Thursday 7 April 2011

ollentaytambo

This lovely little town from which my adventure have been based also boasts its own official ruins. These are covered under what is known as the boleto turistico, or tourist ticket, which is the only way to get into a group of historical entities here in the Cusco area. Whether or not you are interested in most of the ruins etc. you must purchase this ticket.


Since I possess such a ticket I was welcomed into the ruins for a turn about. Part of the ruins are pre-Inca, although these are cordoned off from the masses. The rest of the ruins consist of the requisite terracing, some interesting housing and what looks like would have been some kind of temple. Hard to know because the town was overrun by the Spanish before it could be completed.

What is astounding is the sheer size of the stones used for the temple area, and that they were able to bring these mammoth blocks from the mountains across the river, over the valley and up the hillside to their positions on the mountain high above the town. The stones are faced with carved protrusions in no discernable pattern, although with so many left enroute and unfinished we will never know for sure.

There are a couple of ruins located high on the hills overlooking the temple, and they require a fair hike up to reach them. Off I went following a trail, which came to a fork with no signage. I chose left, which had me winding around and up for quite a distance. Once the track petered out (well past the scary spiders, geckos, butterflies, weird ants and donkey poop) it became apparent that right was the correct avenue, and this required a turnabout.

Of course by this time the sun had appeared, and I was well on my way to scorched. I found a white plastic bag in my backpack, wrapped it around my head (instant sunhat) and continued on. Once on the correct path it was not too long before I was again looking down upon most of the ruins in the area. Really cool, actually.

This portion of ruins was small, mostly what looked like an alter and caretakers area. There was a convenient bench provided for a rest, and after some rehydration it was a reverse trek back to explore the balance of the site.

All in all not a bad days schlepping, sunburn aside. I believe on facebook I have declared that soon my face will be like tanned leather. I will regret it one day, no doubt. But not today.

Spent a little time in and out of the various shops in town on my way back to the hostal, stopping to overeat at a nice place on the way. Whether it was sunstroke, or whether another reoccurrence of the tummy trouble bug I am not sure but I was down for the count.

Yet again another full, fun day.

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