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At Villa Vieja, we stayed at Hotel Oasis de la Tatacoa, The photos make it out to be better than it really is. There only appeared to be one member of staff on duty, the same man when we arrived and when we left. The bar/restaurant was closed now, so apart from Breakfast, they do not offer any services. Our main memory is, as someone else said, the surly single employee that we saw. He made no effort to communicate (we do speak Spanish) and he served the basic breakfast without asking even what we wanted. The hotel rooms have been painted white recently, but quickly and badly painted - woodwork and light switches were splattered with paint. Our bedroom was so small that the double bed was against the wall on one side, and only two feet clearance the other. But having said all that, this is in a very remote spot, and better alternatives there may not be. If I ever came to the town again, I would research any alternatives, but this might still be the only option
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A good night's sleep and we were down to breakfast by 7 o’clock. There the mute employee disappeared out the front door and returned 10 minutes later with some breakfast. This consisted of some unripe fruit and a reasonable scrambled egg with corn bread. Also some coffee drunk through a straw. The eating area lacked charisma.
We then went for a short walk outside the hotel which had a very colourful frontage. At 8 o’clock we were picked up by Isabel and Freddie. We drove to the Tatacoa , the red desert, We walked down into this charming landscape with wondrous sand, formations and interesting cacti. The Tatacoa Desert has two distinctive colors: ochre in the area of Cuzco and gray in the Los Hoyos area.T he Tatacoa covers 330 square kilometers around the town of Villavieja. The area is heavily eroded and crossed by dry canyons that develop transiently in the winter months. These shapes are created on clay surfaces, creating labyrinthine gullies in the landscape that can reach 20 meters deep.
There is relatively little runoff, and animal and plant life is adapted to the conditions of low humidity and high temperatures. The plants in this area are adapted to climatic conditions through the development of horizontal roots of up to 30 meters and vertical roots up to 15 meters deep that facilitate access to water. Wildlife includes turtles, rodents, snakes, spiders, scorpions, eagles, and wildcats, and cacti reaching between four and five meters high.
And then we had a drink of cane juice. Very refreshing.
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Back in the car, we continued to the grey desert. This was more challenging for me to negotiate. and at times Chris had all three people helping me down slippery slopes. Near the end of it there were three swimming pools which should’ve been wondrous but were an eyesore and a great blot to this wonderful landscape.
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We left Isabel back in the town and then drove for over six hours to our next hotel outside San Augustine Stopping for lunch, we paid just €11 for three soups, two main courses and three fruit juices. Chris had mango, and David was maracuya/ passion fruit . Then one more stop en route for toilets. The scenery was really interesting. traversing five valleys, which were quite steep.
We arrived at Hotel Monasterio well before six. And we were swept off our feet: it was so beautiful and artistically charming, Reception was good apart from the form David had to fill-in. Our room was charming with a balcony overlooking vegetation. We sorted ourselves out and then went out for a cocktail., Which was difficult to obtain, but arrived after 20 minutes.
We went to dinner at 8:15 and thoroughly enjoyed it. The dining room was charming and had a wood fire burning. The set menu which we had chosen on arrival was very good at just €10 each and we had a bottle of Chilean wine. At the end of it, we sat by the fire with the house digestives. A local rum for Chris, and an aguardiente with aniseed for David.
A good third day of the holiday
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