On the way back from Machu Picchu we stopped to explore Ollantaytambo, one of the few Inca fortress where the Incas actually fought battles with the Spanish and the only one where they won. (Manco Inca Yupanqui who became an Inca with Pizarro’s blessing soon after the murder of Atahualpa, eventually got tired of being a puppet and rebelled against the Spanish. He faught them at Sacsayhuaman near Cusco, then retreated to Ollantaytambo, held it over a few battles, then retreated to Vilcabamba down in the jungles, past Machu Picchu.) Unlike Machu Picchu, which is very pretty but didn’t impress me as a fortress, Ollantaytambo actually feels like a place where one could defend oneself.

Another interesting thing about Ollantaytambo was that the current town (village?) still preserves much of the original Inca architecture. One after another, you pass doorways made of massive stones that are merely people’s houses, supposedly built back during the Inca time. It is strange to see people living in buildings parts of which are more than 500 years old.

After Ollantaytambo we headed back to Cusco by bus, stopping on the way at Chinchero. Chinchero had more ruins and a cathedral, but we were tired by then, so we only looked briefly and got back on the bus for Cusco.