Incan Ruins and Silliness
Gina. Ollytatambo, Peru
We went outside today! Yay! I´m posting photos right now of the Incan ruins around Ollytatambo, flowers, and the silliness we got into along an Incan wall. It´s really amazing how accurately they cut the rocks for some of their walls. They don´t have any mortar holding them together, and yet they´ve survived for so long. And they´re really very pretty. Some of the details are interesting, too–like rounded protrusions that no one really knows what they´re for. There are theories that they could have helped in the transportation of the giant stones or that the Incans could have just liked the way the shadows from them looked. Unfortunately today was a bit cloudy, so there were no shadows on the wall for us. But every day since we left the Lima fog has been unnaturally blue and sunny, so we were due for a cloudy day.
I feel very uncomfortable taking pictures of the local people. But they´re so photogenic with their incredibly tan, wrinkled faces and bright woven clothing and headpieces. I snuck a couple of photos of some children, though. Maybe I´ll get more bold as time goes on. Or maybe it´ll be easier to take photos in more obviously touristy places like the market tomorrow.
Today really was a wonderful day. Not only did we get out walking around, but we also didn´t eat in a restaurant all day! Yay! We´re both sick of soup and rice and chicken. Almost everything we´ve eaten so far has been oversalted, almost to the point of being inedible. We´re trying to be extra cautious about what we eat. Soup is generally safe since everything in it has been boiled. Other than that we´ve been avoiding any uncooked vegetables or fruits, and anything with cheese or milk in it. I miss cheese and milk. It hasn´t even been two weeks and I´m seriously craving a giant glass of milk and a big hunk of cheddar extra sharp… But, back on topic, today we ate our own food. We went to the outdoor market and bought 2 carrots, a cucumber, an avocado, and 4 bananas. Fruits and vegetables are okay to eat raw as long as they are peelable. So these were all good choices. We also bought some chocolate cookies (coca soda is their name!), a loaf of bread, and a pack of 3 small tuna fish (atun in Spanish!) cans in oil. I sliced up half the cucumber (after peeling it) and half the avocado and we put tuna fish with it on the bread and they might have been the best sandwiches we´ve ever had! Even Steve had some tuna, and he´s always been against it. Then we peeled a carrot and munched away! It was great. I dreamed about food last night, so it was great to make something so tasty without the fear that has started to come with food prepared by someone else. For dinner we had ramen in a cup and an orange. It´s been a good food day! And I mean that without any irony. It´s funny what you miss and what tastes comforting.
Tomorrow morning we´ve off to Pisac and the market. We´re going to spend the night there so that we can go see their ruins and relax. Both Ollytatambo and Pisac are little towns outside of Cusco that generally get either passed over or just quickly visited for the ruins or the market. It´s nice to have the freedom and the time to get to know the places a little better and see them once the hordes of tourists go home.
Tags: Peru
montarsig
Leave a Reply