This day we still hike all day long but it was much easier because we were mostly heading gradually downhill toward Ollantaytambo. We walked across many fields and farms. As we got lower in elevation, the crops changed to mostly corn, and in the Urubabmba River valley the crops are like California’s (nuts, fruits, vegetables). We stopped at a local school and visited a first grade class, who were learning Spanish. They all told us their names and sang us a song, and then we sang them a song in English. They were learning to write cursive and everything around the room was labeled with the Spanish words. We also stopped at a local house to try the chica beer, made from fermented corn. They all drink it for lunch and have a social break together. The people making it hange a red flag (often a red plastic bag) out of their house which is the signal to come in and buy a beer.
After lunch we hike up to a ruin called Puma Marca. All through our hike we passed signs of ruins, bits of Inca roadways, Incan irrigation canals, and old terraces. We also saw the Incan grave sites in a cliff side, where they put the mummies of the rulers. Since their organs were put into gold jars and they were buried with their valuable statues, the tombs were all raided by the Spanish invaders or treasure collectors.
We reached Ollantaytambo at around 5:00 and went to a restaurant for dinner. After dinner we took the train to Aguas Calientes, which is the town at the base of Macchu Picchu. We finally checked into our hostel at 10:30 and got our first shower in 3 days.
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