One our way to Machu Picchu
Trip Start
Oct 10, 2005
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17
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Trip End
Jun 30, 2006
Ollantaytambo, Peru
Monday, November 14, 2005
We had more advice than we needed or asked for on getting to Machu Picchu. As we were not doing the Inca trail, at least part of the journey has to be done by train. However, instead of getting the train from Cusco, we decided to get a public bus up to Ollantaytambo. This is where the Inca trail official starts. We planned to stay there for a night and get the cheaper train from there.
This was a great decision, I really liked Ollantaytambo. Not enough people that we met actually made time to stay there and all of them regretted it. Of course it is a bit touristy but the people were really friendly. The local children are always asking you things and practicing their english on you They also sang to us which was great as I got rid of my Peruvian chocolate, it tastes like really cheap cooking chocolate. Yuk.
We arrived in the village after two very overcrowded buses. On arriving we immediately got a hostel because although the weather is great, this is not tourist season. The next day we visited the Inca fortress at Ollantaytambo which is amazing, however lots of stairs to climb up. We spent the morning investigating the ruins and getting laughed at by some bloke for taking silly photos of each other, there have been complaints that we do not take enough pictures of ourselves.
The best things about the site at Ollantaytambo is the big stone face in the rock cliff on the otherside of the valley Rio Patacancha. It is thought to be part natural, part sculpture and done by the Incas. It is possibly of Wirraccochan, the winged messenger for Wiraccocha, the major creator god of Peru. He looks very grumpy. According to our guide book at certain lights he is awake or asleep but to be honest he always looks asleep. Beside him on the cliff is a ruined temple, which apparently was built to fill with light on special days.
We invested in a book rather than guides for the sites. We think it is more fun to investigate the site ourselves, rather than follow people around. Our guide book said that the plan of the fortress is the shape of llamas. Kelly spent some time trying to see this but I think you need a helicopter to be able and a fertile imagination to see it.
We had a lovely lunch in my favourite place in Ollantaytambo. The chef looks like a French cartoon chef, white hat, BIG moustache. He suggested we went to the old part of the village. Like Cusco later inhabitants used the foundations and layout of the Inca settlement to build their own houses. So the bottom of the houses are made from various shaped stones and the streets are thin with water channels. It was really cool.
In the evening we prepared to leave for Aguas Calientes, the village now refered to by many as Machu Picchu. At the train station we immediately started to bump into people we knew, yep it is a small world but Peru is even smaller. Unfortunately I started to get sick so did not enjoy our train trip but it was dark so I was not actually missing much.
