Ollyantaytambo Ruins

When people think of ruins in Peru, the first one that comes to mind is Machu Picchu. But MP is not the largest one by far. The sacred valley is scattered with cities in ruins and a few that are bigger that MP, though less famous. Ollyantaytambo (yes, it is a mouthful to say) is one of those that is much larger than MP. The buildings are in different state of ruin than MP, so you have to use your imagination more. The main ruins are on one side of the valley and the main grain storage was next to the king's face carved into the rock on the other side of the valley. The large jutting out mtn in the picture is the one with the face of the king and the grainery. Can you see it?

Of course, like all good tourist cities, there was a market in the main square. We didn't have much time to browse but it didn't matter much to us. We knew Angie, Aaron and I would be heading back that way later.

Our driver picked us up again and brought us to the field where we would be camping that night. When we got back to camp everything had been set up for us. Our tents, an eating tent with a table and chairs and a cooking tent. This was the life. Too bad everybody wasn't feeling perfect. Most of the day my stomach had been angry with me. And now it was getting worse. We went for a walk before dinner to see the snow-caps hiding behind the hills. Dinner smelled awesome and they made SO much. But my stomach wouldn't have any of it. I really wanted to eat, but just couldn't do it without feeling like crap. I wasn't visible sick, but my stomach and digestive tract was cramping and yucky. By the end of the night I surrendered to whatever parasite or bacteria I had gotten. Admitting defeat, I started a dose of Z-pac antibiotics to rid myself of this thing living in me. By morning I was feeling much better and was actually really hungry and ready to eat loads of food.

The last picture is a cute entrance way to a hostal in the city.