May 25, 2026
Another day of winging it. I first went back to Urubamba to see what it’s like without crowds.
The plaza is very pretty.
Also has a neat produce market.
Other than that, it’s actually kind of a boring place. Didn’t want to turn around and head back to Cusco, though, so on a whim I decided to try to see if I could get from there to Ollantaytambo.
Mission success on that one. Once I got to Ollantaytambo I decided I’d climb up to Pinkuylluna, which is the thing I kept meaning to do last year and then never bothered to do.
Yeah. Up there. Both those sites.
Great view from up top, though.
Also found this rock. Looks like something that might’ve been shaped that way on purpose, but I don’t know.
Also apparently Ollantaytambo was having some sort of “fuck it, it’s Monday, why the yell not?” festival. I can honestly say I’m over Andean festivals, at this point. The first time in Cabanaconde was neat. But after yesterday and today, you’re doin too much, guys.
I did take this picture of kids heading down to the festival which I kind of like, tho. Wish I had gotten it better in focus. Note to self, replace the ground glass in my camera with one that has a focusing prism to help with manually focusing things.
Had lunch there. Then decided it was time to head back to Cusco. My preference would’ve been a direct colectivo back. But those pick up passengers at the plaza, which was blocked off for the festival, so I had no idea where to find them. While I was trying to figure that out a colectivo bound for Urubamba drove by and I just went ahead and flagged it down, then got another colectivo back to Cusco from Urubamba. (Getting really good at transportation in Peru). Actually slightly cheaper to go that route too, oddly. It’s 15 soles for direct back to Cusco, vs 3 soles to Urubamba and 10 on to Cusco. Tho that 2 sol difference amounts to like 63 cents.
Hard to notice in the picture, but the mountain behind Urubamba is terraced all the way to the top. Nobody farms them now, but they did during the Inca period. Pretty sure if I was the peasant farmer assigned to the terraces up top my response would be “screw that, y’all can starve”
Anyway. Back in Cusco now. Probably going to have dinner then crash early.
Tomorrow is my last full day in Cusco. No plans yet. The day after it’ll be wake up at 230am, make my way down to the airport, and hop my way to Quito, Ecuador.
I’m in the final week of this trip. I’m sortve looking forward to going home. But honestly I’ve been really enjoying myself. It’s weird being back in Cusco, and it’s inviting a lot of direct comparisons with last year. I’m definitely a lot more comfortable and confident down here this time around.
