Frommer's Peru by Neil Edward Schlecht

Author:Neil Edward Schlecht
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Published: 2012-10-04T16:00:00+00:00

ollantaytambo ★★★

97km (60 miles) NW of Cusco; 21km (13 miles) W of Urubamba

Ollantaytambo

A tongue twister of a town—the last settlement before Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu—this historic and lovely little place at the northwestern end of the Sacred Valley is affectionately called Ollanta (Oh-yahn-tah) by locals. Plenty of outsiders who can’t pronounce it fall in love with the town, too, and the town, which was oh-so-quiet just a few years ago, is now firmly on the tourist trail, fast on its way to becoming a tiny version of Cusco. New cafes, restaurants, and hostales now ring the main square and line the street that connects the old town to the ruins, but Ollanta is trying to negotiate its newfound popularity and doing its best to avoid being overrun with shoddy tourist establishments like Aguas Calientes. Despite its quick transformation, though, Ollantaytambo remains one of the most enjoyable places in the Sacred Valley, the one place (other than Machu Picchu, of course) not to be missed. The scenery surrounding Ollantaytambo is stunning: The snowcapped mountains that embrace the town frame a much narrower valley here than at Urubamba or Pisac, and both sides of the gorge are lined with Inca stone andenes, or agricultural terraces. Most extraordinary are the precipitous terraced ruins of a massive temple-fortress built by the Inca Pachacútec. Below the ruins, Ollantaytambo’s old town is a splendid grid of streets dating to Inca times and lined with adobe brick walls, blooming bougainvillea, and perfect canals, still carrying rushing water down from the mountains. Though during much of the day tour buses deposit large groups at the foot of the fortress (where a handicrafts market habitually breaks out to welcome them) and tourists overrun the main square, the old town remains pretty quiet, a traditional and thoroughly charming Valle Sagrado village.

Ollantaytambo is one of the best spots to spend the night in the Sacred Valley—although accommodations are limited to small inns and simple hotels—especially if you want to be able to wander around the ruins alone in the early morning or late afternoon, before or after the groups overtake them. With the town’s expanding roster of traveler services, it’s now a good place to hang out for several days, not just an overnight on the way to or back from Machu Picchu.

Essentials

Getting There

By Train Ollantaytambo lies midway on the Cusco–Machu Picchu train route. Trains traveling to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu) from Cusco stop first at Ollantaytambo; two new competitors of PeruRail originate in Ollanta for travel to Machu Picchu. Peru Rail trains depart Cusco from Estación Poroy ( 084/221-352), a 15-minute taxi ride from Cusco, and arrive in Ollantaytambo 90 minutes later. The train station in Ollantaytambo is a long 10-minute walk from the main square. For additional details, see “Getting There” in “Machu Picchu & the Inca Trail,” later in this chapter.

By Bus The cheapest way to Ollantaytambo is to catch a combi or colectivo from Cusco to Urubamba (S/5) and transfer at the terminal there to a frequent combi (S/3) for Ollanta (30 min.

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