Ollyantaytambo

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Ollyantaytambo is a small town with great Inca ruins. It is also the place where you get the train to Machu Picchu. I spent some time here exploring ruins, I also did a great walk up the valley. As soon as I left the valley there were no more tourists or signs of a tourism industry. People were out working their land, I saw three brothers ploughing with two oxen, the eldest controlled the plough, the middle one led the oxen while the youngest sat on the plough to add weight. Two more boys were struggling to push a wheelbarrow of hay up the hill. A bit further up the valley a father and his sons were irrigating their fields. Channels dating from Inca times ran between the fields, the family had created channels ever couple of metres that fed from the main one, in turn they diverted water to each channel by blocking one ditch with mud and clearing another. When I returned a couple of hou later they had broken the back of the job.

Having being on the go non stop, and still struggling with jet lag I used the excuse of forecast thunderstorms to have an easy day, sitting in cafes and watching the world go by. Food is great, Quinoa is everywhere, along with fresh fruit and vegetables, everything seems to be chicken or beef and there are plenty of interesting options. I even found an Italian place doing great gluten free pizza As a break from the Peruvian food. Here are the photos of Ollyantaytambo, next blog will be Machu Picchu.

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