Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley Part Two

We decided to move into the Sacred Valley for a few days to visit Machu Picchu so we decided to take a taxi to the town of Ollantaytambo which is also a sacred Inca site. Our taxi driver took us along a new highway being built parallel to the mighty Urubamba River, one of the most important in Inca Culture. Again the views were amazing...

Snow capped mountains...

Huge mountain ridges...

The river was flowing by as we drove...

Construction workers having lunch with a view...

The new road winds around the river and in this picture the van shows the scale of the mountains and these weren’t the highest we saw...

People walk a lot here...

And of course more farms at the base of the mountains...

Description

Ollantaytambo is a village in the Sacred Valley of south Peru, which is on the Urubamba River amid snow-capped mountains. It's known for the Ollantaytambo ruins, a massive Inca fortress with large stone terraces on a hillside. Major sites within the complex include the huge Sun Temple and the Princess Baths fountain. The village's old town is an Inca-era grid of cobblestoned streets and adobe buildings.

We stayed in a hostel there that had an awesome terrace...

We went into the ruins which are in the middle of town with a guide who explained the history and sighnificance of what we were seeing...

Around the mid-15th century, the Inca emperor Paracuti conquered and razed Ollantaytambo; the town and the nearby region were incorporated into his personal estate. The emperor rebuilt the town with sumptuous constructions and undertook extensive works of terracing and irrigation in the Urubamba Valley; the town provided lodging for the Inca nobility, while the terraces were farmed by his people.





Here are the huge terraces...

Climbing to the top...

The stonework is still well preserved, to think this was done manually so many years ago...

Built into the mountains are store houses that the Incas used to store their crops and seeds...

One of the views from the top, do you see the Inca face?

The ancient water irrigation still works...

Another view...

The llamas seem to like it here...

The famous Inca Trail runs through here but was closed for maintenance while we were there. My plan was to do the last day of the trail with a guide starting at Km 104 but this didn’t happen so I  did trek just a little of it...

The town of Ollantaytambo is a pretty little town with a small plaza...

Locals hanging out in the plaza...

The river runs through the town...

Nice restaurants as well, Don enjoyed his steak served on volcanic stone...

We took the train to Machu Picchu...

Well not right there as the train tracks stop at another small town, Aqua Calientes...

We then had to wait for a bus to take us up to the entrance of Machu Picchu and you are only allowed on based on when your ticket says you can access the site. Don waiting for the bus in the square...

It was about a 30 minute ride up and around some very steep mountain roads...

Machu Picchu is an Incan city built in the 15th century, surrounded by temples, terraces and water channels, built on a mountaintop. It was built with huge blocks of stone joined to each other without any mortar. Today it has been designated UNESCO site in recognition of its political, religious and administrative importance during the age of the Incas.

In and up we go...

Lots of stairs to climb...

One of our first viewpoints...

The obligatory Machu Picchu picture...

Machu Picchu was “ discovered” by Hiram Bingham, an American explorer from Yale University in July, 2011 after being led there by local guides. It turned out to become one of the new Wonders of the World. Archeologists still haven’t settled on why it was built but do agree it is an engineering marvel. 

There are a number of different areas here including the well known Inca terraces for farming...

The llamas enjoying the view as well...

The site is built on a mountaintop high above the river with steep edges...

It is amazing how it was constructed using polished stones held together without mortar...

The semicircular Temple of the Sun, constructed around a large boulder, offers commanding views of the Sacred Valley below. During the summer solstice, the sun shines through a temple window and aligns with both the boulder within and the tip of a nearby mountain peak.

Some of the buildings on the flat surface of the site...

Majestic viewpoints...

There are a couple of mountains within the site that you can climb with a special permit...

So much to see here as the site is large and because it is such a popular place the government has instituted a new control program where you can only stay for fours hours at a time. We were there at low season so I can just imagine how many people are there in high season. It is also a very expensive site to visit but worth it. Machu Picchu is one of those places that has to be seen to be believed just how awesome it is! 

Don surveying the site...

Now on to our last stop in Peru...