Ollantaytambo

"Oy-yan-tay-tahm-bo." It's a mouthful, but we got used to it pretty quickly. After arriving in one piece and checking into our beautiful little B&B, we set out to see the town's Incan fortress, which looms high on the nearby hills. It's not as visually stunning as Machu Picchu or Sacsayhuaman, but we were impressed just the same. We were both glad it was the last ruin we were scheduled to see, because we were reaching our limit.

This seat was carved out of the existing rock and from it, we got a beautiful view of the town below.

The town of Ollantaytambo has been continuously inhabited since the Incans built it more than 800 years ago. The foundations of all the buildings are Incan-made, and the whole town is carefully planned in a grid of small blocks with elaborate means of draining water down to the Urubamba river.

I'm not sure if this stucco/plaster is original or not, but either way it shows how some buildings were put together with rougher stones and then covered with smooth plaster.