Ollantaytambo

We stayed in the Sacred valley and took a 30 min drive to this village. Our guide took us on a gentle stroll around pointing out the Inca work and changes that had occurred. We looked in a compound that was structurally unchanged except for the thatched roof. Whereas one Inca family would have occupied it all, today separate families were in each room. It was a culture shock to see how they lived. The guinea pigs located themselves in one corner although were free to roam! They are an important income to the family. Cooking, a straw bed, and a table completed the basics. Lots of ornaments - Catholic and Inca were everywhere. It was sad to see how they live.
We walked on through the village and its shops and small market and the splendid Inca Temple of the Sun was in front of us some 60m higher above carefully constucted terraces. We walked up the many steps in warm sun with an increasing wind. The incas were bulding and replacing earlier work which used stones and mortar. The contrast was clear. The Incas never finished because of the collapse of their Empire, but this was some of their best work. Again we marvelled at the accuracy of the cutting of stones (granite in this case) such that there is no gap between them. We saw a large stone at an angle on lots of rubble in the process of being lifted into place.
The view from the top was magnificent - down into the village, both ways along the Sacred Valley, across the Valley to where the stone was initially quarried and to a mountain that towered over the village.
We relaxed with a taste of Chicha - a beer brewed from corn which can be sweetened with strawberries - and a game of sapo - where small discs are thrown at a small table with holes for the discs to drop into a drawer below each counting for points. I lost!