Wed 25 May - Meeting another Mark...

Wanted to leave Oyllantaytambo today, but didn't get up until after 12pm. By the time it was 2pm, it all felt a bit forced, and I decided to go with the flow, and stay in Oyllantaytambo for another day.

Ended up buying a bag to carry my mesa in, as well as the long overcoat that I've bought with me from England... Saw a foreigner walk out of a side street, and stand there looking around, as if he'd just woken up. Something about him, just made me want to 'connect' with him... but at the time I didn't say anything to him.... A short while later, I decided to go wondering down the street that this man had appeared from, and just started walking.. without a real reason as to why... Eventually, I came across a 'hotel/restaurant', and I decided I'll go in here for a juice, or a drink.

As I go, in looking, for someone to order from, I happen to see a couple of foreigners eating lunch, watching tv, and one of them looks like the guy I saw on the street. A lady comes rushing out, and taking my order, I discover that this place has a roof top terrace.. so I head for it... I end up having a wonderful afternoon, sitting on the roof, looking out over the town, at the sacred site, the mountains, and the sun... It seems there isn't any other rooftop terrace, and so I guess I picked a lucky spot...

Spending time up top, eventually, this foreigner makes his way up to the terrace, to smoke a cigarette, and we start chatting... turns out he's also a Mark, only this time from Seattle, in the US. He has a ticket in three weeks, but wants to stay for longer, and so that evening, he was going to Cusco, with his friends ex-girlfriend, who happened to own the hotel, and was hopefully going to sort him out with some work, so that he could stay in Latin America for longer...

Exchanging emails, I stayed up on the roof top to admire the view of the stars, as they came out at night... but the moon seemed to stay hidden from view...

Satisfied that my afternoon had worked out perfectly, I made my way back to the main square, and having finally worked out that local menus were significantly cheaper than eating tourist menus, I found myself in a local restaurant, had the 'menu' for dinner, and went to bed, intent on getting up early enough tomorrow to leave for Cuzco...