Ollantaytambo

After 3 days of adjusting to the high altitude of Cuzco, we headed out with our guide, Juan, into the sacred valley. During the wars of the Inca and the Spanish, this was the site of a dramatic struggle where Manco Inca retreated to. The Urubamba river cuts its way through the valley and in the geological past when the river was larger, it had placed a rich bed of sediment that allowed plants and crops to grow extremely well.

We arrived later in the day to main town square and made our way to the most quaint hotel - Hotel Pakaritampu. The views of the valley were outstanding from our window. Surrounding the hotel where various examples of the local flora. Hummingbirds came to our windows to sample the flowers.

After getting a little rest, we quickly gathered our hiking gear and made it into town - which is still based on Inca planing. Keep in mind the long sticks with the plastic red bags at their ends. These are the sites of breweries - places were one can get Chicha - Inca corn beer. Be careful, its very strong - and should not be had, before trying to scale the valley walls.

Ollantaytambo, the town, is perhaps one of the most quaint little cities. There are plenty of restaurants and like I said before, still based on Inca design.

There are various water channels that traverse the city which still bring water to its people.

On one end of the valley, there is an opening in the city boundary where one can ascend along the valley wall to an ancient Inca granary. From there, one can go higher to one of the many watch towers that gives one excellent visual access to the valley itself. Its a bit technical and one should give themselves plenty of time to go up and down.

After the climb, we got a glass of wine at a small restaurant near the river. Chilled and watched the stars come out into the valley and got some rest. The next day we headed out to the old ruins of Ollantaytambo. In 1536, the Inca were able to put up a stout defense and after breaking a dam and flooding the Spanish, they were actually able to defeat them here. A short lived victory, however, as the Spanish quickly regrouped and pushed them onward down the valley to Vilcabamba, the last refuge of the Inca.
The walls are an impressive representation of Imperial Inca design. Large blocks of stone fitting perfectly into one another are the norm in the more sacred portions of the complex. Surrounding the ruins are retaining walls and farming terraces. The site is divided into areas for the lower, middle, and noble classes. At the very top are areas designed for religious needs, including the "Temple of the Sun" - an excellent example of Imperial Inca. A recurrent aspect of Inca architecture is the devision of water usage. It goes to the priests, then the nobles, then the poor smucks at the bottom. Yet, everyone seems to get access to this precious resource. I was especially impressed with the houses for the proletariat - as they were quite large and signified a robust empire with a health division of goods.

We snapped a few quick pictures, including the fountain of the Princess above. It was now time to see if all that training was going to pay off - the next stop was the Inca Trail.