillip. The dinner was so delicious (my fav was this fantastic pumkin soup) and the wine so yummy (thanks Phillip!) that we all ended up sitting there for an hour or so after dinner just talking and drinking. (Thanks Joaquin for letting us!) Full from supper we remembered the hotel has a sauna, which Joaquin was kind enough to set up for us. Now this is a real sauna, or steam room rather. it´s a little hut and inside is a fire place with coals on top and then spread on top of that are a ton of real eucalyptus (spelling?) leaves. It was HEAVEN! esp. for Steph with her cold. It was just what our legs wanted after a long day of hiking. We slept like babies after that.
In the morning we had a delicious breakfast at the hotel of granola and real yogurt with the most amazing honey! ( steph and i seriously really can´t stop talking about the honey) then we set off to the Inca Ruins. Steph was still a little under the weather so she walked down by the water canals at the bottom of the ruins with me (again, thanks nooner for that tip). And i did the hiking by myself. Again going in the morning proved to be great since there were no tours. And i started at the end of the ruins so again i was by myself. These ruins are more of a military fortress than then the ruins in Pisac, which were more ceremonial. But these were nonetheless gorgeous. After the hike we retired to the hotel for a quick nap in the hammock and then caught our noon train to Aguas Calientes which is basically the base for Machu Picchu. It´s pouring here now, hence us hanging out in the internet cafe. But again we had a great lunch at Indio Feliz. Another wonderful soup. whatever this local soup is it´s fantastic! Tomorrow is Machu Picchu which we´re so so excited about.
But please, if you´re coming to Peru you must stay at our hotel in Ollantytambo and say hi to Joaquin for us! here´s the web address- www.elalbergue.com