As we left our wonderful farm project tour we stopped by a very cute little boy who shyly waved us goodbye. He was all rugged up in his brightly coloured home-spun-&-woven hat and a zippered jacket with llama patterns woven into the fabric. How adept and artistic are these weavers from the Awana Kanacha, project farm!
It was now nearly 2pm and we were headed for lunch at a beautiful restaurant set amongst the hills with views of the Andes Mountains.
Our lunch was a very tasty smorgasbord of soup, several choices of salads, fresh corn bread, various stews (some may have been guinea pig – a local delicacy), rice and selection of sweet dishes.
Soft music of the Andes was playing in the background and we just relaxed and enjoyed the food, the atmosphere, the breath taking view of the mountains and we took our time to relax and rest. We'd been up since 3.30am, you may recall! We hadn't stopped experiencing all the cultural and native sights since hitting the tarmac in Cusco but we were still not yet tired. How could we be? With the views, delicious food and our own live entertainment in the form of twin baby llamas frolicking in a huge puddle of water right outside the side window of the restaurant.
Now we hadn't seen any baby llamas or alpacas at the farm but here at the restaurant we were mesmerised by the antics of these two friendly and lively llamas. They both wore coloured llama wool covered bells around their necks so that the owners could hear where these two mischievous balls of fluff were at all times. One of them came right up to the restaurant window to say hello.
What an added surprise we had and we reluctantly left the restaurant at about 3.30pm but the day was not yet finished for we had markets to visit and an old fort before we were to 'call it a day'.
But we were in for another surprise as we drove through the next town. We passed a restaurant that is famous for its speciality menu: barbequed guinea pig on a stick. Standing on the footpath outside the restaurant was a local girl, dressed in her traditional Inca clothing and she was holding a barbequed guinea pig on a stick, as a way of advertising the restaurants famous dish of the day.
We continued our drive through the Sacred Valley, passing through villages, past rice fields and on towards the mountain slopes. The roads became narrower as we ascended the slopes of the hills below the mountains.
Finally we entered a mountainside village, with a very long name, Ollantaytambo. It seemed to have a maze-like pattern of narrow streets which our coach driver managed to squeeze through ever so slowly. When we were almost at the base of the mountain, at the top of the town, our coach finally stopped in the narrowest of laneways. Our coach was hemmed in on both sides, by solidly-built stone village shops and houses. There was only just enough room for one person to stand between the coach and the walls of the houses. We all piled out and in single file to walk through even narrower lanes until we reached our destination. The Ollantaytambo markets that "no tourist should miss!- We were in for a tourist treat??? Our treat or theirs?
