Urubamba

After a couple long days of traveling, I was very thankful to be landing in my final destination of Cusco, Peru. The lush green of the rolling mountains in Cusco was quite a contrast to the endless brown of Lima. Laura, my volunteer coordinator, picked me up at the airport to take me to the volunteer site in Urubamba, which is just an about an hour car ride from Cusco.

Before finding a cab, we stopped in a café for some maté de coca, an energizing tea that helps with adjusting to Cusco´s high altitude of 10,000 feet. I was obviously in need of the tea as I felt myself become heavily winded after walking up a single flight of stairs to the café. The tea had a pleasant, earthy taste and I would send some back home for everyone to try if wasn’t an illegal commodity in most other countries.

                After tea, we found a taxi where I basically spent the entire drive to Urubamba with my face smashed against the window, gawking at the breathtaking scenery. The terrain is stunning and I have never seen so much green—everything is carpeted with a verdant cover. At a couple points we could see horizontal rows carved high up along the mountainside. These were the Incan terraces used for farming. It was a bit surreal to think of how the ancient people of the Incas walked this same land and the remnants of their life are still standing today, looking over modern civilization with immortal dignity. Once we reached Urubamba we each paid the cab driver 7 soles…that’s right, for an hour cab drive we paid a little more than $2 USD.

Urubamba is a tiny city nestled below the mountains of the Sacred Valley. Although it is small, it feels crowded with narrow, one-way streets that could never accommodate a large SUV and houses that are butted up next to each other in a fashion that I interpret to be crucial to the integrity of their architectural support.

Our first stop was the volunteer house that will be home to six girls including myself. I dropped off my backpack and headed out the door for a tour of the town with Laura. While walking the streets it is unavoidable to be honked at by tiny, motorized tricycle bikes with covered cabs attached in the back for passengers. At first I thought the cab drivers were simply honking for fun or to annoy the gringa, but later I realized that since there are no stop lights or stop signs in the city the cabs simply slow down and honk at each cross-section to warn others of their presence.

                The surroundings of Urubamba are absolutely beautiful with green mountains enveloping the city. Between two of the mountains behind the city, you can see a huge, snow-covered glacier extending out to the perpetual, partial cloud cover.

                After Laura gave a quick tour of the town (quick because it takes 15 minutes maximum to walk from one end to the other) we stopped by the rainbow school where I will be volunteering for the next eight weeks. I peered through the gate at the meticulously maintained school. The buildings are brightly covered, as expected with a name like the Rainbow Center, and the grounds are lush and well-kept. I smiled with the thought of starting school in only two days.