Traveling to Ollantaytambo – Peru

By Tina Lin – Guest blogger traveling in Peru.
At 9am this morning, we left for Ollantaytambo, the fortress the Incan last fought with the Spaniards. The way to Ollantaytambo takes about 2 hours on the bus. Throughout the ride, we took many stops to stretch and have some fresh air. The view along the way is just spectacular. We saw mountains that soared above the clouds and the Sacred Valley down below. At Ollantaytambo, we hiked up the many steps to top of the fortress. Our guide, Edward, told us the story behind this fortress. A general that was defeated in a war before the Incan times arrived at Ollantaytambo and built this magnificent fortress. Later, the Incans fought with him and won. The daughter of this general, a princess, married an Incan. The Incan continued to expand this fortress. When the Spanish arrived, they threw rocks at the Spaniards. They were very strong, but not able to withstand the gun power the Spanish possessed.
Ollantaytambo has one side that is built with smooth, well-cut stones that are seen in other Incan masonry. This side is going to lead up to the rooms where the important people such as the princess lived. The other side is built with ragged rocks and it had clay in between the rocks. This side is built to prevent the avalanche of rocks and to drain the water from the rain. We climbed up the side with beautiful stones and saw the portal, the communication site, temple of the sun and moon. The portal was constructed with complementary rocks sticking out of the walls. Next to the portal, you see large, rectangular windows in the walls that are used as a form of communication. If a guard sees a visitor from down below, he can tap the side of these windows on the left, middle or right side. This would create an echo that would notify important official living on the left, middle or right side of the hills. It is quite ingenious.
Ollantaytambo also has baths below for the king and the common people. The spring for the king has the carving of the Incan Cross (representing the trinity of the world). The water that streams down the spring can be slowed down by simply running your finger across the channel in the stone. The Incans definitely knew about the physics of fluids!
After our visit to Ollantaytambo, we went to eat at a very good buffet. Most of us were so stuffed we could not eat any more. We were impressed with just how beautiful this restaurant is set up. After lunch, we dropped by a famous ceramic shop called Pablo Seminario. We learned that the ceramics were made by clay in the Sacred Valley. The ceramics were softened by a soft stone, then carved with symbols from pre-Incan and Incan tribes. It was then colored and baked. These work were absolutely beautiful, I also bought 2 pieces of work.
I am going to rest today after all these adventures. I had a lot of fun.