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Cool Inca House - Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo is the jumping off point to Machu Picchu.  It was a tambo, otherwise know as a "resting place" along the Inca trail.  This is a pretty cool site on it own.  

Around the mid-15th century, the Inca emperor Pachacuti conquered and razed Ollantaytambo; the town and the nearby region were incorporated into his personal estate.[3] The emperor rebuilt the town with sumptuous constructions and undertook extensive works of terracing and irrigation in the Urubamba Valley; the town provided lodging for the Inca nobility while the terraces were farmed by yanakuna, retainers of the emperor.[4] After Pachacuti's death, the estate came under the administration of his panaqa, his family clan. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollantaytambo

The existing town of Ollantaytambo was built on ancient Incan foundations.  We were lucky enough to go inside a small house.  It was a small one room dwelling where 7 people lived.  There were the characteristic niches in the the walls, more or less filled in windows.  This construction was common throughout the Inca buildings we visited.  The niches in this small room were filled with interesting things, like the skulls of their ancestors and other keepsakes.  It was dark, there was a small opening in the roof for the smoke from the fire stove to escape and there were Guinnea Pigs (Cuy) running free. Pretty cool!

Pachacuti's Estate



Town of Ollantaytambo

Inca foundations, new construction on top

Cuy's running free

window niche




Fire stove


Hole in the roof for the smoke

Courtyard of the home



View of the home's entrance from the courtyard
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