I was a bit mistaken earlier in what we would be doing in the days following our arrival in Cuzco.As it turns out we came to Urubamba from Cuzco, about an hour and a half drive.It is about 9000 feet in elevation, so a few thousand lower than Cuzco.This venture was to give us a good place to rest and get accustomed to the altitude before being thrown directly into the heights of Cuzco and the surrounding areas.Good thing too!I haven't been sick necessarily but I've had just about a constant headache since we arrived, so I'm guessing that has to do with altitude.

We've been staying at this gorgeous little hostel in Urubamba.Well, it is actually in Chichubamba which, as I understand it, is part of Urubamba but they identify themselves as being from Chichubamba.It's like a district, I suppose.Anyway, the hostel is in the countryside about a 20 minute walk from the rest of the city.Not only is it a hostel, but it's also an organic orchard.They grow just about everything here and we've had local fruit with just about every meal.Which brings me to an entirely different point: the food is absolutely amazing.I could not ask for better.We have been eating so healthy—the majority is veggies but we also have fruit with every meal.I won't lie- I could really go for a big batch of nasty deep-fried fast-food French fries right now… but is definitely good.Also, the people here are amazing.The place is owned and run by William and his family with the help of a few others.I met the majority of the family as well as Juan, who cooks, and Feli, who did an amazing job cleaning our rooms (which are also very cute and clean).Other than a bit of trouble with hot water in the mornings when everyone is trying to shower we've had no problems at all.

Since we've been in Urubamba, we haven't done much considering we're supposed to be letting our bodies get used to the altitude.We've spent the majority of our time talking, discussing the coming few months and relaxing.I spent a good half hour resting in the hammock on the front porch yesterday, just listening to the wind and admiring the landscape.The Andes lift straight up to the northeast of the place and we're far enough away from the rest of the city to not be disturbed by the sounds of traffic.It's absolutely gorgeous.

We have had a few adventures outside of the hostel though.Last night we wandered the city of Urubamba for a while, stopping at the Plaza de Armas in the city center and the Palacio del Inca Huayna Capac.The palace was ruins but still amazing.I was surprised to see that it wasn't made of the intricate masonry as other important sites, but it was a personal home so maybe that wasn't really their focus as much.Just a bit of history for you all: Each Incan ruler built his own palace whenever they came to power.Also, it was important that they gain as much land and power as possible, but land was not handed down from father to son and so forth.If I remember correctly from my last few classes, when one Incan ruler died his lands were kept in his name.The successor, then, had to use military might to gain his own land and expand the empire.They'd then build their own palace on these lands.The site itself left a lot to be imagined though, as it hadn't been as well-preserved as other sites.As it is it isn't a huge tourist attraction or at least they haven't made it out to be.

Other than seeing these sites we had a little adventure with the market.Our assignment was to split into groups and each group was given a food that they had to find in the market.Along with this we each needed to find different varieties of the food, including names and origins, and buy enough to make a recipe (which we also had to get by word of mouth from a vendor).It was actually a blast!We got to explore a bit as we walked from the hostel to the market, which was about 20 minutes or should have been if Dulce and I hadn't gotten a bit lost and took the long way there.The vendors were a bit hard to understand, but it all worked out.It was amazing to see the different ways that they handled the food.Quite gross really—most Americans would cringe at the meat stalls.It was kept at just under room temperature and not much fuss was made about keeping things clean.The chicken we bought came directly off the visibly dirty counter and weighed in the same tin as all meat that was sold before we got there I'm sure.Needless to say we made sure our chicken was very well cooked.It was fun seeing all the different kinds of food.I even got a good look at cow intestine and belly (which was weird and fuzzy looking, and I don't mean fur… hard to explain).Anyway, the exercise was great and Dulce and I made it back first! Though our potato soup wasn't so great…

That's all for now!One more day in Urubamba then off to Machu Picchu before heading up the mountains and back to Cuzco.Our relaxing days are quickly running out!