I awoke from my brief “siesta” to an endless valley sprawling out beneath the wing of the plane. A quick left turn directed us towards a narrow runway and I was soon breathing the thin air of Cuzco, Peru. Three new faces greeted me at the exit of the airport and I was introduced to Marissa, Josh, and Nic, our leaders for the next five weeks. With a hug and a quick introduction, we hopped into a taxi and set off to begin the next 5 weeks of adventuring.

I expected beautiful views, but nothing could have really prepared me for the drive into Pisaq. Our little taxi wound up and over the mountain pass, speeding around the slower buses and leaving little room for error in some of the maneuvers. As the city of Pisaq came into view, I was overwhelmed with excitement. The city sprawled out in segmented clay buildings before me, and the colors of the stands in the market center were visible from afar. Before I knew it, I was in the midst of the action, walking up the hill to our new home, Hospedaje Beho, in awe of the hand woven ponchos and delicate jewelry. I had arrived.

The rest of the group arrived in a similar manner, in sections of two or three traveling either by taxi or bus. Soon we were all united and eating our first of what was going to be many 2 dollar meals in a local restaurant. A portion of soup was followed by rice, chicken and some “verduras” or vegetables and the meal culminated in a sweet tea. Spanish ability was tested, names were learned, and the last straggler crawled in with her backpack after a solid 24 hours of travel. And so our adventure began.