Sitio arqueológico Pinkuylluna: Ollantaytambo Travel Guide

Storehouses Hanging Over the Rooftops

Look up from Ollantaytambo’s plaza and Pinkuylluna is the mountain right above you. Grey stone buildings cling to its face in rows, some of them two storeys high, set on a slope so steep they look stacked on top of each other.

These are Inca qolqas, storehouses for grain and other food. The builders put them high on the cold, windy slope on purpose, because the moving air kept the stores dry and cool. Across the valley sits the famous terraced fortress that most visitors come for.

That’s the trade-off. The fortress gets the crowds. Pinkuylluna gets you a view of the fortress, the town’s Inca street grid and the Urubamba valley from above, usually with far fewer people on the path.

Finding the Way In from Calle Lares

The entrance is easy to miss. It sits on Calle Lares, a narrow street running up from the Plaza de Armas, close to Pottery Eduardo Huaman at number 659.

Look for a small doorway or gate set between houses, with a sign for the archaeological site. A guard post usually logs visitors as they enter. Whether you need to show a ticket has changed over the years, so ask at the gate rather than assuming.

Ollantaytambo is small enough to walk everywhere. From the train station, where the Machu Picchu trains stop, it’s an easy walk up Avenida Ferrocarril into town and the plaza.

The Climb, Step by Uneven Step

The path is steep from the start. It’s mostly Inca and reconstructed stone steps cut into the hillside, with switchbacks that tighten as you climb. Some steps are knee-high.

A few points to expect:

• Exposure: parts of the trail run along open drops with little or no railing.
• Altitude: the town sits at roughly 2,800 metres, so your breathing will labour sooner than you expect.
• Narrow sections: in places two people can’t pass easily, so someone steps aside.
• The descent: coming down on loose grit is harder on the legs than going up.

Most people reach the main storehouse terraces in 20–40 minutes. You can go higher, but the upper stretch gets rougher. Turn back wherever it stops feeling comfortable, because the view from the first big terrace already covers most of what you came for.

What Opens Up from the Terraces

The payoff is the angle. Directly across, the fortress terraces climb toward the Temple of the Sun, and from here you see the whole layout at once, something you can’t do while standing inside it.

Below, Ollantaytambo’s trapezoid grid of streets and stone water channels is clear from above. This is one of the few Inca town plans still lived in today. Look up the Urubamba valley and the river and railway line follow the valley floor toward Machu Picchu.

From the fortress side, many people point out a rock formation on Pinkuylluna that resembles a bearded face, often linked to the creator god Wiracocha. Remember to look for it again once you’re back across the valley.

Climbing Pinkuylluna the Sensible Way

Good timing matters more than fitness here. At the moment the site opens 7:30am–4:30pm every day this week, though archaeological sites in the Sacred Valley can change hours with the season. Check at the gate or locally before you plan around it.

• Go early if you can. Starting soon after opening gives you cooler air and softer light on the fortress across the valley.
• Don’t leave it late. Starting after about 3:30pm leaves little time before the gate closes.
• Carry water and a layer. There’s nothing to buy on the trail, and the wind on the terraces can be cold even when the plaza feels warm.
• Wear shoes that grip. The steps are polished in places and gritty in others.
• Acclimatise first. If you’ve just arrived from sea level, leave this for your second day in the valley.

Stay on the marked path and keep off the storehouse walls. Ruins like these lose stone every year when people climb on them for photos.

Building a Day Around It

Pinkuylluna fits easily into a half-day in town. Many visitors walk the fortress in the morning, then climb Pinkuylluna for the view back across at it. Others do it the other way round, as a preview.

Afterwards, wander the back lanes north of the plaza, where water still runs through the old Inca channels beside the houses. If you’re catching an afternoon train to Aguas Calientes, a morning climb works well, though give yourself a cushion before departure.