We were up late Friday for our final OTR. I was still not feeling very well and was eager to sleep. There were lots of emotions running high with our trip coming to an end, saying good bye to half of our group and getting ready for the next piece of our adventure.

I woke up at 2:30 am to get situated and pack my stuff up. We were to be downstairs on the bus at 3:30am. It was the first time I went sans-makeup on the trip. I felt exposed, but honestly I hadn't done my hair the entire week, and was wearing t-shirts and my too big jeans. So, going sans-makeup and glasses didn't feel like that far of a cry from my ungroomed self I had presented all week. I was really too sick and tired to care anyway.

I got downstairs and about half the group was there. The other half hadn't shown. Nehemiah, Tim, Anndrea and Carola hadn't gotten in yet from being out on Friday. Renata was last to show, but we were all eventually accounted for. We got on the road and snuggled in, and Carolyn mentioned that she forgot her passport. So…we turned around and drove 20 min back to the hotel so she could get her passport off her bed. We still made it to the airport on time. We boarded the plane and took the short flight to Cuzco.

Upon arrival, we all woke up and noticed some things. The Cuzco airport is very different than the Lima airport. It is smaller, less modernized, and disorganized. Apparently Khalilah sat next to some girls who were on a class trip. They found her at baggage claim and asked to get their picture taken with her. We got our luggage after waiting for a bit and proceeded to meet our guide.

Patricia had a sign for us as we exited the airport. She is small and of Incan decent. She is soft spoken, very intelligent and speaks pretty decent English. She led us to our driver and our van. It was fairly warm and sunny. We were reminded that the altitude is much higher than Lima's and to drink lots of water and take our meds. On our short walk through the parking lot to our van, a nimble little man started taking our picture. I don't know where he came from or what was happening, and then all of a sudden he was gone. Patricia later explained that he goes to the airport for all incoming flights, takes everyone's picture as they arrive and then finds out which hostel you're staying in, waits for you outside, and tries to sell you your picture. Very entrepreneurial spirit.

While this was happening our driver climbed the ladder to the roof of our van. He and his helper literally threw the suitcases on top of the roof and tied them off with rope. We were being loaded into the van simultaneously as a little lady and her daughter approached us selling matching hat and mitten sets. Several of our participants bought them, including myself because we heard that it gets cold in Machu Picchu, and these mittens were very inexpensive.

They drove us the short distance (15 min) to our hotel, right in the middle of the city. Patricia told us to dress in layers for the afternoon and bring a jacket because it gets cool and rainy quickly. She told us to carry 2 bottles of water with us - still don't drink out of the tap. Cuzco is at 11,000 feet. It has 400,000 residents and 3000 tourists daily. Machu Picchu is more of a jungle climate. The hotel was very nice and modern. It was quiet when we arrived. We were told that our rooms were not ready yet but that they would be ready in a few hours, and we were invited to sit in the vacant restaurant and drink tea until they got ready.

They said to drink 3 cups of coca tea in the morning - no sugar to help our bodies adjust to the altitude. They asked us to fill out customs cards. They had wireless in the lobby so many of us logged on while others went up to their room as soon as they could. The group was dragging a bit. By the time my room was ready I didn't have enough time to sleep, unpack and shower, so I just took a shower and got ready to go to lunch.

I felt really good and refreshed after my shower. Went downstairs to meet the group - I was on time on the dot but others were a little late. Renata decided not to join us - she valued sleep more than food in that moment. The restaurant was large. There were murals painted on the tall ceilings and a live band was setting up getting ready to play. They had a separate English and Spanish menu. The English menu was significantly more expensive than the Spanish menu, even though the dishes were the same.

They served corn roasted nuts on the table. They tasted decent-and were edible for those of us who were starving. They also served complimentary "leche de tigre" which is ceviche juice. I didn't think I would like to drink it like a shot, but it wasn't bad. I still prefer it as a soup broth. I ordered Agua sin Gas because I hate carbonated water, but it tasted funny this time - like soil/dirt. It was suggested to me to get agua sin gas because this way I know it's been filtered. They have to at least filter it to put the bubbles in it. The other notable thing was that there were so many stray dogs everywhere! Most stayed fairly far away from you, but sometimes they got close and begged, or got into fights with each other.