Royal Estates

March 10th, the study group set out from Cuzco to our final destination of Ollantaytambo. On our way to the royal estate of Urubamba, we stopped at a recreation of a contemporary llama and alpaca Quechua farm. Lamas and Alpacas come from the same family as camels do, hence why they can live a long time without drinking water. This very particular animal was very important in aspects of not only Inca agriculture and society, but also their cosmology and religious beliefs and practices. Llamas were very useful for their fur in order to make textiles that were very prominent for Inca practices, everyday life, as well as trade. The weaving techniques are still practices and form an important part of today’s Peruvian Quechua society. After the stop, we headed towards a beautiful resort type hotel and restaurant next to a large and heavy flowing river next to the mountains where we enjoyed yet again some of the best food in the world.
Traveling through the mountains, we arrived at Urubamba. Scholars comment that “Pachacuti, who ruled from around A.D. 1438-1471, celebrated each of his military excursions by creating an estate…in the old Tambo domain; he created an estate and a palace at Ollantaytambo” (Niles). The palace at Ollaytantambo was an amazing architectural structure that serves to foreshadow what we would soon see at Machu Picchu. Large terraces are seen where the Inca’s used to keep their farms, these terraces form what appears to be a stairway to heaven. At the top of the estate, one can look over to a river and an adjacent mountain where it is believed that rocks were brought from. The Inca’s actually were developed enough to change the course of the flowing river to facilitate the transportation of materials. Not only this, but looking at the opposite side of where the estate was created, one can see what is believed to be a storage complex. “The size of the buildings as well as the capacity of the complexes attest to the quantity of goods produces on estates.” (Niles). These storage places were created to aid in case perhaps “The Nino Year” came along and crops did not produce what was expected. The architecture of this storage unit is very intellectually engineered. Large rectangular shaped that look like a crown from the distance are separated by space where when the afternoon cold winds blow, they flow through the spaces and can be useful for refrigeration purposes.
At Ollantaytambo, this storage house is also located next to one of the most amazing Inca remnants ever seen. There is a huge face carved into the rock. Some suggest that this was already here, but I believe that the structure built on top of the face that forms what appears to be a crown, or a typical Inca ornament worn on the head of the leaders, suggest that the Quechua people themselves built it for their Inca kings.
Then we set off to Aguas Calientes and prepare for our big day at Machu Picchu.