Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo, at the western end of the Sacred Valley, is often called the last living Inca town, because its people still live in houses on the original Inca street grid and fetch water from stone channels built five centuries ago. Above the town rise the massive terraces of the Ollantaytambo Archaeological Site, where the Inca Manco Inca defeated a Spanish force in 1537, and at the top stand six giant monoliths of pink stone known as the Temple of the Sun, hauled up from the Cachicata quarry across the valley. On the opposite hillside, the storehouses of Pinkuylluna cling to the cliff and can be reached on a short, steep trail. Ollantaytambo is the main station for trains to Machu Picchu and the base for the classic Inca Trail, which starts a short drive down the valley. Quieter ruins such as Pumamarca and the Perolniyoc Waterfall lie in the side valleys nearby.