Ollantaytambo: when destiny finds you
Sometimes some trips are planned for months. Others just happen.
In May 2024, Pablo and I were traveling through Peru in a motorhome with our friends Alejandro and Olga, our final destination being Machu Picchu.
As so often happens when traveling by road, we crossed towns and cities with no other expectation than to enjoy the road and let ourselves be surprised by what appeared in our path.
This is how we arrived at Ollantaytambo.
Located in the heart of the Sacred Valley of the Incas, this ancient Peruvian town seems suspended between the past and the present and is known as the “last living Inca town”, standing out for its intact stone streets, its imposing agricultural terraces and for being the main train station on the route to Machu Picchu.
The cobblestone streets, the water canals that still run silently through the town and the imposing mountains that surround it create an atmosphere that is difficult to describe. It is no coincidence that many travelers arrive there on the way to Machu Picchu and end up discovering that Ollantaytambo is much more than a stopover on the route.
What we didn’t know was that we had arrived at one of the most special times of the year.
While we were looking for a place to have lunch, someone asked us matter-of-factly if we had come for the town festival. Surprised, we responded that we didn’t know what they were talking about. Then they explained to us that we were about to witness the Festival of the Lord of Choquekillka, one of the most important celebrations in Ollantaytambo.
The Festival of the Lord of Choquekillka is a cultural manifestation where religiosity and folklore are intertwined in an extraordinary way. It takes place in the living Inca citadel of Ollantaytambo, in the province of Urubamba, region of Cusco, and constitutes one of the most representative cultural expressions of the Sacred Valley. For several days, the community gathers to honor its patron saint through processions, music, traditional dances and various artistic manifestations that keep the roots of this Andean people alive.
Without thinking too much, we decided to stay.
And it was one of the best decisions of our entire trip.
For four days we witnessed a celebration that allowed us to get closer to the most authentic essence of Peruvian culture. The streets were filled with music, color and movement. Men, women and children toured the town in extraordinarily elaborate traditional costumes, accompanied by musicians who set the pace of the parades with ancestral melodies and songs that seemed to resonate among the mountains.
What impressed us most was to see that it was not a show prepared for tourists. It was a genuine celebration, deeply rooted in the community’s identity. Each dance, each dress and each ceremony seemed to convey a story that had been inherited from generation to generation.
One of the most surprising aspects were the ephemeral tapestries that the neighbors made directly on the streets, using lime, colored sand and different natural materials, creating true works of art in the open air. The designs covered part of the procession route and transformed the town into a temporary gallery full of creativity and symbolism. These works were later evaluated and awarded, although the real reward seemed to be the shared pride of participating in a collective tradition.
As the days passed we understood that the Festival of the Lord of Choquekillka is much more than a religious celebration. It is an encounter between faith, memory and culture. It is the way in which a people keeps their traditions alive and reaffirms their identity in a world that constantly changes.
As we watched the parades, the dances, and the participation of the entire community, I thought about how lucky we had been. Our plan was to reach Machu Picchu. However, life had given us something that we could never have programmed.
When we finally left Ollantaytambo to continue our trip we took with us much more than photographs. We take with us the memory of an authentic experience, one of those that do not usually appear in itineraries or travel guides.
Because sometimes the most memorable moments are not the ones we planned.
Sometimes life simply puts us in the right place, at the right time.
And Ollantaytambo was exactly that for us: an unexpected discovery that ended up becoming one of the most valuable memories of our trip to Peru.
If you go
📍 Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley of the Incas, Cusco, Peru.
📅 The Festival of the Lord of Choquekillka is celebrated every year during the Pentecost festivities, generally between May and June.
🎭 If you have the opportunity to coincide with these dates, I recommend dedicating several days to the celebration. More than a party, it is an immersion in the living culture of the Peruvian Andes.
To learn more
- Information about the Festival of the Lord of Choquekillka on the official tourist portal of Peru.
- Cultural information published by the Provincial Municipality of Urubamba.
- History and characteristics of the festival, declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation.
Sources consulted to contextualize the festival: the celebration constitutes an important cultural and religious manifestation of Ollantaytambo and has been recognized as Cultural Heritage of the Nation.
