ALQA - Museo de Arte Popular Andino — Attraction in Ollantaytambo

I went to ALQA with no expectations, with curiosity to learn more about traditional art from Andean because I am amazed, especially with textile patterns and materials. As the result I received individual tour, amazing conversation with Johana Sarmiento. Johana and her husband for 7 years living in van had visited around 50 indiginious communities living in Andean. Fascinated by the discovery that each of these communities preserves its unique tradition and way of artistic expresion they were learning how traditional communities art is still connected to pre-columbian times but also how it adopted as the result of Spanish colonial violence against, among other, Andean Cosmovision expression. This art collection gathered in ALQA museum is the result of friendships that they made with communities, their years of research and work, as well as challenging search for artifacts that were in many cases abandoned or forgotten. During this amazing 2 hours dialogue we had, Johana familarized me "Illes" and "Mollos" - magic religious objects. How they are linked with seasons, how they are used to as offers, about Pachamama and Apu spirits, world dualities and so much much more. I am so thankful for this expierence and full of admiration of the work Johana is doing. She is and all her coworkers are the guardians, preservers as well as promoters of the beautiful traditional art, but more importantly, art that is so wise and so much connected with nature, and local energies, art and traditions of Andean communities that are in danger of...

Don’t come - we were here per the suggestion of our friends at Mil and we finished the lunch feeling disgusted. The food is terrible, the gnocchi is served with a kind of Smokey cheese that tasted so bad. Do the guys here try their food before serving it to the customers? Pairing the gnocchi with a strong cheese ruins its flavor. We also ordered the duck dish and the meat is very dry. Upon asking the guy that worked there they replied “we cooked it slowly in low temperature in the oven”. I don’t want to compare but just yesterday we also had a slow cooked beef cheek at Mil and that was not dry at all. Even the potatoes on the side were greasy, especially compared with other potatoes in Ollanta. Not to be offensive, I understand you guys want to highlight culture, but the food here kinda turns people away from your culture, and your drinks, they look awfully like Chuncho or Albergue. Maybe go there instead since they serve better food anyways.

When we paid for our food with cash, the guys didn’t give us change too. They expected that the rest 11 soles or so is for the tips. Don’t do that next time, it was not tips if I don’t say it’s a tip. I mean what restaurant don’t give back customers their change? Totally shocked that this type of thing happened in such a beautiful town of Ollantaytambo.

We went to Mawic afterwards for lomo saltado, lemonade with Muna and hot wings instead. They were way better, cheaper, more friendly, and better highlight of...

We thought the Netherlands was the potato capital of the world, but we’re mistaken. While we make do with Bintje and Opperdoezer varieties, Peru boasts over 4,000 types. The potato even originates from the Andes, brought to Europe by the Spaniards in the 16th century.

Curious to learn — and more importantly, taste — more, we indulged ourselves with a gastronomic adventure at ALQA.

Not just the potato (or ‘tubers’, as they call them here) takes center stage at ALQA, but also corn and chili — two other local Andes delights, quite different from those in the Netherlands. We opted for a tasting menu, and were treated to five courses. From bright red potato puree topped with avocado and thinly sliced Papa Lisa (yet another potato variety) to ice cream and cake made from black Papa Año, surrounded by flower gelatin. All utterly delicious. But our favorite: the pork, served in a sweet tumbo demi-glace (tumbo is a passion fruit-like local fruit), with pumpkin puree, corn crackers, and slices of the same potato later used in the ice cream. I hope we remembered all the details of the ingredients correctly.

Each course was paired with wine — or in the case of dessert, a cider — and accompanied by a detailed explanation. The drinks were delightful. While in line with the tasting concept, we found the portion size of the wines a bit small. Though, it did save us from a hangover the...