When I traveled to Cusco, Peru, with a group of friends in high school, I don’t believe I was fully aware of the amazing opportunities that were going to be provided for me. While I saw it as a fun spring break with my best friend and boyfriend, as well as an English-teaching voluntourism effort to add to my college applications, I would soon realize many of the experiences I had there would make lasting impressions. Visiting Machu Picchu was definitely the most memorable of these experiences. We were staying in a small village outside of Cusco, near the start of the mountainous climb to and around the Inca archaeological sites. We were given a ride to the beginning of a hardly busy trail, where a guide would meet us and lead the way. The ascent is relatively easy and was a rough stop-and-go process, as every individual in our group wanted to take photos at different times, on trails that were often only large enough for two hikers at once. The photos were worth it, though — seeing the entirety of the tiny villages laid out below you, set among patches of landscape and agriculture, is a view I think you could never tire of, no matter how many times you saw it. The actual archaeological site itself looks just like it does in every picture of Machu Picchu you’ve ever seen. There our group ran into a few others, so I can only assume there are several different routes of ascent over the mountainous terrain to choose from. The site is certainly larger up close, and it’s not hard to imagine a civilization being able to live and work there and in the near vicinity centuries ago. While my knowledge of Latin American history has always been a bit sparse, seeing the remnants of such a historically important society in person is enough to spark anyone’s interest. We weren’t given a terribly long time to take photos and explore the site before our group was herded one by one down a steep, Inca-built stone staircase that was more than a little frightening. The views were just as spectacular during our descent, but I was a bit unsettled by my over-imaginative visions of clumsy me starting a chain reaction of our entire group tripping down the side of the mountain to certain death. Regardless, Machu Picchu is an experience that I would recommend to any traveler. I can’t think of many other destinations that offer the same package of cultural significance and geographical beauty. — Holly Riddle, marketing & sales assistant