Ollantaytambo

Sacred Valley:

Right after we landed in Cusco airport, before we could feel the effect of the high altitude of 11,150 feet (3400 meters above sea level), we were quickly whisked away to Sacred Valley, which lies at a lower elevation, north and west of  Cusco. During the Inca period, Cusco was the spiritual capital of the Incas but the Sacred Valley was of great ceremonial importance. The Sacred Valley is a beautiful stretch of valley surrounded by tall mountains. The Urubamba river (Rio Urubamba in the map below) cuts through the Sacred valley. The Incas considered the Urubamba river as the earthly equivalent of the Milky Way. The three important small towns/villages in the Sacred Valley are Ollantaytambo, Urubamba and Pisac.

Ollantaytambo:
With its Inca built narrow alleys with stone walls and water canals, Ollantaytambo is a well preserved Inca village.

What looks like giant steps here are agricultural terraces, another Inca ingenuity (better visibility in the next photo).
As we climbed to the top to visit the unfinished Sun temple, the Sun was very gentle on u s:)

Agricultural terraces: In order to feed a lot of people, the Incas flattened the mountain slopes in to steps and
used the terraces to grow Quinoa, Maize, Potatoes and Coca. The agricultural terraces are a
common sight all over Peru and Bolivia.

View of Ollantaytambo village from the top of the ruins. The structure on the slope of the mountain  (almost,
the middle of the photo) is a food storage building used by the Incas, where they stored Quinoa, Maize and Potatoes.
The food was distributed to the entire population.

Close up of the food storage building.

The unfinished Sun temple at the top. Referred to as the "six monoliths",
no one understands the significance of this structure.

At the center, the "Ten Niches". To the right of the "Ten Niches" is the unfinished entrance to the Temple of the Sun (above).

Water temple. Just like the Sun, the Incas understood the importance of water and worshiped it.
There is a water fountain inside this temple as well as many fountains on the right side.

Water temple. On the day of the Solstice, when the Sun cleared the mountain (visible through the window)
and hit the water fountain, the Incas considered that the water was blessed by their ancestors.

Archaeological explorations are ongoing in Ollantaytambo and more Inca built structures are getting unearthed.

What good is a tourist place if there are no shops :)

As is clearly evident, the Ollantaytambo ruins indicate that the construction was abandoned in the middle. The Inca Temples and the buildings above the town on the mountain slopes were of great importance to the Incas, an engineering marvel and a testament to the Incas' architectural skills.