up
by mikka
Our first full day in Ollanta, accompanied by another volunteer who arrived the same day as us, we hiked up to the ruins of Pinkullyuna, which loom over the central square in town (you can see them midway up the mountain).
To get there, you walk down this narrow alleyway, until you get to the small wooden sign:
And from there you just go up, scrambling up a steep staircase of rock that made me desperately wish I owned hiking boots and not just an old pair of sneakers with the tread almost entirely worn away. It's not a huge hike, taking less than 45 minutes, but - even after a few days to get used to the Andean altitudes - it kicked my butt more than I'd like to admit. Eventually it takes you here:
These long, thin buildings used to be Inca storehouses for grain.
Once at the top, you're free to climb around the ruins themselves as much as you want.
(plants growing from the top of the ruins)
There were more ruins even higher up, but I wasn't feeling nearly adventurous enough to venture that far away from solid ground. Back down in the Plaza de Armas in the center of town, the climb looked far less treacherous than it seemed while we were actually doing it, but it still feels pretty cool to see the ruins everyday and know that we've been there.
