Day 17: Up Before the Sun

Cough, achoo, yawn. These are the sounds that filled the lobby of our hotel at 5:15 AM this morning. This was by far our earliest morning yet---we were up before the sun had risen and the roosters had crowed. Sadly, many of us girls woke up under the weather and with a lack of energy (this may have been caused by late night karaoke from the night before). On the contrary, the boys were very... lively! After our breakfast we headed to the bus that would take us back up to Machu Picchu. 

In hibernation.

First we went on a tour of the Incan city where approximately 400 Incans once lived. We learned about the different types of buildings and their purposes. There is the Temple of the Sun which is dedicated to the sun god, one building was used as a sundial or calendar, and others were just used for food storage. We even chose which house we would've wanted to live in if we were living in this civilization. Of course we chose the biggest ones with the best view. 

Peruvian hats in Machu! #locals #crazyswag #Sarahmama #girlgang

Incan rock used as an offering to the mountain. Can you spot the difference?

A scenic pic for your feed

After our history lesson and tour of the city we started the hike up Huayna Picchu (young mountain). Going into this hike we knew it would be a lot of stairs, but we soon realized as we started walking up this hike would be Stair Master level 100000. Claire decided to count them as we walked up and she counted 1,092! At some point we were crawling on all 4s and strongly gripping the cables to propel ourselves up. As our last hike, it was very rewarding to see the 360 view of Machu Picchu. 

Keira and Lana on the treacherous path.

The view from the top of Huayna Picchu

Post hike, we grubbed super fast because we had a train to catch. We hopped onto the train back to Ollantaytambo where we will be spending the next couple nights to reflect on our trip. From the train station we trekked upwards with our super heavy bags until we reached our hostel. We settled into our rooms where we will be staying for the next 2 nights (5 girls, one bathroom, lots of sickness going around... how will it end?). 

After settling in, we had free time to explore Ollantaytambo, the boys even found Italian Brainrot trading cards at a local store. The girls split into groups---some getting ice cream while the other scouted places for coffee. Finally, we met up for a Peruvian dinner and had time afterwards to continue exploring the city and rest. 

Katie and Nuria dabbing on Huayna Picchu

Much love,

Keira and Nuria

Popular posts from this blog

5/16 Pre-trip meeting

Image
Greetings!   We are very excited to go on this learning adventure in Peru with the group! On Friday, we got to know each other a lot better with a bunch of quick-fire questions as each student took turns sitting in the "hot seat." We went over some key aspects of the trip including some highlights on the packing list (water bottles, chapstick/lotion/sunscreen, shampoo/soap, gloves!)  Students also established group norms and had some quiet time to reflect on their goals and write a letter to themselves (as seen in the photo below!)  Going forward, students are excited to take turns updating this blog with our adventures in Peru! -- Mr. Chang and Dr. Garvey
Read more

Day 3 Arrival in Zurite

Image
  ¡Hola desde Zurite! We started off our morning bright and early with a 7 AM breakfast meet-up where we got our itineraries and homestay families! From there we reflected on intentions while we ate pancakes, meatballs, pineapple, and watermelon. Once we were officially packed, we set off to Zurite. It was a gorgeous ride as we picked out landmarks along the way before arriving to a gorgeous celebration welcoming us to the community. Representatives from the homestay families dressed in their traditional clothing and gifted us with dried flower petals and "serpiente" necklaces in place of flowers to accommodate the dry season. From there we toured the village in a dancing circle with live music following us! Once we learned about Zurite's history like how the Conquistadors took over, the recent landslides, and finally how Zurite is growing as a community now, we headed back to Don Tomás's house for a delicious lunch! We all had cuy (guinea pig) for the first time as w...
Read more

5/19 Arrival in Cusco

Image
Hola! This is the Peru group’s blog, today written by Oliver and Yuna. It was our first day, full of flights. We’re all wiped out and this day was hilariously unpredictable. Two of the three bags carrying surveying equipment for our host community of Zurite have not yet joined us in Cusco. Students not having phones proved challenging on two separate occasions. First, on the plane to Panama, there was no in flight entertainment without phones, so we had to actually talk and sleep. Second, in the Lima airport, Claire decided to find our gate for us without waiting for the rest of the group. By the time we got to Cusco, we were all knocked out by three full flights. The flights themselves were exhausting. Our first and third flight had no entertainment, making the hours seem much longer. Had we had our phones, we could have enjoyed some time for ourselves exploring the wonders of social media…but you guys know what Mr. Brown said… But we got to our hotel safe! Tired, but intact. Our tour...
Read more