Day 47 – Saturday, March 14, 2026
In the morning there was a piece of good news and bad news. The rain had actually stopped, but I found my clothes hanging in a cool attic — they were still completely wet. I then went to the reception, asked if there was a laundry with a dryer — then the hotel staff told me they themselves had a dryer, and it costs a small amount. Why did they not tell me the previous night...? I believe in Chile the solution would have been less complicated... oh well, a few minutes later, my clothes were actually dry.
Strange start to a somewhat weird day. I got to the bus station, where I met Nora and Freddie, my hike mates from the previous day (the Japanese guys opted to do a later tour). A big nod to the Peruvian organizers of the flood of tourists — everything was working like clockwork (orange?).
Still in town
The weather. Yes, the rain had stopped, it was relatively mild, but — here comes the issue — it was foggy, especially up on the peak.
Alas, Machu Picchu did not really embrace me. Well, as I had explained, I had gotten utterly wet reaching the base camp. Nora and I hired a guide, last minute for a relatively low amount; he neither spoke too clearly (very thick accent) nor seemed really motivated (probably the amount was below his liking). I looked in envy at the other groups having an interactive, lively guide explaining things. Even worse, there was a pretty thick fog all around the monument: it prevented me from seeing the famous green peaks with the ruins in front. Bad luck — hey, Friday the 13th was the previous day!
Peekabo!
Do you see what I see?
Ruins
Pretty terrace
Maybe Freddie did the right thing — he did not join our guide and decided to wait for the fog to clear. I deemed this hopeless, plus was expecting the rain to start again.
Nora and I completed Circuit 2; yes, we were impressed, but the big “aaaaaah” feeling was missing. We descended by bus — and guess what, all around us was wonderful sunshine, with just a few clouds.
Mystic mountains...
...covered by fog
We were both really tired and decided not to do the “easy”, 3+ hour hike and the 7+ hour bus ride on the way back, but to spend a fortune on an “adventure of a lifetime”, 2‑hour, $80 train ride — not to Cusco, just to a town called Ollantaytambo, the gateway to the Sacred Valley.
Before boarding the train, we had a very tasty lunch: avocados as starters, then a steak flank in a yummy sauce — for a decent price. Pretty much everything else was blatantly overpriced.
The owner of the restaurant entrusted me with her 3‑month‑old relative, so cute!
What a cute baby!
The “adventure of a lifetime” was a scenic train ride, but the marketing team must have been high on cocoa leaves for branding it this way. We had a nice chat with Alex, a young guy from the UK.
Nora and I parted after arriving to Ollantaytambo. It is a small, but lively (and very touristy) town with cobblestone streets, flanked by Inka ruins on the hilltops surrounding it. Nora wanted to return to Cusco; I decided to discover the Sacred Valley — by bike. It was a pleasant, sunny afternoon.
Ollantaytambo
I will spare you the details — first, finding a bike for rent took an hour, then getting one delivered took even more than that. In town, while waiting, I witnessed something quite interesting — a march for a group of young girls being baptized.
Finally, the “bike” (let’s be nice and call it that) arrived. It was quite a wreck — gears not working, brakes in need of new pads, the seat post rusty. Even worse, the backpack that came with the bike was so tiny, hardly anything fit in.
Still, I decided to roll. For a while, it was downhill, then it was flat. The issue was when the first incline came — I could not change gears — also, the chain fell down. The outlook was bleak — just like the late afternoon weather, it had gotten quite overcast. I decided to give up and turn around. On the way back, some stray dogs barged at me — one even snapped at my ankle — without any harm, though. I was not in the highest of spirits. I returned the bike and caught a shared taxi (a ride of about 2 hours) to Cusco. The Sacred Valley will have to wait for me — as it turned out, I did not return on this trip.
It was late Saturday night by the time I arrived in Cusco and marvelled at the churches and monuments of this city.
Once again, Cusco at night...
...this one, too
I then booked a trip to the Rainbow Mountain for the following day, with a start at 4:30 in the very early morning. I returned to the nice hotel in the center I had stayed at earlier and retired for the short night.