Exploring Ollantaytambo

Hernan picked us up in Huaran as we said goodbye to our glass-walled house there. We headed west in the Inca Valley to explore Ollantaytambo.  Along the way we spotted these weird cylindrical objects hanging from the mountainside.

Here's a closer look:

 

Apparently you can pay to spend the night dangling on the mountainside. Each of these is fully equipped with a bed, toilet and sink.  OK, on to Ollantaytambo.

If you think, as I did, that exploring the Inca civilization is doing nothing but looking at ruins, you'd be wrong. The Inca city of Ollantaytambo is alive and well. And their Quechua descendants are still living there. Here are a few street scenes:

Our Guide Hernan shows us how they have added a 2nd story	The old Inca water system still flows here
Business goes on here. They allow motorcycles for convenience	Front doors need little bridges to go over the water sluice
Here's the ever present trapezoidal Inca doorway looking out over their terraced planting field	Men and women carry 50lb sacks of corn from nearby fields through the  site to trucks waiting on the other side.

 After exploring the old part of town we caught some lunch and Patrice ham'd it up by hoping into the driver's seat of a nearby Tuk-tuk:

After lunch we headed for Cusco, our last stop on this trip.
 

You can see how quickly the weather changes in the mountains and the glaciers.