Ollantaytambo en route to the Inca trail

---

We did a day tour out to Ollantaytambo with our very ordinary guide who explained nothing. The day started OK with a trip to Pisac Markets. At the bakery I had a traditional bread stuffed with banana which was great. I bought a pack of cards at the market which I knew would come in handy and a photo album.

From there we went to an animal farm to pat and feed the different types of llama, camels and alpacas from the region. Luckily none of them spat at me, but something about them scares me.

We then continue on to the very impressive ruins of Ollantaytambo, with its huge terraces which were exhausting to climb up to the incomplete temple of the sun. Despite being incomplete, the sheer size of the place is amazing. The rocks had been perfectly carved and fitted together. The rocks here had been taken from a quarry at the top of a nearby mountain and would have been very hard to move to where they are today. If only the Inca’s put as much effort into developing weapons as they did with their stonework they may have survived the Spanish invasion!

The town of Ollantaytambo is so small. It is full of mud brick houses and farmers toiling away. Not too many luxuries in this town, just people going about their daily life who surely must think us tourists have come from another planet!

---

Photos

Locals weaving
I'm not sure what is crueller - making kids weave for hours on end or make them dress up in those colourful ponchos and hats!

View of the town
Taken from the temple of the sun