The Sacred Valley, Day 2

Holly and I woke up to the sound of people setting up the market for a busy day of tourists. We skipped breakfast so that we could hike up early before the weather could play any tricks on us. The trail was steep and consisted of stone stairwells that cut through the terraced mountainside. After less than an hour of lung-busting hiking (still not acclimatized), we reached some ruins. They were old buildings, not very big, that had been cut into the hillside. There were more above. We continuted to climb after a poptart (thanks Schmern) until we reached the main ruins. There were precisely cut stone blocks stacked perfectly to make walls.
Aqueducts carried springwater throughout the establishment. It was a gorgeous day, and the vistas up and down valley were amazing.
Running out of water and needing some fuel, we descended back into town, where Hipaulito greeted us and again talked our ears off. This time, he gave us the name of a hostel in Cuzco with, get this, the same name. Oh, and it was run by his son who goes by the name, yep, Hipaulito. We ate some breakfast and caught a taxi to a small town called Coya, about 4 km down the road. In Coya, we were looking for a clinic that we had heard about. Consulting a toothless fellow with a bucket, we found the clinic and were able to get a tour. It´s a fantastic facility that offers basic health services to the regions´ peoples. It runs on donations and volunteer medical teams from the States.

Next stop, Ollantaytamba, which is pretty much the end of the road for those on their way to Machu Picchu. That said, it was crawling with tourists. It is also the site of some fantastic Inca ruins, right in town. Hungry, Holls and I got some food. We then found a laid-back hostel up a side street and stashed our gear to go check out the ruins.
From the hostel we could see the main ruins in town, and it was a mess with people. So we decided to hike them tomorrow morning when the crowds would die down. Instead, we found a path that led up a steep mountainside on the other side of town. We hiked up to some amazing ruins, sat down, and took it all in. Beautiful.

That night, we strolled into a pizza joint hungry for some protein. As we were eating, a 4-piece Peruvian band entered and began to preform. We were the only people in the restaurant, and it was a little awkward knowing that afterward they would attempt to sell us a CD when we didn´t want to buy one. But we gave them a tip. As we were finishing dinner, the waiter, a young guy born in Ollantaytamba, started chatting us up. Soon, he was waxing philosophical: peace, brotherhood, Obama, war. Despite language difficulties, we left with a new friend.