(9:10PM, 26 January 2011, sitting in the same bed, in the same hospedaje, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru) I have just consciously taken a decision that I know will cost me money, all for the sake of familiarity! Me: the traveller who changed hostels three times in one week in Lima, none of which were the two I tried out the last time I was here, to save money and for a change of scenery. Tonight I got out of my bus a town earlier than I should’ve, knowing I will pay an additional bus ticket to get there tomorrow, all so I could stay in a hostel I already know.
The straight, narrow streets of Ollantaytambo were designed and lived in by the Inca themselves and have been inhabitted ever since. I know them well, having walked up and down them looking for a cheap place to stay only three nights ago, and then again, after checking in, when I ended up retracing my steps back up the hill in the rain because the Inca put a long inviting road on the other side of the river, but only connected it to the rest of the town with one bridge, at its top end. So when I hopped off the bus this evening, into the very-same ancient town square where I had hopped on the bus as it was passing the day before yesterday, I walked past the very-same market and the very-same spot of pavement where I had sat to drink a ponche (hot spiced drink), and directly to the very-same hospedaje door, which I knocked on to wake the senora (she usually goes to bed quite early), paid the already negotiated price, located the light swich in the very-same room I had stayed in two nights before, and climbed into the very-same bed in the corner, having already tested the other two and found this one to be the best. Read the rest of this entry »
What You’ve Been Saying