Ollantaytambo is where most trekkers set off on their four day hike to Machu Picchu. Its where we started our epic 1.5 hour train ride to same. Forgive me but I’m not walking for 4 days at high altitude and sleeping in a tent when I can easily catch a train. If that’s your thing, go right ahead, I’ll meet you there. 🙂
Anyway, back to Ollantaytambo. This small town is interesting in its own right. There are massive Incan ruins around the town and town itself has been continuously occupied since well before the tourists arrived, since the 13th century in fact.
We “hiked” up to some of the ruins which were very impressive and gave fantastic vistas back across the town. As you can also see by what we were wearing, it clearly wasn’t tropical… I’m in red and the crazy old lady in purple is my Mum.
The following extract is taken from Wikitravel – “the ruins of largely religious significance, they doubled as the the last and largest defensive structures near the plains below where the Incas defeated the Spaniards in battle.”
Pinkullyuna is the hill with Incan storehouses overlooking the town and facing the main ruins.
For more on travel through Peru, click here.
14 Weeks Worth of Socks 
Love your posts. They are very informative. Keep up the great work! =)
Thank you 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
Amazing exprerience which I have not had!
I can highly recommend Peru as a travel destination. We had a fantastic time, each place we went was so different and we saw so much in two weeks.
Peru was amazing!
I guess they know longer use the terraces for agriculture?
Not in this area but other areas, they definitely were still in use
The amount of energy that went into developing the terraces let alone farming them is incredible. Thanks for your reply.
I’m guessing generations of labour went into creating and maintaining them.
The planning, surveying and engineering that went in the terraces let alone the logistics of quarrying the stones, moving soil, scheduling the work was tremendous. There also must have been sophisticated hydraulic planning irrigate the terraces without washing them out.
Hi been directed to your blog by Rowena at Beyond the Flow and saw this. It’s over 25 years since we caught the push me pull you train to Manchu Pichu and enjoyed the extraordinary beauty of Peru. Lovely photos and such great memories jogged of the extraordinary architecture. Did you take in the Colca Canyon and the terraces there. I don’t think I’ve seen anything so spectacular related to agriculture built so long ago other than the tanks in Sri Lanka.
Glad you found us. If we saw the canyon, I don’t recall or we weren’t told the name. The terraces are amazing. Peru in general was a surprise to us, not knowing really what to expect.
They took us there to see the condor flying, which we did. Wonderfully varied country
Ah thats why I know the name! No, we didn’t go there… would have been amazing!
We did see one come up on the thermals but I was feeling so bad through altitude sickness I never really appreciated it
I have had that experience travelling too – a shame but it happens.
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