Hills outside Santiago, smog in the valleys, Andes in the far distance
Busker in cafe in Ollantaytambo
We had an early start – up at 04:30 for a 5AM minibus to the airport. I had a window seat so I got views of the mountains to the east (alas, into the glare of the rising sun). Santiago-Lima, Lima-Cusco all went smoothly. Then we had a long bus trip through Cusco Rising to an altitude ~4000 m or so, then down into the Sacred Valley at about 2900m. It gets dark quickly in the mountains here. We enjoyed sunset at 6PM as the bus descended. After dumping bags at our accommodation in Ollantaytambo, we dined at a local eatery. I tried Alpaca steaks, which were very tasty, if a little salty, serenaded by a busker with guitar and pan-pipes.
No gallery for this post. Pics with my phone camera are not worth high res.