Mathilda's Peruvian Gap Year Adventures

Tuesday 11^th March

New post from bed as I have been very sick today, probably because of something I ate. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow, as I don’t want to miss any school days. On a happier note, last week we had a long weekend, so the volunteers didn’t go to school on Friday. I decided to go to Ollantaytambo, which is a small town about a 30 min drive from Urubamba.

Ollantaytambo is one of the more touristic towns in the Sacred Valley, as it is surrounded by Inca ruins. There are a lot of Inca ruins around all the towns, but these ones are extremely close to the centre of town, which is quite unique. It was my first time there, so I didn’t have any specific plans of what to do and simply wandered around for the day. The city centre looked very old as the streets were all paved with stones and the buildings were ancient looking as well. This made it look very charming I think, and as I walked around I felt like I was in a completely different era. Although, you seem quite a bit of tourists around, there are still lots of Peruvian families who live there, which was great, as I always love to sit in the main plaza and observe locals go about their daily activities. On a side note, I noticed that all the main plazas here are called ‘Plaza de Armas’, which is something I am not used to as back home plazas all have different names. My Spanish teacher explained to me that this name was invented by the Spanish colonies that came to Peru and always put all their weapons in the biggest plaza of the town. Therefore, the name was given and is still used nowadays.

Peruvian lady Another Peruvian lady

Ollantaytambo's narrow streets

This is how babies are carried here

Ollantaytambo's museum

Ollantaytambo's streets

Walking around Ollantaytambo I also saw a lot houses with red plastic bags hanging outside on wooden posts (see photo below). I have seen these around everywhere in Peru but never knew what they were for. I finally know now, and discovered that they are a way to attract customers to bars, as locals go there to drink ‘Chicha’ (a local brew made out of corn). This way, it lets people who walk by know they are open. I find it such a weird concept but seems to work for them!

Overall, I really liked Ollantaytambo, as it very charming and has a very unique feel compared to the other towns I’ve visited so far. I must go back soon and explore more of the Pinkullyuna Inca ruins surrounding it.

On my way home

On Saturday, I simply ran a few errands around town, and then later went to dinner to celebrate Asha’s (project coordinator) 28^th birthday. We went to a lovely vegetarian restaurant that just reopened after the rainy season. We then went out for a drink and I tasted Cusquena, which is the typical Peruvian beer, and it actually tasted very good.

Happy Birthday Asha!

Then on Sunday, Rowena, Marina and I went to Pisac, another town close to Urubamba. I really like Pisac as it has a crafts market on Sundays where it is always nice to walk around. Supposedly, Ulrike’s café has the best cake in town, so we went there too and had some very good carrot cake. Lastly, I think I have completely forgotten to mention that Carnival festivals have taken place all over the Sacred Valley for the past week and a half. In Peru, Carnival celebrations are taken very seriously, as they miss out on an opportunity to party. The tradition here is throw water at people (using water balloons, water guns or full buckets of water) and spray shaving foam. I don’t have any photos from the festival we attended in Urubamba or in Pisac last weekend, as my camera would have gotten completely drenched. I have gotten soaked probably everyday for the past week, as children and teenagers on the street will throw water at you anywhere or anytime. I have gotten a bucket thrown at in the market where everyone starting laughing, sprayed with foam through a bus window and got hit by water balloons countless times. Although I do love festivals, I am glad this is all over as I can now walk around without being afraid of getting drenched.

Pisac with its Carnival decorations

School has started this week, and I had the best first day yesterday. More about my whole week in my next post!