That was me this morning. It was dark, rainy and cold and I was still pretty worn out from our day yesterday. The breakfast at our hotel helped, though. We didn't really have time to snap any pictures of our breakfast the day before, but we got a few shots this morning. As far as free breakfasts go, we expected to have bread and tea (pretty standard) and nothing else. We were pleasantly surprised when they asked us about eggs and a fruit salad with yogurt. They also brought us orange juice, along with our tea. Here is a shot from this morning.
Next we headed to the train station to check in and board our train back to Ollanta. This time we did the standard train through Perurail back to Ollanta. The views were still pretty good, but the snack service was much more minimal (we got a pack of salted beans (?) and sweet peanuts and a small drink), and the train took longer to reach Ollanta than it did on the way to Aguas. For some reason this train shook really badly, too. Everyone seemed pretty sick of rocking back and forth by the time we reached our destination.
When we arrived we checked back in with Casa de Wow!! and dropped off our packs. We then headed out for some lunch. We decided on Puka Rumi again. However, we stopped off to buy an anticucho (common street food, meat and sometimes veggies on a stick). They smelled incredible and Eric opted for the beef version, though they had chicken, too. They topped it off with a roasted potato. We stood on the side of the street and enjoyed our little appetizer before we headed to Puka Rumi (again). This time we tried different dishes: Eric had the Chicken Burrito (more like tacos) and I had Roasted Garlic, Parmesan pasta.
After lunch we headed back to the Casa to visit with Winn, our hostess. She had tried to work out a last minute tour for us, but it ended up falling through. We decided it was probably for the best anyway, as we were both still recovering from yesterday. We visited with Winn for about an hour before heading out to walk around Ollanta a bit. We enjoyed the main square for a bit then then checked out two local shops for souvenirs. One shop was owned by a local artisan who sheers, dyes and weaves all of her own materials for her beautiful tapestries. We picked out one long, thin tapestry with llamas on it that we look forward to using back home. She had two little ones with her - a little girl (probably 2) and a little boy (4 mos). Both were adorable! We asked if we could take their picture after we purchased the tapestry and she agreed.
The other shop we went to is owned by the non-profit Awamaki. Originally we hoped to do an artisan workshop with the organization, or a village tour. Unfortunately things did not work out for today, but we stopped by their local shop while we were in town. I had a really hard time narrowing it down (everything was gorgeous!), but finally picked out a couple of a items. We're saving the majority of our souvenir shopping for the end of our trip so we won't have to carry the excess weight for the remainder of the trip.
Tonight we went back out for dinner, expecting to grab sandwiches or "pub grub" type food somewhere. We decided to try out a restaurant at one of the many hostels and were quite surprised when the restaurant ended up being nothing like a grill, but instead a fairly upscale place. So we ate by candlelight tonight and had yet another delicious meal. I had chicken, potatoes and grilled veggies and Eric had a really colorful pasta dish. Both of us were very pleased. In fact, tonight we were talking about our meals over dinner and it is hard to say when we've had a bad meal in Peru so far. We've had meals that were less flavorful, or weren't exceptional, but they've all been good at least. We're really impressed.
Tomorrow we head back to Cuzco, to stay at Ninos Hotel for another night (we're looking forward to it!). Then we'll make our way to Puno, home of Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world). We're at the half-way mark of a trip today and couldn't be more pleased with the way our trip has unfolded. In addition to Puno, we'll also stay in Lima for a couple of nights before we fly home at the end of next week. Both Puno and Lima will be great opportunities to see other sides to Peru. We're excited that we still have a week of exploring to do! Cheers!
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