The Gateway to the Inca Trail – Ollantaytambo

Peru

The Gateway to the Inca Trail – Ollantaytambo

Festive Cow.

Ollantaytambo is the town closest to the beginning of the Inca trail. Most people stay here the night before they’re starting the trail and their guide and team pick them up in town the morning they’re starting so there’s less driving. We also stayed here after finishing the Inca Trail because we had a night to kill before hitting the Sky Lodge.

Cute Street intof Ollantaytambo.

We found Ollantaytambo to be very charming. Our hotel was a small walk from the main square. The day after Machu Picchu and all that excitement we decided to hang out in Town while awaiting our Sky Lodge Pick up. We walked down to the Ollantaytambo ruins at the end of town. The tourist ticket we had included these ruins as well so we figured we’d have a look.

The perfect place to stay before your Inca Trail adventure!

Stone Streets of Ollantaytambo.

Ollantaytambo Town Square.

Quickly upon entering the gate we decided we were not climbing to the top so our trip was short as we stayed around the base. We saw more Llama friends so that of course made us happy!

Entrance to Ollantaytambo Ruins.

Not Climbing that Today!

Stream Through the Ollantaytambo Ruins.

More Llama Friends!

Right outside the gates of the ruins are a bunch of market stalls, we walked through here and bought a few magnets. There’s also a ChocoMuseo that we popped in and tried some chocolate treats. There were some other cute little shops around town that we poked in before acknowledging how tired we actually were and finding a nice cafe for some lunch and to play games.

ChocoMuseo!

View From the Window of Sunshine Cafe.

Mid afternoon cocktail? Okay! Lunch at Sunshine Cafe was delicious and they had a wide variety of games and books to kill the time. We learned how to play Skipbo and played for at least an hour before we started to here some ruckus out the cafe window.

Cocktails, Lunch and Cupcakes!

A Night Under the Stars at the Skylodge, You can read all about that here.

Pod View!

It was a parade! And finally some real life Ukukus! How exciting, we finished our lunch and our game and rushed outside to follow the parade and see how this would progress. The group paraded to the main square in front of the church where they continued a little dancing outside the doors for quite a while. It was fun to see the cows all dressed up and the Ukukus of various ages doing their part.

Lining Up for the Parade.

So Many People in the Parade.

We See Some Ukukus!

Ukuku with His Festive Cow.

By this point we were knackered. We headed back to our hotel and napped in the lobby while awaiting our ride to the Skylodge. If we weren’t so tired most of the time we were in Ollantaytambo we for sure would have enjoyed more restaurants and some of the bars. There seemed to be a lot of nice looking places many of which overlook the town square which is perfect for people watching.

Mid Afternoon Nap.

If you have a night here before your Inca trail adventure have no fear you will be well fed and have no problem finding last minute items for the trail!