Bet you can't say Ollantaytambo 5x fast!

        It has been a while since I last posted a blog but, I will fill y'all in on one of our latest excursions. I ended up being able to go to Ollantytambo twice, once on Wednesday and Thursday. In this blog I will include things I got to do and see in both visits. This was the first time I was able to visit the same set of ruins twice. This was a big advantage because I noticed a lot more the second time and even corrected some of our previous assumptions from the day before.

On Wednesday, we got up early enough to be the first group in line for Ollantytambo and it was like our own private excavation. This turned out to be great because by 8:30 there was a sea of people on the agriculture terraces on the front side of the site. Speaking of the terraces, we got a chance to walk up four rocks that protruded out from the wall. These rocks were their version of steps that allowed them to conveniently go from one terrace to the next.

Most Incan sites had a sun temple because this was their way of marking certain holidays, especially on the winter solstice (June 21st). Most sun temples are one of the highest points on each site, however, at Ollantytambo this was not the case. When the group went we thought the room was one that was angled right at the mountain across the valley. It was cloudy so we did not to see the sunrise perfectly. On the second trip I had taken a picture of the site map and decided that the day before I had missed judged which room was the Temple of the Sun. The Temple of the sun here had to be on the ridge of the mountain the jutted out into the valley. I believe they had to make an exception on it being at the highest point because, when the sun came over the mountain none of the other buildings were able to have a wall facing the rising sun. It was not obvious to us on the first trip which room was the Temple of the Sun because the wall of the real Temple of the Sun that would have faced the rising sun is no longer there. I assume the archaeologist were able to label it as the Temple of the Sun because the stone work was more Almohadillado. Almohadillado is a type of finished geometric stones but, not as block-like as Imperial.

          Another building that caught my attention while visiting the site was called Qolqas. I was unable to find out what it was used for but I think it was a store house for their produce. The two Qolqas were located on the East side of the site just above the agricultural terraces. The site had put on a roof that would have been similar to the roof the Incas would've had. This was neat to see because they used some kind of ties, instead of nails, to hold the bamboo roof on. I was able to get a couple of good photos of one of the two Qolqas.    

   

   
That afternoon we hiked the other side of the valley twice. There are ruins on this side but they are not nearly as well kept as Ollantytambo since it is free to wonder around. I was not able to see the sun alignment in one of the standing buildings that the rest of the group got to see as the sun was setting over Ollantytambo. I however climbed to the top of the highest part of these ruins and met a few nice couples that I ended up seeing again twice during our stay. Here is me at the highest point of these ruins. The photo is courtesy of a Frenchman I also met at the top of the climb.