We started the day by waking up at 7:30 in the morning and, after eating breakfast, we went to the airport to board our plane from Lima to Cusco. Once we were on the plane it got delayed because of weather in Cusco, but we made it safely there only a little behind time. When we got to Cusco the altitude had an impact on everyone, but not bad enough for anyone to become sick. We got on a bus/van to Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo is a city in the scared valley that has hardly been touched by modernization. It still has the stone walls and Inca water system down every road. The culture is well preserved in the city. On the way we made one pitstop that had a perfect view of the mountains and after getting scenic photos we petted alpacas that were decorated in very bright colors. The alpacas are a very important to the Peruvian culture as they show signs of wealth because alpaca wool and meat is used every day by the people who follow the traditional lifestyle. The bus/van arrived at our destination and we walked to our hotel. On the way there we were followed by many dogs. Then we got an hour of free time which most spent shopping at street vendors’ carts. After exploring the town we met to go to dinner at a local restaurant. After dinner, we had an evening meeting where we shared reflections on the day, and then we went to be early because the whole group was exhausted.
-Sophie Watson ’21Â 
