Day 6: Tour of Ollantaytambo and then a train ride to Machu Picchu- 5.6.19

This morning we left our hotel in Urubamba. We drove to Ollantaytambo for a tour of the village and it’s plaza. We had toured the archeological park here yesterday and came back now to see the village.

We passed some houses that had names painted on them. These are political ads.

The little car in the center is a motor taxi. It is a motorcycle adapted with three wheels. It can take two to three people and are pretty common sight here.

This is a cobblestoned street in Ollantaytambo.

Some of the walls have been restored to the way they were during the Inca and Pre-Inca times. People who live here cannot change the structures because the town is a archeological site.

The doorways in the village and in the temple ruins are all made with slanted sides like a rhombus. This has been why so many of the ruins have survived through earthquakes. Peru in along the “ring of fire”.

A mother and her child were selling woven designs. From their dress we know that they are mestizos meaning mixed native Indian and Spanish blood. If you want to take their picture you need to ask permission and give them money. This was a two soles picture!

A red flag means that house had chicha, a fermented corn beer, for sale. Although I would have liked some, we did not have time for a stop.

After the town tour we drove to Aguas Calientes where we boarded a train. It was an hour and forty-five minute ride to Machu Picchu.

There is a glacier on the mountain in the background. Corn is a everywhere in Peru. In this area, it is a large kerneled variety.

After our train ride, we boarded a bus to Machu Picchu. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Only a small group of important Incas were allowed to visit this holy place. It was discovered the archeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911, but was not accessible until the 1940’s when the Inca Trail was discovered. This amazing stone city was built on a ridge surrounded by four higher mountain peaks. How could these people who only lived here about 100 years from about 1450 to 1550 AD have accomplished such an engineering feet? Our tour guide feels that they may have built their sacred temple over preexisting ruins considering the tools they had a that time. Having been built on massive stone foundations, the stones for these temples were placed without mortar so perfectly that they have survived earthquakes and centuries of abandonment.

I made it! This has been on my bucket list ever since daughter Kate was here in 2010!

Our tour guide Pepe explained the history of Hiram Bingham’s discovery in 1911 and the restoration work done here later. The windows in the temples and the solar clock show that the Incas worshipped their sun god.

The Incas used steps to get to their different levels.

Llamas are the official grass cutters at Machu Picchu. Luckily none of the llamas we saw used anyone from our group for spitting practice.

A picture of the many terraces below the temples and living areas.

Of course, it rained on our tour. But there was an upside- a vivid double rainbow., although it is hard to see it in this picure. I had never seen purple before! What a sight!

All in all, pictures just cannot capture this amazing site with its terraces, living areas, fountains, and the Condor and Sun temples. While we don’t know why the Incas abandoned Macchi Picchu there are many theories such drought, diseases, or being conquered by the Spanish. If only they could tell us.

The hike today was quite challenging for me since our tour was three hours with only a short time to sit. Fortunately our assistant tour guide Richard stayed with me on the end of our tour. Hats off to a job well done to him and enabling me to see this amazing place.

After returning on the bus to Aguas Calentes, we had a delicious supper and then walked to our hotel. Not only are the rooms nice, but they have great wifi which enabled me to write this post. Good night! .

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