Video produced/edited by Melanie.

Hello, my fellow wanderers!

I woke up this morning feeling good because I knew today would be a long and good day for us. We rode the van to Piasq, which took us around 30 minutes. When we rode the whole way, I saw a lot of beautiful huge hills with houses down the mountain. We stopped by to take a picture of a beautiful huge hill, and our guide took a funny picture and video of us. I really love how he tries hard to take good photos of us. Later, we got in the van and rode to get breakfast, and then we went to Sacred Valley in Pisac and walked up to see the terrace. Our guide shared the history of the Sacred Valley in detail. He also explained that the terrace will help the grass and plants to grow in their assigned location. The other fascinating thing is that it is anti-erosion, so it will always be protected from the weather. Our guide took us on an uphill hike to the top to get better views; we continued walking there and took pictures together again. After that, we walked down to reach our van, so I knew Kaelyn was clumsy with balance. Then we walked down. She had to be careful and put her arms up like a bird's wings to stay balanced; I told her she was like a Condor, a huge bird in Peru. When we arrived at the van, the driver brought us to another place to see. 

We arrived at a place where we could see another beautiful huge hill to take pictures of, and then we went to get a snack. We got corn on the cob with cheese, and I tasted it, but it was so bland as there was no flavor. Our guide suggested we eat corn with cheese at the same time, so I tried it, and it was so delicious! Next, we went to Tambomachay, a water temple. We walked up, and we saw an Inca people with a llama. It was so cool. Then we continued walking to see the water temple, and when we arrived, our guide told us that there were many temples in the area, but it was destroyed by Spain, leaving one in the middle of the area and with water. So Spain decided not to destroy that one because the water temple had water, and even the Spaniards needed the water to survive. When we finished learning it, we returned to our van and went to the next place to visit. 

We went to the llama park to visit, and we entered that place. I saw many llamas there and people feeding them, but I thought we went shopping for clothes, not animals because I'm allergic to that kind of fur that llama has. So I tried to back off from them and fed them for short, then we walked through with many llamas around. Then we arrived at that place where there was a giant bird called a condor, and I was shocked at how huge their wings were. Then we watched how they ate a carcass, and we couldn't identify what kind of carcass it was. After that, we saw guinea pigs and walked to a store selling clothes. One man explained to us how soft it is and they made it. When we finished, we got out of that place, it was raining. 

Then we went to visit Saqsaywaman. Then we walked to that place with rocks, so we had to go into it to see a rock building. Our guide explained how we could enter and make sure our left hand was on the rock and our right hand above our head because some of us were taller. Then he warned us it was so pitch black when we entered it. So we entered so it was pitch black that we couldn't see each other so I tried to keep my left hand on the wall to know where we were going, but I lost all my friends who were behind me because they went the wrong way so I had to tired get them but I end up lost too. Jami found Kaelyn and me, and then we decided to hold the back of our jackets to stay close and not get lost. I walked and saw the bright light, followed it, and laughed so hard because I saw Jami bend down so hard not to get her head hit, but the rocks were so high above her. It was so funny. 

We arrived at the Saqsaywaman, and then our guide explained its history. I learned that rocks won't break down or fall during earthquakes because workers design them well. Every year, on the 24th of June, there will be a festival to honor the gods by sacrificing a llama by taking its heart out and pointing it in the direction of the cosmos (space) for good luck. Then we walked back to the van and got lunch. We felt so full that we decided to rest in our Airbnb for a few hours and then get a light dinner for a long day at Rainbow Mountain. We went to bed early and will get up tomorrow by 3 am. 

Good night! 

-Lani