7/20 - Sat
-mountain biking through spectacular Andes scenery.
Darwin did a great job as usual and picked a longer route and great side roads. We were sucking air a little bit due to the altitude but we were very happy to not be on an ATV tour. Those guys just ate dust and missed all of the scenery
-we had a chase car and a bike guide. Bummer he could not fix my front shocks but it was fine. Only a small section of single track which Finn loved
-in the middle of the ride we saw Mara which was a really cool Inca site built into a sink hole. Lots of descending concentric circles. Apparently the Quechua used this area as a laboratory for testing different crops in different microclimates. Clearly a very intelligent and industrious soceity. Way to go Pizzarro, you Catholic a-hole.
-the ride ended in a town and we had a short drive to the salt mines. These are pre-Imca, although of course the Quechua used them too. It was neat to taste the salty spring water and some of the salt. Up until June you could ride mountain bikes all the way down to the salt mines, but in order to prevent dust in the salt, access to the mines has been restricted.
Bummer but not a major deal
-Coco drove us back to Ollantaytambo and Darwin adjusted our reservation at the train station restaurant. We hustled off our bus just before 3 and boogied our dusty bodies to the restaurant. The maitre de gave my dusty legs a good once over
-we enjoyed the alpaca burger and even ordered a second one. The soup wasn't as good as Puka Rumi but Finn said the aji de gallina might have been even a little bit better. I don't believe that. Puka Rumi rules!
-it took awhile to get the staff's attention to pay the bill and then we made the short walk back through the train station to our hotel. We settled back into our hotel around 5 and just chilled out. I went looking for the big hummingbird but had no success. We were ready to relax and play cards.
Matt
2019-09-13
Beautiful scenery! The salt mine looked cool. And I liked your comment about having to wait for your waiter. That can take forever around there!!