Published in South American Explorer magazine April 2009
Anne Supsic discovers Ollantaytambo, a hidden gem in Peru's Sacred Valley
When traveling in Peru, people invariably ask if you have visited Machu Picchu yet (since every tourist does). In fact, most visitors race from Lima to Cusco and on to Aguas Calientes, the gateway to Machu Picchu. But these fast-track travelers miss the phenomenal beauty of the area between Cusco and Aguas Calientes where the Sacred Valley offers an eclectic array of Inca ruins that rival even those of fabled Machu Picchu.
The sights of the Sacred Valley could keep a traveler happily entertained for days. The town of Pisac offers both stunning Inca ruins and a colorful handicraft market where shopaholics can haggle for hours. The crusty, white salt pans of Maras are a fascinating ancient operation with salt water of unknown origin channeled into shallow pools where the air evaporates, and only the salt remains. The concentric terraces built by the Incas at Moray sink hundreds of feet into the earth creating what look like giant amphitheaters. These terraced craters may have been designed as laboratories for agricultural experiments, but are also believed to be mystic centers of energy. And at the northern end of this magical valley, halfway between Cusco and Machu Picchu, lies my favorite spot of all, a gem of an Inca village called Ollantaytambo.
Ollantaytambo is situated in a narrow section of the Sacred Valley surrounded by mountains flaunting spectacular Inca ruins. Opposing mountains display agricultural terraces and a formidable fortress on one side, while rows of grain bins with symmetrical, peaked rooflines create a harmonious pattern on the other side. Remarkably, this little out-of-the-way village offers the best surviving example of Inca town planning and has been inhabited continuously since the 13th century. Eighty percent of the buildings in Ollantaytambo contain original Inca stonework.
In contrast to Machu Picchu, this is a living town with roughly 3,000 residents leading ordinary lives right in the midst of Incan antiquity. Except for the occasional tour bus roaring down the main thoroughfare, Ollantaytambo is a sleepy place with good visitor facilities, but without the frenzied pursuit of tourist dollars typical of more famous destinations.
Unlike Cusco, my husband and I are not besieged by local crafts sellers or shoeshine boys at every turn. Here the owners of native handicraft shops wait for us to come to them, and well-mannered children in sparkling school uniforms stifle giggles as they politely respond to our greetings of Hola and Buenos Dias. The only hucksters we encounter are two preschoolers who ham it up for the camera, and then ask us for bombones. We have no candy (and prefer not to give it to children anyway), but a granola bar comes to the rescue, and they happily gobble it up.
Walking along Ollantaytambo’s narrow alleys, we marvel at the precision of the Inca walls. These stones are so perfectly joined that a thin knife blade cannot fit between them. What engineers these Incas must have been to achieve such precision with only the crudest of tools. And since this is earthquake country, the ingenious Incas also perfected masonry techniques, like trapezoidal doorways, to make their buildings earthquake-proof. While structures built by the Spaniards have suffered great damage over the years, the Inca walls still remain standing.
We are staying in Ollantaytambo for three nights at the Hostal Orquideas in a double room with a private bath for $30/night. Our room is basic but clean, and the shower is hot and powerful. Best of all, the room has an excellent view of the fortress ruins from our second story window.
In this tranquil atmosphere, we find ourselves slowing down to match the rhythm of the town. We sleep in and then take a walk in search of a laundry. A friendly place just off the main square is the perfect choice with a single washing machine visible in the back room--the only lavanderia in town with a washing machine, we are told. For 8 soles (about $2.50), our clothes are returned to us fresh and neatly folded in just three hours.
Outside the laundry, we really appreciate the value of modern conveniences when we see an old woman washing her clothes in the street. Literally. The Incas carved open stone waterways into the streets, and many are still used to carry water throughout the town today. We try not to stare as the woman dips her garments in and out of the water rushing through the narrow channel.
We have hired a private guide for our Sacred Valley sightseeing. Percy is pleasant, speaks decent English and is extremely knowledgeable. Today, he leads us on an exploration of our very own Ollantaytambo ruins. The fortress was a major outpost of the Inca Empire, and the only site where the Incas defeated the Spanish in battle. But the site is also a ceremonial center, and our goal is to hike to the Temple of the Sun at the top of the mountainside. We follow a zigzag path, climbing up the mountain across orderly agricultural terraces.
As we labor up the two hundred steps, hampered by the thin air at this 9,000 foot altitude, Percy entertains us with the legend of Ollanta, the famous Inca warrior.
Ollanta was a talented Inca general responsible for expanding the Inca Empire throughout the Cusco region. According to the storytellers, Ollanta is so successful that he soon becomes the right-hand man of Pachacuti, the ruler of the Incas. Unfortunately, General Ollanta, a member of the lower class, falls in love with Pachacuti’s daughter, Princess Joyful Star. Despite all of his achievements, Ollanta lacks the right pedigree, and Pachacuti refuses to allow the couple to wed. A furious Ollanta forms his own army and takes off into the hills outside of Cusco where he leads a rebellion against his former commander. Eventually, Ollanta builds his own secret hideaway--Ollantaytambo (Ollanta’s place).
Meanwhile back at the royal court, a horrified Pachacuti learns that Princess Joyful Star is pregnant; he forces her to give up the child and banishes her to a convent. All seems lost, but like any good fairytale, this story has a happy ending. Ten years later Pachacuti dies, and his son, the new Inca ruler, makes peace with Ollanta and welcomes him into the family. The general finally returns to Cusco where he is reunited with Princess Joyful Star and with his child who he didn’t even know existed.
Back in the real world, we are panting when we reach the Temple of the Sun, and the exquisite stonework takes away what little breath we have left. One of the most stunning sights is a composition of six finely polished monoliths made from red volcanic rock--perfectly joined and carefully positioned to catch the rays of the morning sun. We are incredulous when Percy tells us that these huge stones, weighing over 8 tons each, were dragged all the way up here from a quarry located miles away on the other side of a river.
Standing on this summit surrounded by the Andes, we are awestruck by the view and by the brilliance of the Incas. Gazing out over the sweet, little town that Ollanta built, I wonder how he would feel about his secret hideaway today. I think the General would be pleased.
More info:
Lodging: Contact Hostal Orquideas, an excellent budget option, via email at lasorquideas3@hotmail.com. For best results, send your request in Spanish (use the free language translator at babelfish.yahoo.com). If you prefer 3-star comfort consider Hostal Sauce (http://www.hostalsauce.com.pe/).
Dining: Try El Chasqui for delectable fresh trout or check out the healthy choices at Heart’s Café, whose profits go to children’s projects in the Sacred Valley. My favorite eating spot is the restaurant at the KB Tambo Hostal where they serve superb burritos and massive breakfast platters.
How to Get There: Ollantaytambo can be reached by taxi from Cusco in about 1 ½ hours. Also, the Ollantaytambo train station sits on the Aguas Calientes rail line making the town a perfect stop en route to Machu Picchu. (Plus the train ride from Ollantaytambo is cheaper, faster, and often less crowded.)
Anne Supsic is a travel writer who has previously been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Frommer's 'The Smart Traveler's passport: 399 Tips from Seasoned Travelers', and several other regional publications.
All photographs by Frank Supsic.
Anne Supsic discovers Ollantaytambo, a hidden gem in Peru's Sacred Valley
The sights of the Sacred Valley could keep a traveler happily entertained for days. The town of Pisac offers both stunning Inca ruins and a colorful handicraft market where shopaholics can haggle for hours. The crusty, white salt pans of Maras are a fascinating ancient operation with salt water of unknown origin channeled into shallow pools where the air evaporates, and only the salt remains. The concentric terraces built by the Incas at Moray sink hundreds of feet into the earth creating what look like giant amphitheaters. These terraced craters may have been designed as laboratories for agricultural experiments, but are also believed to be mystic centers of energy. And at the northern end of this magical valley, halfway between Cusco and Machu Picchu, lies my favorite spot of all, a gem of an Inca village called Ollantaytambo.
Ollantaytambo is situated in a narrow section of the Sacred Valley surrounded by mountains flaunting spectacular Inca ruins. Opposing mountains display agricultural terraces and a formidable fortress on one side, while rows of grain bins with symmetrical, peaked rooflines create a harmonious pattern on the other side. Remarkably, this little out-of-the-way village offers the best surviving example of Inca town planning and has been inhabited continuously since the 13th century. Eighty percent of the buildings in Ollantaytambo contain original Inca stonework.
In contrast to Machu Picchu, this is a living town with roughly 3,000 residents leading ordinary lives right in the midst of Incan antiquity. Except for the occasional tour bus roaring down the main thoroughfare, Ollantaytambo is a sleepy place with good visitor facilities, but without the frenzied pursuit of tourist dollars typical of more famous destinations.
Unlike Cusco, my husband and I are not besieged by local crafts sellers or shoeshine boys at every turn. Here the owners of native handicraft shops wait for us to come to them, and well-mannered children in sparkling school uniforms stifle giggles as they politely respond to our greetings of Hola and Buenos Dias. The only hucksters we encounter are two preschoolers who ham it up for the camera, and then ask us for bombones. We have no candy (and prefer not to give it to children anyway), but a granola bar comes to the rescue, and they happily gobble it up.
Walking along Ollantaytambo’s narrow alleys, we marvel at the precision of the Inca walls. These stones are so perfectly joined that a thin knife blade cannot fit between them. What engineers these Incas must have been to achieve such precision with only the crudest of tools. And since this is earthquake country, the ingenious Incas also perfected masonry techniques, like trapezoidal doorways, to make their buildings earthquake-proof. While structures built by the Spaniards have suffered great damage over the years, the Inca walls still remain standing.
We are staying in Ollantaytambo for three nights at the Hostal Orquideas in a double room with a private bath for $30/night. Our room is basic but clean, and the shower is hot and powerful. Best of all, the room has an excellent view of the fortress ruins from our second story window.
In this tranquil atmosphere, we find ourselves slowing down to match the rhythm of the town. We sleep in and then take a walk in search of a laundry. A friendly place just off the main square is the perfect choice with a single washing machine visible in the back room--the only lavanderia in town with a washing machine, we are told. For 8 soles (about $2.50), our clothes are returned to us fresh and neatly folded in just three hours.
Outside the laundry, we really appreciate the value of modern conveniences when we see an old woman washing her clothes in the street. Literally. The Incas carved open stone waterways into the streets, and many are still used to carry water throughout the town today. We try not to stare as the woman dips her garments in and out of the water rushing through the narrow channel.
We have hired a private guide for our Sacred Valley sightseeing. Percy is pleasant, speaks decent English and is extremely knowledgeable. Today, he leads us on an exploration of our very own Ollantaytambo ruins. The fortress was a major outpost of the Inca Empire, and the only site where the Incas defeated the Spanish in battle. But the site is also a ceremonial center, and our goal is to hike to the Temple of the Sun at the top of the mountainside. We follow a zigzag path, climbing up the mountain across orderly agricultural terraces.
As we labor up the two hundred steps, hampered by the thin air at this 9,000 foot altitude, Percy entertains us with the legend of Ollanta, the famous Inca warrior.
Ollanta was a talented Inca general responsible for expanding the Inca Empire throughout the Cusco region. According to the storytellers, Ollanta is so successful that he soon becomes the right-hand man of Pachacuti, the ruler of the Incas. Unfortunately, General Ollanta, a member of the lower class, falls in love with Pachacuti’s daughter, Princess Joyful Star. Despite all of his achievements, Ollanta lacks the right pedigree, and Pachacuti refuses to allow the couple to wed. A furious Ollanta forms his own army and takes off into the hills outside of Cusco where he leads a rebellion against his former commander. Eventually, Ollanta builds his own secret hideaway--Ollantaytambo (Ollanta’s place).
Meanwhile back at the royal court, a horrified Pachacuti learns that Princess Joyful Star is pregnant; he forces her to give up the child and banishes her to a convent. All seems lost, but like any good fairytale, this story has a happy ending. Ten years later Pachacuti dies, and his son, the new Inca ruler, makes peace with Ollanta and welcomes him into the family. The general finally returns to Cusco where he is reunited with Princess Joyful Star and with his child who he didn’t even know existed.
Back in the real world, we are panting when we reach the Temple of the Sun, and the exquisite stonework takes away what little breath we have left. One of the most stunning sights is a composition of six finely polished monoliths made from red volcanic rock--perfectly joined and carefully positioned to catch the rays of the morning sun. We are incredulous when Percy tells us that these huge stones, weighing over 8 tons each, were dragged all the way up here from a quarry located miles away on the other side of a river.
Standing on this summit surrounded by the Andes, we are awestruck by the view and by the brilliance of the Incas. Gazing out over the sweet, little town that Ollanta built, I wonder how he would feel about his secret hideaway today. I think the General would be pleased.
More info:
Lodging: Contact Hostal Orquideas, an excellent budget option, via email at lasorquideas3@hotmail.com. For best results, send your request in Spanish (use the free language translator at babelfish.yahoo.com). If you prefer 3-star comfort consider Hostal Sauce (http://www.hostalsauce.com.pe/).
Dining: Try El Chasqui for delectable fresh trout or check out the healthy choices at Heart’s Café, whose profits go to children’s projects in the Sacred Valley. My favorite eating spot is the restaurant at the KB Tambo Hostal where they serve superb burritos and massive breakfast platters.
How to Get There: Ollantaytambo can be reached by taxi from Cusco in about 1 ½ hours. Also, the Ollantaytambo train station sits on the Aguas Calientes rail line making the town a perfect stop en route to Machu Picchu. (Plus the train ride from Ollantaytambo is cheaper, faster, and often less crowded.)
Anne Supsic is a travel writer who has previously been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Frommer's 'The Smart Traveler's passport: 399 Tips from Seasoned Travelers', and several other regional publications.
All photographs by Frank Supsic.
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