Stories from the field
- From Danielle WeissJournal Entry #5: An experience beyond words...
This year in June, I had the opportunity to witness probably one of the most spectacular events I have ever seen in my lifetime. And what is amazing to me is that this event is almost completely unheard of to the outside world. Hundreds of thousands of visitors show up to Peru in June for Inti Raymi, the festival of the sun but are completely unaware of an even more spectacular event called Qoylloriti.
Qoylloriti is a Quechua word roughly meaning "brilliant star of snow". This two day pilgrimage is very well known to those living in and around Cuzco but relatively unheard of to the rest of Peru and the world. It is a colourful mixture of the Catholic religion and Andean tradition. Every year over 100,000 local people travel to a
small village called Mawayani (about 3 hrs from Cuzco) arriving in the middle of the night where they begin the high altitude trek to 4,600m. Myself along with three Peruvian friends - Tula, Gary and Betsy, hiked all night along the narrow mountain path through the mountains guided by the light of the full moon. It was too dark to take pictures, but absolutely breathtaking and an experience I will never forget. Along the route, there are crosses located at each kilometer that are surrounded by candles where people stop to give offerings and pray. As the sun began to rise we saw the snow capped peaks reach to the sky and everything came to life. The picture to the left is after I hiked all night through the mountains with the full moon along with thousands of people and this is what it looked like when the sun came up. There were crosses along the way and at each one people stopped to light candles and pray.
As we got closer to our destination, there were tables set up for miles along the path with vendors selling everything from sheep soup to little plastic cars and fake money. According to the locals, if you make the pilgrimage to Qoylloritti once, you must do it for three consecutive years in order to make your dreams come true. By purchasing these little plastic cars, houses, fake diplomas, marriage certificates, fake thousand dollar bills etc., you are putting into motion what your dreams are for the future. While some people in the rest of the world read "The Secret" to learn about the laws of attraction and manifesting their dreams; in Peru you don't just read a book, you hike to Qoylloriti!!
Upon arrival at the "camp site", I witnessed hundreds of thousands of tents which put festivals like Lollapalooza and Glastonbury to shame. Dancers come to perform from all over - Cuzco, Apurimac, Puno, Arequipa, and Bolivia. There was so much happening, I was experiencing sensory overload with all the sights and sounds and smells going on all at once, it was an experience beyond words. After weaving my way through the crowds, the tents, the food stalls and the dancers, I entered the church. The reason that so many people participate in the pilgrimage is that the church of Qoylloritti is famous due to the fact that this is where the face of Jesus appeared on a rock around which the altar is built. To be honest I wasn't all that enthused about going to the church, but once inside I was amazed. Almost the entire church was lit by white candles and people praying. It was absolutely beautiful.
After a full day at the festival my three amigos continued the hike up to the glacier which was to include another full night of trekking. Originally I had planned to join them but I was wrecked after hiking all night in that altitude. I didn't have the energy or the desire to continue the hike up, so I returned to Cuzco on my own along the same path with thousands of other pilgrims including dancers, musicians, the young and old, horses and donkeys. Everyone walked at a rapid pace carrying their loads of picnics, tents and big wooden crosses. This was definitely one of those moments I will never forget.
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