Day 5 in Peru, was a fun one, but also a traumatic one for our family. We had spent the morning exploring the Ollantaytambo ruins with a local guide named Paul who told us some really neat stories about the Inca people, and the history of the town. We learned about how the ruins and city were all made in the shape of a cob of corn, and how the Inca people shaped the mountain to look like a condor (bird).
We also learned about how once a year during the winter solstice the sun hits a certain spot on the temple door and makes certain shadows. Almost everything the Inca made revolved in some way around the sun. It was fascinating to learn about.
Afterwards Paul told us about a friend of his who did a 4-wheeling/ziplining adventure and when we heard what it would cost for all 6 of us to go, we couldn’t refuse ($12.50 per person). Wow! Super good deal. So we jumped on that and booked a tour that afternoon. That is where our traumatic event occurred, but I’ll get to that a little later…
We had a little time to kill, so we walked up to the Plaza in the center of town to find a place for lunch. We found a little bakery shop that had come highly recommended and found that they also had a great lunch menu. Not only that, but their prices were amazing! They even had Alpaca, and Guinea Pig on the menu for only $6 each, and we’d been told not to leave Peru without trying these delicious delicacies. The kids weren’t happy at ALL about Adam ordering Guinea Pig or Alpaca (similar to Llama), but in the end most of them still tried them just to say they had! ha ha. But it was by far one of the more adventurous meals I’ve eaten. Both were pretty good though. The Alpaca tasted very similar to steak, and the guinea pig, tasted like really chewy chicken. Harry desribed it as “beef flavored gum.”
Below are some pics from the first part of our day. Traumatic event coming next.
