After two days traveling with the Youth Corps group in Celendin, the creative team - including videographer Kimberly Davis, photographer Tova Baruch and myself, writer Ruth Fuller -- intended to join several Youth Corps members in the village of Chocan, in the province of Cajamarca. But instead of finding Alexis, Wills and Jeremy in the morning, we spent eight hours driving around the countryside, having our own adventure while looking for them.

The mountain roads to Celendin were bumpy, but they did not compare to the roads on which we now traveled. This region is rockier, and the roads often become impassable after frequent mudslides during the rainy season. Since Alicia Sanchez-Urrello Lopez -- our driver and host from CARE Cajamarca -- is not as familiar with this area, we stop often to ask for directions. When we finally arrive about

Our guide, Justiniano

four hours later in Chocan, we learn from the villagers that the Corps members have already left. But it is now time for lunch, which is the main meal of the day in Peru, and the lieutenant mayor of Chocan, Victor Alfaro Teran, insists we join him for a meal.

Victor Alfaro Teran directs us to the municipal building, a one-room office with only a typewriter and a short-wave radio. Because the village is remodeling its elaborate, concrete cathedral, statues and pictures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary sit at the front of the room. We are fed a delicious lunch of a spicy tuna dish, accompanied by a sip of a sugar cane liquor, which Alfaro Teran calls Peruvian whiskey.

As if this hospitality is not enough, Alfaro Teran insists that we take his assistant, Justiniano, with us as a guide on our journey. We will be looking for the Youth Corps members at pre-Incan ruins, which -- because it is on top of a mountain and there is no road that leads to it -- can only be located by a native of the area.

Shortly after we begin driving up the side of the mountain, Justiniano asks us to stop so we can see some

Pre-Incan ruins of Apullayqui

perfectly carved pre-Incan wells, which have water in them year-round thanks to an underground spring. Then, we continue on the grass path up the mountain until we arrive at the ruins of Apullayqui, which was once a large city. The remains of the houses surround the largest standing structure, which is the tomb of Apullayqui himself who was killed in battle trying to defend his village from invading foces. According to legend, the other villagers also were buried in caves under the tomb.

It is obvious that few tourists have visited this site. There are no signs that anyone has ventured here in quite some time and, unfortunately, no sign of the Youth Corps. But we are here now, so we decide to follow our trusty guide up the tiny path that leads up to the top of the tomb. The view is amazing: Kim says she feels as if we are on top of the world. But soon fog begins to roll in, and we decide it is time to journey on.

Now we must look for the Youth Corps members in Los Baņos de Quilquate, where they will be spending the night. But this is also a difficult place to find, one that our guide is not familiar with, so we stop often to ask for directions again. The nearly two-hour drive gives Justiniano the perfect opportunity to ask us questions about the United States. Once in 1977, he met an American, who came to his town to help build a water system. Since then, however, he has heard nothing about our country.

"Do you have farms there like we have here?" he asks. "Is there poverty there like we have here?"

Jeremy, Wills, Alexis and Loren at the Baņos of Quilcate.

Finally we arrive at Los Baņos de Quilquate at about 6:30 p.m., just as darkness starts to fall. It is winter now in Peru and the nights are dark and cold. Alexis, Wills, Jeremy and their chaperone Loren, have just arrived and are waiting outside for the caretaker of this old house to prepare their room.

"Today we saw how they collected water (at a CARE project in San Lucas), we had a dance and we ate guinea pig," Wills tells us excitedly.

"I wasn't digging the guinea pig, but the rest of the food we ate was great," Jeremy adds.

So far, in addition to the guinea pig, this group has tried turkey, lamb, beef, rabbit and duck. The duck was their favorite, they say.

"We have had so much fun," Alexis says. "We participated in the opening ceremony of a potato warehouse and got to sign the deed from CARE handing it over to the villagers. Jeremy and I rode a horse, and in San Miguel we went to a place where CARE takes farmers for a week to learn about leadership and business."

The caretaker of the house, Diego Chuquilin Llatas, welcomes us and shows us the one room where we will all stay. His wife and children prepare a delicious meal of trout, potatoes, rice and eggs, which the Youth Corps members and staff enthusiastically enjoy. This house does have one extraordinary luxury -- a bath, fed from hot springs. After not showering for three days, Jeremy and Wills decide to take a dip when they finish eating.

Before turning in for the night, the caretaker takes time to thank the Youth Corps for the work CARE is doing in his region. He hopes someday to turn the house into a hotel, and with the help of CARE, he believes his dream may someday come true.

"There are times of skinny cows and times of fat cows," the caretaker explains to the group. "Now, the cows are skinny, but with the help of CARE, we will soon have fat cows."

Continue to Day 4