The Lovely Chalet Company

The Lovely Chalet Company Offering catered and self-catering accommodation in the amazing alpine resort of La Plagne.

On Monday morning we said goodbye to Rosario, the delightful owner of Q’Ente Wings Guest House in Ollantaytambo. We’ve ...
10/09/2026

On Monday morning we said goodbye to Rosario, the delightful owner of Q’Ente Wings Guest House in Ollantaytambo. We’ve enjoyed a lovely room, hot showers and breakfast with views across the town and ruins from the third floor terrace. We thoroughly recommend this sweet family run Guest House ❤️

We took a Colectivo taxi, back to Cusco. Very reasonable at 15 soles each (about £6), for an almost 2 hour journey!

We checked into the Nodo Hotel just yards from the main Plaza des Aramas. A Lovely little treat to ourselves for a couple of nights before our 5 Day/4 Night Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu. The MAIN Event on our South American trip! Getting very excited indeed!

There was another huge Parade taking place in the City with dozens of different marching bands, dancing troupes and of course the Cholitas! What an incredible spectacle ❤️

Later we also treated ourselves to dinner at Hapya Restaurant in the San Blas district. Voted the top restaurant in Cusco on TripAdvisor, it was excellent. A beautiful setting, outstanding food and very, very reasonably priced.

Another amazing day here in Cusco! We love the vibe here! ❤️

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After our big hike, on Sunday morning we took it a bit more leisurely. We had morning coffee and cake at Emiliano’s Caf...
09/09/2026

After our big hike, on Sunday morning we took it a bit more leisurely. We had morning coffee and cake at Emiliano’s Cafe before visiting the Graneros Ruins here in Ollantaytambo. It was free to visit which was a bonus and just a couple of hundred metres from our Guest House.

Well worth a visit, giving great views across to the main Ollantaytambo Ruins and the Sacred Valley.

Looking for somewhere to have lunch we stumbled upon a quirky restaurant called Templo de Wow overlooking the main Ruins. A bit hippyish, but the food was good value, very nice (we both had enchiladas) and the view was spectacular. It’s not on Google maps, but go down the road (Calle Patacalle) and you won’t miss it!

And of course, another parade to view! The Peruvians do love a parade!!

Late afternoon we popped into another coffee shop on the Plaza de Aramas, Tambo Brewhouse. Lovely Cappuccino and Fruit infusion with cake! A new coffee shop, only opened two months ago.

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On Saturday we hiked up to Intipunku (the Sun Gate) about 8kms above Ollantaytambo. Recommended to us by Dorz, the love...
08/09/2026

On Saturday we hiked up to Intipunku (the Sun Gate) about 8kms above Ollantaytambo. Recommended to us by Dorz, the lovely NZ lady we met in Sucre. Allegedly one of the most difficult hikes in the Sacred Valley, it was pretty tough, Julie was exhausted as we reached the top. It was quite a steep climb for the last 2-3 kilometres. But wow, it was worth the climb. The views across the Sacred Valley and over to the snow capped mountains were magical.

We started the hike by zigzagging our way through the farmers fields along the Sacred Valley floor which was fascinating, seeing the irrigation system and all the crops they are growing. Having seen farmers use oxen to plough the fields we then saw a huge drone spraying one of the fields. Such a difference in farming techniques!

The hike took us about 6 hours; we got back to Ollantaytambo and stopped off for a coffee 😉 at a coffee shop just around the corner from our hotel called Latente. Badged as one of the top 100 coffee shops in the world it was nicely styled, modern but using the traditional building structure. We had drinks and a cake each, well deserved after our epic hike, they got my drink wrong (but not an issue) and the cakes were very expensive (for usual Peru prices) but was on a par with what we would pay in Europe.

We returned to the hotel for a little rest and then went out to dinner in one of the restaurants in the market square, very close to our hotel. Qori Illari, is a pizza restaurant, serving other dishes too. Rich had pizza, Julie had Caldo de Gallina, a traditional Peruvian dish, a chicken soup with a hunk of chicken on the bone in it, a boiled egg, potato and noodles. Doesn’t necessarily sound great, but it was delicious, filling and very nutritious! Great to try the local dishes!

Tired, but another fabulous day!

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On Friday we left Urubamba and headed to Ollantaytambo for 3 nights, but not before we’d had a drink and pastry at Migas...
06/09/2026

On Friday we left Urubamba and headed to Ollantaytambo for 3 nights, but not before we’d had a drink and pastry at Migas del Valle en route to the bus station, another lovely coffee shop we’ve visited 2-3 times!

We took a colectivo minibus to Ollantaytambo, our rucksacks went on the roof, and we were quite concerned that they weren’t tied on; Rich climbed up to get them down off the roof when we arrived, and whilst ours were (barely) tied on, one of the other bags wasn’t! Luckily all arrived!

We checked in to our hotel, the nicest accommodation so far on our trip! Then we had a quick mooch around time before going to see the Inca Ruins situated right in the town. Hugely impressive again, but we were very frustrated that some of the ruins were closed off and are only open at certain times of the day, which isn’t publicised well at all!!!

Later we sussed out the market, where to buy fruit for our hike on Saturday. Then we had dinner in a ‘locals’ restaurant close to the market rather than a more expensive Tourists restaurant. Being so close to Machu Picchu it is definitely more expensive to dine out here in Ollantaytambo.

Dinner at Dõna Eva’s was delicious, and lots of it, they even gave us complementary soup to start, and the b**rs were huge! So much food that Rich dashed back to the hotel for the Tupperware so we could take leftover egg friend rice and chicken on our Big hike tomorrow!

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We decided to go out for dinner to Heroes Bar on Thursday evening in the Market Square; we had popped into the bar for a...
06/09/2026

We decided to go out for dinner to Heroes Bar on Thursday evening in the Market Square; we had popped into the bar for a drink a couple of days ago and the barman said they had live music on Thursday!

Guess what, there was another huge parade in the Market Square, with lots of different groups wearing fabulous costumes. Some of the younger participants kindly let us take photos of them.

We had seen another artisan bar that looked worth trying as we were wandering around town earlier in the day, Willkamayu, so we went in for a drink.

Sadly, because of the festivities in the main square it was empty when we arrived. But it looked so cute inside and the owner was very sweet, so we had a drink (very nice b**r) before heading back to dinner at Heroes Bar!

A great evening out; once again so fabulous to see the locals all out in the streets dancing and enjoying themselves, proudly showing off their culture.

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On Thursday we took a colectivo (minibus) to Chinchero, one of the prettiest towns here in the Sacred Valley where there...
06/09/2026

On Thursday we took a colectivo (minibus) to Chinchero, one of the prettiest towns here in the Sacred Valley where there are more Inca Ruins.

A gorgeous indigenous lady sat next to us. She happily posed for a selfie with us and then proceeded to fall asleep on Rich’s shoulder. As we arrived the colectivo driver tried to rip us off, so she got out of the minibus and helped us out, putting him back in his box. Bless her ❤️

The beautiful ruins were located in the edge of the village. Wide open steps overlooked a stunning valley, not as well frequented by visitors as other sites there was virtually no one else there and they were so peaceful and serene.

We got a smaller colectivo (taxi) back from Chinchero and were not ripped off this time.

Another great day out. We found a bar, so later we’re going out, out! 😉🍷

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On Sunday we took a Colectivo (minibus) from Cusco to the Sacred Valley to see the Inca Ruins above Pisac. They are all...
04/09/2026

On Sunday we took a Colectivo (minibus) from Cusco to the Sacred Valley to see the Inca Ruins above Pisac. They are allegedly the most impressive ruins after Mach Picchu.

On Monday morning we took a taxi up to the ruins, the views across the site were outstanding, they had the real WOW factor. We chose to walk back down to Pisac on a path taking us through part of the ruins not seen by most of the visitors who are on a tight tour schedule. It wasn’t the easiest route, but it did give us fabulous views across the Sacred Valley.

We stopped off in Pisac town square for a cheeky b**r at La Placita before heading back to the hostel. A great day!

A flying visit to Pisac, on Tuesday we took another colectivo (love them!) from Pisac to Urubamba - 12 soles ( around £2.50 for both of us, for about an hour journey) excellent value. We checked into Bull House, our hotel.

The next morning we hiked from Urubamba to the Salineras Maras (Maras Salt Mines) and back, about 8km each way. The first 5km was flat as we walked along the Urubamba River in the Sacred Valley, the last 3km was quite a steep uphill.

Yet again Team Love were the only visitors out of hundreds to walk. 99.9999% of the other visitors arrived by minibus! Machu Picchu hike training continues.

We arrived back in Urubamba, had a well deserved coffee and cake in town, then we went to the huge indoor market and bought some provisions for dinner. Our hotel room has a kitchen, so we’re taking the opportunity to cook for ourselves for a couple of nights. We’re avoiding the chicken!!!

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Rich’s Chocolate Bomb Dessert at Inti Llay Restaurant in Cusco! Guess how much it was?
03/09/2026

Rich’s Chocolate Bomb Dessert at Inti Llay Restaurant in Cusco! Guess how much it was?

On Saturday we took a trip to Rainbow Mountain, with aptly named Rainbow Mountain Travels. We had an 0215 alarm call, w...
03/09/2026

On Saturday we took a trip to Rainbow Mountain, with aptly named Rainbow Mountain Travels. We had an 0215 alarm call, with an 0300 pick up! They were excellent from start to finish, the buffet breakfast en route was spot on, the two guides during the hike were very professional, particularly as 3 members of our group succumbed to altitude sickness and needed oxygen.

Rainbow Mountain is a recent tourist destination, only discovered in 2016, as climate change revealed the peak having previously been covered in snow year round.

The hike up to 5036M was hard work but thankfully we are well acclimatised and led the pack🔥💪 Living at altitude undoubtedly gives us an advantage.

We were given the opportunity to hike back to the minibus through Red Valley, immediately adjacent. It was a great experience, ours was the only group to do so; we both felt it was actually the highlight of the day - standfast the llamas of course who stole the show.

We had an excellent buffet lunch en route back to Cusco. We got back to the hostel and crashed after such a long, tiring day - a great experience and great value too.

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Up early Wednesday morning, we checked out of the grotty hostel and skipped (well not quite with our backpacks on!) roun...
01/09/2026

Up early Wednesday morning, we checked out of the grotty hostel and skipped (well not quite with our backpacks on!) round to the Magic Packer hostel who let us check in early! ❤️

We hiked up to the Sacsayhuaman Inca Ruins above Cusco. A pretty hard walk but well worth it, they were incredible. The symmetry of the site and the ingenuity was amazing, sadly our photos do not do it justice. We headed back down to Cusco, via the Cristo Blanca (White Christ) Statue which also towers above Cusco.

We stopped off for a cheeky b**r in the San Blas district on the way down, a treat after the big hike up!

Later we went to a delightful restaurant Rich had spotted called Inti Llay; a delicious meal! Rich enjoyed a fabulous dessert (it deserves its own post!). Rated the 3rd Best Restaurant on TripAdvisor, it lives up to its billing!

After a great nights sleep and a hot shower at the Magic Packer morale is fully restored!

Thursday morning, we set off early, via a coffee shop 😉, to hike (9km!) up to three sets of ruins above Cusco. I must point out 99.99% of tourists take either a tourist open top bus, local bus or taxi up to the ruins! Not Team Love, we decided to hike up, great training for our trip to Machu Picchu.

We bought a multi ticket (Boleto Turistico Del Cusco Integrale), giving us access to 16 sites/museums across Cusco and the Sacred Valley.

We visited Tambomachay, Puka Pukara and Q’enko, non were as impressive as yesterdays ruins, but hiking back down we passed through local villages and saw hordes of parents and school children picnicking and flying kites, something you don’t see at home these days.

We stopped for another cheeky b**r, this time at a shop/cafe called L’atelier in San Blas. Then we had a take away pizza from a small (rough and ready) family business close to our hostel, delicious!

A great day; we are really starting to enjoy the wonderful Cusco Vibe!

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La Plagne 1800
Mâcot
73210

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