Ollantaytambo, where things got a little crazy.

This morning, after a slathering of caladryl and a 6 AM dose of clorfenamina (an anti-histamine that is also used in small animal veterinary medicine) we were on our way to church in Urubamba. It was a really small branch but it was great to be there. After church, we went to lunch at Abuelo's cousin . . .something? I don't know. Most of the time I just followed and tried to catch as much of the Spanish as possible. Before lunch, we played a little game where you toss metal disks onto a platform. If they fall down one of the holes, you get points, depending on the hole. The best one is if you get it in the golden frog's mouth. That's 1000 points. Most of the time, my disks went way over the platform. And then, my mad Peruvian game skills came on in the last toss and I got the ace. Here's Abuelo and the game. Then we had the most amazing lunch ever. Peruvian food is heavenly and is one of the top world cuisines. Italian, Thai, Peruvian, Indian, and Chinese are my top five in that order (American cuisine holds its own special place as the ultimate number one, but I'm biased). I had potatoes with a chili sauce and then chicken with rice that was loaded with cillantro washed down with Inca Cola. Here's the papas a la huancaina (potatoes in chili sauce) yum. After lunch, Abuelo dropped us off at the taxi station in Urubamba and we took the taxi out to Ollantaytambo to visit the ruins there. We were pretty tired of taking pictures of us smiling by this point so things got a little crazy. This was probably the best afternoon in Peru. It was so so much fun. Thanks gentlemen!!! Ollantaytambo is an immense complex set up on the hillside above the town. It's the standard incredible Incan ruins with stones, fountains, channels, terraces, etc. We basically climbed up and over through the whole complex though we were still really, really sore from Machu Picchu two days before.
There are going to be a few pictures of me in the following sets but keep in mind that we're all taking incredibly ridiculous photos of all of us. Here's where we all climbed into the portal and took pictures. I went last and the guys made it look really hard to do this. It wasn't. Sorry men, it wasn't! And here's where I tell Jonny that I wasn't ready for the picture and to take it again. And here's where we were climbing up at the top of the ruins where we took some glamor shots. About the time as the sun was setting over the Sacred Valley . . . the complex closed so we left to go catch a bus back to Lamay. The bus to Urubamba was about the size of one of a VW van. People kept piling in and by the end, we had about 21 people in that thing. It was hilarious. Good thing we were in Peru and not a country where the last ten "Strongest Man" contest winners have come from. After Urubamba, we grabbed a bus to Lamay where it was a full sized bus but we were packed in like sardines. People were even sitting on the stairs leading up into the bus. On the way off the crowded bus, here's the crowd of people about to pack on. I have no doubt that they succeeded. Interesante!