Peru Expedition 4: Ollantaytambo

On the evening of Tuesday, January 8, 2019, we arrived by collectivo (shared van) to the town of Ollantaytambo (oh-yahn-tahy-TAHM-bo), or "Ollanta" for short.

Our hotel had a funny sign at its front desk.

The guy at the desk spoke English very well, having lived in Australia for a while. He gave us recommendations of what to see and which ATM to use and such, and oriented us to the layout of the town.

We went to the main square and everyone tried to get us to eat at their restaurant. This guy was impressed by all the girls speaking Spanish, so he said, "Since you speak Spanish, you get free chips and guacamole". That happens to be Linette's favorite thing, so we eventually went with him.

On the balcony of the restaurant, Erika demonstrates "bun, no-bun".

When the food came out, it was presented impressively, and everyone seemed happy with their dish.

Poor, poor Linette didn't have any food.

Just a packet of sauce :(

(JK, hers just wasn't out quite yet). Once again, my pizza was ok but nothing like what they do in North America, so we learned not to try it any more.

That evening we played card games like "speed" and "The Great Dalmuti" in Erika and Leslye's room.

Ollantaytambo is said to be the only Inca town that has been continuously inhabited since before the Spanish conquest. I think what is meant by that is that all of the homes have continued to be used rather than knocked over and built over by the Spanish like has happened in Cusco.

It is also the last town on the way to Machu Picchu before the road ends and you have to go by train. There are impressive ruins in Ollantaytambo that were visible from the roof patio of our hotel room.

Ruins of Ollantaytambo from our hotel roof.

It is said that if Machu Picchu hadn't been discovered, people would be flocking to Ollantaytambo to wee the ruins there.

I had heard that it was good to be there in the morning when the sun rises, before the tourists all show up, so we spent the night there and scheduled our train for 3:35 that afternoon so we would have time to explore.

When I woke up Wednesday morning, it was beautiful outside, and mist was lingering over the mountains. The kids were still sleeping, so I struck out on my own to explore the little town in the cool of the morning.

On the opposite side of town from the main ruins are additional ruins that were grain storage areas, known as qollqa.

One thing I didn't notice while we were there, but discovered after I returned home, was that to the left of the main buildings that we explored on that hill is a 500-foot-tall face carved into the mountain. Some say it represents the face of Viracocha, the great bearded god who created the world.

One article states

According to a myth recorded by Juan de Betanzos, Viracocha rose from Lake Titicaca (or sometimes the cave of Paqariq Tampu) during the time of darkness to bring forth light. He made the sun, moon, and the stars. He made mankind by breathing into stones, but his first creation were brainless giants that displeased him. So he destroyed it with a flood and made a new, better one from smaller stones.[6] Viracocha eventually disappeared across the Pacific Ocean (by walking on the water), and never returned. He wandered the earth disguised as a beggar, teaching his new creations the basics of civilization, as well as working numerous miracles. He wept when he saw the plight of the creatures he had created.[citation needed] It was thought that Viracocha would re-appear in times of trouble. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa wrote that Viracocha was described as "a man of medium height, white and dressed in a white robe like an alb secured round the waist, and that he carried a staff and a book in his hands."

You can see the face here in the middle as I zoom in on the above picture. If I had known to look, I would have taken a better picture of this at the time.

It was fun seeing all the people up-and-at-em in the morning to prepare for the day.

The sun was casting beautiful light on the hills that morning.

There kept being buildings in the way of the mountains, so I finally found a wall to walk along that was away from the town enough that I could get an overview.

Here are two panoramas that show the whole area. (Feel free to double-click these images to see them big).

The town itself is much as it was 600 years ago, and it was a treat just to wander around it, appreciating some of the thatched roofs, tight-fitting stone (in addition to simpler construction with mortar), traditional clothing, water features, and views of the nearby ruins.

Finally I returned and had breakfast as the kids woke up and trickled down, and then we headed out to explore together.

Instead of paying $23 to go to the main ruins, we took the hotel dude's advice and hiked up to the free ones that were harder to get to and less popular, but also cool in their own way. (You can see them way up there in this picture).

We took a lot of pictures along the way.

Sienna crawled in one of the little windows into one of the grain storage structures.

From up above, we could see the local people working in the fields.

You probably need to double-click this one and go full screen to see each one of us in one of the 7 openings in or around the building.

And here's each one of us striking a pose.

We climbed up into the windows at the top of the building and had fun looking out and enjoying the great weather and the spectacular views.

And here's a picture of everyone in one of the windows....

I thought everyone was adorable all sitting in their own window at the same time.

 A random guy was nice enough to take this picture of all of us together.

Linette and I had fun being at the "Top of the World" with each other. (That's "our song", after all).

Erika caught this little moment on video.

It was cool having the whole place to ourselves.

Then someone suggested that we should play "sardines" (where one person hides, and everyone else tries to find them. When you do, you hide right with them, which starts getting hilarious when the whole group is all squished together like sardines in a can.)

Round two.

Kelsi was the last to find us that time, and I love her expression that kind of says, "Oh, there you are! Well, I guess that means I'm it, now, doesn't it?"

Round three.

Then there was a little meditation from way up there.

It was just a very pleasant time up there, and we were all so glad we had done it.

We saw additional granaries on alternate path down the trail.

There were lots of high scary things to stand on.

There's Sienna, through that little window.

Not sure how Sienna got in this predicament...

At one point, we couldn't find Linette, and weren't sure if she had already gone down or what. I found her in a secluded spot reading her scriptures.

The view of the other ruins from on top was pretty nice (especially with the zoom lens).

Linette's tennis shoes were exactly the color of some of the purple rocks up there.

When we got back to the town, we found a little girl washing her hair in the canal that runs along the street.

She and her little sister posed for us.

Linette and I bumped into a guy at the bottom of the trail that was offering hour-long horseback rides for a little less than it would cost to go see the main ruins. All the kids though horses sounded like way more fun at this point (since we'd already done ruins that day and were going to Machu Picchu the next day), so we took him up on his offer.

While we waited for the horses to be prepared, we got to play with a puppy at the office.

And as we walked around a bit, we saw this hideous dog with only a bit of white hair as a mohawk. Kelsi added the meme.

Soon the horses were prepared, and we all mounted up (with no helmets nor instruction, but whatever).

It was Leslye's first time ever riding a horse, and she did just fine.

We rode out of town and through some shady areas along the river, passing riverside houses along the way.

The mountains all around us were green and impressively steep.

After about a half an hour, we arrived at a set of terraces built by the Incas at least 500 years ago.





(Kelsi's and my horses both ate grass frighteningly close to the edge of the terrace).

Oh, and I bought a funny hat from a lady right from my horse, because I was worried about getting sunburned on this outing.

Here Adam demonstrates the Inca steps that are just large stones that jut straight out of the side of the wall.

There were sheep grazing on the terraces.

It was a beautiful day, and though the terraces weren't especially spectacular, it was a fun adventure to ride the horses up to them.

Heading back down the hill on the horses was a tad exciting. I'm glad they know what they're doing!

Soon we were back within sight of the ruins again.

We didn't end up going to the main ruins there, but got a good look at them from afar. We could see that it did indeed get more crowded after noon.

These ruins were the site of the biggest Inca victory against the Spanish. They defended themselves from these walls, and then flooded the plains so that the Spanish had to retreat in defeat. Then they escaped to another mountain because they knew the Spanish would return with a greater force.

Finally, it was time to snarf down some lunch (where the Oreo milkshakes turned out to be especially delightful), grab our backpacks, and walk a kilometer to the train station.

As we walked along, I saw this young lady sketching on a rock by the river, which I thought looked so nice.

The 2-hour train ride from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes goes through some beautiful steep green mountains along the muddy Urubamba River.

Kelsi chatted the whole time with two ladies who have been friends for decades. One was from South Carolina or something, and the other from near New Orleans.

And with that, we arrived in Aguas Calientes (named for the hot springs there), also called Machu Picchu Pueblo ("the town of Machu Picchu").

In our next episode, we do Machu Picchu, baby!