peru-8-cuzco-sacred-valley

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THE Q’OYORITI PILGRIMAGE
Cuzco & the Sacred Valley C S A I B u G A zC H N T O C S AY TO & AC T H T E I V C I E T N I E T S R A L H I G H L A N D S
Important geographical features such as rivers and mountains are apus (sacred deities)
for the Andean people, and are possessed of kamaq (vital force). At 6384m, Ausangate
is the Cuzco department’s highest mountain and the most important apu in the area –
the subject of countless legends. It is considered the pakarina (mythical place of sacred
origin) of llamas and alpacas, and controls the health and fertility of these animals. Its
freezing heights are also where condemned souls are doomed to wander as punishment
for their sins.
Ausangate is the site of the traditional festival of Q’oyoriti (Star of the Snow), held in
late May or early June between the Christian feasts of the Ascension and Corpus Christi.
Despite its overtly Catholic aspect – it’s officially all about the icy image of Christ that
appeared here in 1783 – the festival remains primarily and obviously a celebration and
appeasement of the apu, consisting of four or more days of literally nonstop music and
dance. Incredibly elaborate costumes and dances – featuring, at the more extreme end,
llama fetuses and mutual whipping – repetitive brass-band music, fireworks, and much
throwing of holy water all contribute to a dizzy, delirious spectacle. Highly unusual: no
alcohol is allowed. Offenders are whipped by anonymous men dressed as ukukus (mountain
spirits) with white masks that hide their features, who maintain law and order.
It’s a belief fervently held by many cuzqueños (inhabitants of Cuzco) that if you attend
Q’oyoriti three times, you’ll get your heart’s desire. The traditional way to go about this is
to buy an alacita (miniature scale model) of your desire. Houses, cars, trucks, petrol stations,
university degrees, driver’s licenses, money: the usual human desires are on offer
for a few soles at stalls lining the pilgrimage pathway. You then line up in the church to
have it blessed by a priest. Repeat three years in a row and see what happens.
Q’oyoriti is a pilgrimage – the only way in is by trekking three or more hours up a
mountain, traditionally in the wee small hours to arrive around dawn. The sight of a solid,
endless line of people quietly wending their way up or down the track and disappearing
around a bend in the mountain is unforgettable, as is Q’oyoriti’s eerie, other-worldly feel.
The fact that everyone’s sober at a party gives it an unusual vibe. The majority of attendees
are traditionally dressed campesinos for whom seeing a foreigner may be a novelty
(they may even point you out).
Discomfort is another aspect of the pilgrimage. Q’oyoriti takes place at an altitude of
4750m, where glaciers flow down into the Sinakara Valley. It’s brutally cold, and there’s
no infrastructure, no town here, just one big elaborate church (complete with flashing
lights around the altar) built to house the image of El Señor de Q’oyoriti (The Christ of
Q’oyoriti). The temporary toilets are a major ordeal. The blue plastic sea of restaurants,
stalls and tents is all carried in, on foot or donkey. The whole thing is monumentally striking:
a temporary tent city at the foot of a glacier, created and dismantled yearly to honor
two mutually contradictory yet coexisting religions in a festival with dance and costumes
whose origins no one can remember.
1 Sights & Activities
During the dry season (late May to September),
hikers and climbers may want to take
advantage of the best weather to head for
the sometimes snowcapped peak of Ampay
(5228m), about 10km north-northwest of
town. The mountain is also the center of the
3635-hectare Santuario Nacional Ampay,
where camping and birding are good.
z Festivals & Events
Abancay has a particularly colorful Carnaval
held in the week before Lent, which is
a chance to see festival celebrations unaffected
by tourism. It includes a nationally
acclaimed folk-dancing competition. Book
ahead or arrive before the festivities start.
Abancay Day, the anniversary of the town’s
founding, happens on November 3.
4 Sleeping & Eating
Accommodations are geared more toward
business travelers than tourists. There are
plenty of restaurants and cafes on Arenas,
with a fair share of rotisserie joints and chifas.
Abancay’s nightlife centers on Arenas
and Pasaje Valdivia just off it.