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You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road – arrieve – Peru, Part 6: Ollantaytambo

On The Road – arrieve – Peru, Part 6: Ollantaytambo

by WaterGirl|  August 25, 20235:00 am| 17 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Peru, Photo Blogging

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arrieve

I don’t really have many pictures from Cusco, so this is the final set.

Like Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo was built by Pachicuti, the ruler who established the Inca Empire in the mid-1400’s. (After he wiped out the original inhabitants, of course. It’s easy to admire what the Incas created without having any illusions about them being Good Guys.) It’s about an hour’s drive from Cusco, and was both a ceremonial and agricultural center and Pachicuti’s royal estate.

After the murder of Atahualpa, this was used as a fortress by Manco Inca, and was the site of the only victory of the Inca army against the Spaniards.

In some ways these ruins were more surprising than Machu Picchu. It’s a fortress sitting in the middle of a village (where some of the houses and streets were also built by the Incas). You just pull into a parking lot and suddenly you’re in the 15th century.

On The Road - arrieve - Peru, Part 6: Ollantaytambo 8
Ollantaytambo, Peru

A few of the locals wandering through the ruins. (Any excuse to feature more pictures of alpacas.)

On The Road - arrieve - Peru, Part 6: Ollantaytambo 7
Ollantaytambo, Peru

The main site is a series of terraces and stone walls surrounding an esplanade. The Incas did love those terraces. You see them everywhere through the Andes.

On The Road - arrieve - Peru, Part 6: Ollantaytambo 6
Ollantaytambo, Peru

The buildings at the top of these terraces are the remains of the fortress,

On The Road - arrieve - Peru, Part 6: Ollantaytambo 5
June 2023

You can see both types of Inca stone construction in these walls: the more common “stack a bunch of fieldstones on top of each other” that you can see almost anywhere in the world, and the very precise, shaped and fitted ashlar masonry. Which, remember, were created using only stone tools and bronze knives. This wall isn’t nearly as precise as some of them, as the stones are all different sizes, but it’s still impressive.

On The Road - arrieve - Peru, Part 6: Ollantaytambo 4
Cusco, Peru

Since I was talking about Incan masonry, here’s one picture from Cusco. This is the Koricancha, the most important temple in the Inca Empire. The conquistadors destroyed it, and took many of the stones to build their own houses and churches, but they kept the foundation and built the Convent of Santo Domingo on top of it.

You can see how beautiful the Incan foundations are. They survived the earthquakes that destroyed the first convent, and severely damaged the second.

On The Road - arrieve - Peru, Part 6: Ollantaytambo 3
Ollantaytambo, Peru

There are also some ruins on this mountain, which towers over the site, but we had neither the time nor the inclination to get a closer look (at least speaking for myself—climbing up the stairs next to the terraces was enough for me.)

The structures that look like tiers of bleacher seats were used for food storage; the cold dry air up there helped to preserve it.

On The Road - arrieve - Peru, Part 6: Ollantaytambo 2
Ollantaytambo, Peru

Buildings on the esplanade.

On The Road - arrieve - Peru, Part 6: Ollantaytambo 1
Ollantaytambo, Peru

This fountain–one of many at the site–is called the Nusta Bathtub, or the Princess Bathtub. I don’t who the Princess was, but she bathed in style.

On The Road - arrieve - Peru, Part 6: Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo, Peru

This is the Water Temple, and another ceremonial fountain.

And that’s it for my trip to Peru. Despite the altitude sickness, and the side effects of the meds for altitude sickness (I bailed on the last day in Cusco and went back to Lima because of them) I am already trying to figure out how I can handle acclimation better so I can go back.

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Reader Interactions

17Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 25, 2023 at 6:16 am

    Cool shit. thanx for all, arrieve.

  2. 2.

    BretH

    August 25, 2023 at 7:02 am

    Definitely makes me want to go there, thanks for the journey!

  3. 3.

    Benw

    August 25, 2023 at 7:07 am

    Amazing! Thanks for sharing

  4. 4.

    randy khan

    August 25, 2023 at 7:54 am

    Some of the stone for Ollantaytambo (IIRC, the enormous blocks used for the Temple del Sol at the top) was quarried at a mountain across the nearby river.  They dragged it down that mountain, ferried at across the river and then dragged it up the mountain on the side where the site was built.  Just a crazy amount of work.

  5. 5.

    Betty

    August 25, 2023 at 8:30 am

    Very impressive.

  6. 6.

    pieceofpeace

    August 25, 2023 at 9:02 am

    OK, now I’m for sure I’m on envy overload.  And feel enriched by viewing and reading about this culture.

    Stunning depictions of life lived by and for the Inca people, who produced this wealth of  resourcefulness!  And your commentary

    You must be proud of all the pictures, with focus points angled or emphasized so well.

    Thank you for this exciting, uplifting series.  I’ve enjoyed it a great deal.

  7. 7.

    stinger

    August 25, 2023 at 9:15 am

    I have so enjoyed this series of photos and stories! Thanks, arrieve!

  8. 8.

    wombat probability cloud

    August 25, 2023 at 9:28 am

    Thanks so much for the wonderful photos and narrative.

  9. 9.

    Miss Bianca

    August 25, 2023 at 9:47 am

    Come hang out in Colorado for a month or two beforehand – that might help get you acclimated!

  10. 10.

    SkyBluePink

    August 25, 2023 at 9:49 am

    Very magical series- thanks for sharing.

  11. 11.

    kindness

    August 25, 2023 at 10:52 am

    Acclimation to elevation.  There are a couple places in the Rockies above 10,000 feet you could stay at a week or two before going to Peru again.  I’m told it takes almost a month for our bodies to add the extra red blood cells needed for thin air.  And most of us don’t really have a couple extra weeks (nor the funding) to do a pre holiday holiday.

  12. 12.

    Mike in Pasadena

    August 25, 2023 at 11:30 am

    I enjoyed your Peru photos because you captured so many things I’ve never seen. Excellent.

  13. 13.

    StringOnAStick

    August 25, 2023 at 11:33 am

    @kindness: Wise advice!

    Excellent photos and informative, thank you for sharing.

  14. 14.

    arrieve

    August 25, 2023 at 12:04 pm

    Thanks for all the kind comments. I found Peru so magical, and I’m glad I managed to convey some of that magic.

  15. 15.

    way2blue

    August 25, 2023 at 12:50 pm

    arrieve.  I love your fourth photo showing the stone wall developing a ‘sag’ as it was built.  So the stone masons stuck in a couple lenses of smaller rocks to even out the higher rows.  How they fixed the ‘oops’ made me smile…  Thanks.

  16. 16.

    lige

    August 25, 2023 at 3:32 pm

    The village is pretty amazing.  Seemingly a perfectly preserved stone town of the Incan era with a grid of stone streets and houses with small waterways along each street and all still in use.  My recollection is only the roofs and upper walls of the various structures are new with everything else dating from Incan times.

  17. 17.

    jeepers

    August 25, 2023 at 5:43 pm

    If you have the opportunity you should also go to Pisaq and saksaywaman.

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