Day 40: Into the Sacred Valley of the Incas (249 kms)

We left Abancay in a steady morning rain and climbed steeply out of its valley. At the pass we crested 4000 meters and there was slush in the ditch.

Arriving in Ollantaytambo just after noon we found a hostel, stashed the bikes and went to the train station. We rolled right on the train and were in the town of Aguas Calientes eating at one of its innumerable pizza joints by 4pm. It's a funny town, but in the spectacular setting of the deep Urubamba river valley. I caught a glimpse of the moon rising and some children playing ball in a school yard. Peter's analogy was best: it's like a ski resort town. Hard to complain about it being overrun with tourists if tourism is nearly its sole purpose.

We bought tickets for tomorrow's visit to Machu Picchu soaked at the hotsprings, negotiated for free pisco sours and called it a night.