Bales Geneology

After stopping in Calca for lunch and passing through the city of Urubamba, we didn't arrive in Ollantaytambo until rather late in the day (about 4:00 something) and reached the ruins as the sun was about to go down behind the mountains. It is at this point that valley of the Urubamba River begins to change from the agricultural terrain that you have seen so far, to more of a gorge with mountains on both of the river. It is among the hills at the intersection of multiple valleys that the fortress of Ollantaytambo was built.
The ruins also have a colorful story to go along with them. Tradition has it the Inca captain Ollanta, who was in charge of this district, fell in love with the daughter of Pachacutec, the reigning monarch of the time. However, they were forbidden to marry and in response Ollanta staged a rebellion, kidnapping the princess and retreating to his fortress. In the battles that followed Pachacutec himself was killed and Ollanta was on the verge of defeating the army of the empire when he was betrayed and turned back. As befits an epic of this type, in the end the new Inca ruler recognized both Ollanta's skill as a warrior an his love for the princess and allowed them to marry and live out their lives at Ollantaytambo. In more contemporary history, during the Spanish conquests, it was to this fortress that Manco Inca retreated to after being defeated and at Sacsayhuaman during the siege at Cuzco. Here he managed to hold off the Spanish and eventually escape to the jungle where he presided over the last remnant of the Inca empire until his betrayal and death.

The picture at left will give you an idea of why this was such a stronghold. The Sun Temple is on the top of the ridge and is only accessible by the exposed paths up the terraces you see here. Just on the other side of this ridge is the Urubamba river and the Temple is inaccessible from that side as well.

The foundation of the Sun Temple constructed out of huge finely fitted stones. Although you can't see it here, there are remnants of images (a snake and I don't remember what else) carved in relief on the stone face. Apparently this temple was never completed and whatever stonework once stood on this foundation was hauled away by the Spanish in the construction of 'modern' Ollantaytambo.

Learn More about the Incas... Click Here... A couple of other details that make these ruins unique:  Across the valley from the ruins and uphill from the town, spaced about the face of the mountain are a number of storage structures built into the sheer rock walls. Apparently the winds and humidity make the location perfect for long term storage of grain and their inaccessibility makes them that much easier to defend. You can see a portion of this mountain face in the picture at the top of the page but these structures are really not visible in this view (well if you can make out a white square halfway up the face, that is one). Secondly (and this takes more imagination than the condor shape in the Pizac valley!) there is a profile of Ollanta in the bluffs overlooking the valley and there is some evidence that rock was cut away to enhance a natural shape in the cliff. From the journal... "As we got to the top it started to rain a little (and I didn’t have my slicker) but we still stood around and listened to Mauro’s lecture about the temple, construction techniques (apparently the stones had come from across the river), and the story of Ollantay and his bride (kind of an Incan Romeo & Juliet). Then, looking out over the valley, a portion of a rainbow appeared over the town from behind a mountain. Then, it appeared more clearly... Then, the other half appeared... Then, part of a second one... Finally, the arc of the rainbow completed into a second valley from behind another mountain. This, combined with the environs, the ruins, ruins visible across the valley, the weather we had all day (nice) made the moment an awesome experience." You can see (sort of) the tip of the rainbow coming into view from behind the second mountain in the picture at the top of the page...

More on the town of Ollantaytambo itself...

 

The Trek to Machu Picchu

The Sacred Valley