Ollantaytambo was our first stop on arriving in Peru.
It’s a small traditional town nestled in the Sacred Valley with the Andres mountains looming all around. Ollanta was built on the foundations of the original Inca ruins and so you can easily look back in time and see evidence of Inca town planning.
Plenty of tourist see Ollanta as part of a whistle stop day trip of the Sacred valley so by day there are people arriving on tour buses to see the ruins and walk the cobbled streets but as dusk arrives and the thundering buses depart it can feel like you have the little gem to yourselves and I highly recommend staying at least one night
From a more practical standpoint it’s a great base to start your Peruvian adventure being slightly lower altitude (2,800m) than Cusco.
If you arrive in Cusco tired and altitudes weary the easiest way to get to Ollanta is by taxi/car. ($30-2 ½ hours)) Most Ollanta hotels will arrange this for you but I’m not exactly difficult to exit Cusco Airport and find one
The Cheapest way to Ollanta is via bus but this isn’t direct (Cusco-Urubamba (3 soles) and then Urubamba-Ollanta (2 soles))
The final option is the train which (if you are not hiking the Inca trail to MachuPicchu) you will probably be using at some point. The train however is expensive and you have to be sure the times coincide with your arrival.
Ollanta is the an attractive town of cobbled streets and tradition people. In fact if you arrive in Peru with good Spanish knowledge don’t assume you will be able to communicate with the older generation here as they mainly speak the older languages of Aymara and Quechua.
People here are friendly but shy. Don’t mistake the shyness for aloofness.
You can walk all of Ollanta easily even though there are tuktuk type transports for if the altitude throws you off your game. During the day huge tour buses will rumble through the down spoiling the peace but as dusk falls these will quickly vacate leaving a very peaceful town for your exploration.
Its safe here and you can walk anywhere in the town without worries. The narrow stone streets are particularly fun to explore,as you will see traditionally dressed locals at every turn. Be sure to look for the red (bag) flags above the doorways if you want to sample the local Chica beer. Just realize that the beer is created by people chewing corn then spitting it out and allowing the mixture to ferment !!! Enjoy !!
There is a museum in town (5 soles) too called El Museo Catcco which depicted Inca life in that area. It contained information about architecture as well as textiles samples. There are English translations but finding the museum seemed very hit or miss despite what the guide book told us.
Even when we did find the door opended the male caretaker seemed surprised to see visitors at all
My favourite sensory memory of Ollanta is at night, as the temperature drops, each home and restaurant burns their wood fires for comfort of food and the air all over the town smells like a cozy campfire.
Almost every restaurant "specializes" in pizza fresh from the pizza ovens. We tried one just because the town smells so wonderful with them cooking but I wasn’t impressed.
It was pretty much cheese on top of more cheese with a bit of cheese sprinkled for good measure. Its possible we had a bad pizza experience but unless you want to be blocked up for a week I don’t recommend it
From journal South of the Equator to Peru