El Albergue, the hostel or inn, occupies a significant stretch of Ollantaytambo between the old town and the railroad station. It is a complex of orchards, organic farm fields, an indoor/outdoor restaurant, lodging, and a café interconnected by walkways covered and vividly colored by a vast array of native trees, shrubs, and flowers.
As we entered the farm from the path that led from the Inca Ruins, it felt as if we had emerged into a different world. It was a small organic farm surrounding an open-air restaurant with in-ground pits for Pachamanca, the traditional earth oven.
Pachamanca, from Quechua meaning “earth pot,” is a method of cooking using ingredients from meats, fish, and tubers to vegetables, nuts, and grains cooked in earthen pits. It mixes both flavors and the essence of the earth itself.
Heated stones are placed as a base to ensure uniform heating. Then careful arrangement of fresh ingredients follows. Marinated meats, tubers, and herbs are layered on. Banana leaves or other local herbs envelop some of these to help retain moisture and flavor.
We did have desert, coffee, and tea, but it looks like I didn’t take any photographs. I’ll have to look again…
NEXT: Machu Picchu
A Finis Terrae 