A rainy Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu

Add comment May 31st, 2007

Inti Raymi 2007

This year 2007, Cusco’s famous Inti Raymi celebration will take place on Sunday, June 24. The procession departs at 9am from Koricancha (Plazoleta Santo Domingo) and arrives the Sacsayhuaman fortress at around noon.

Held during the winter solstice, the Inti Raymi or Fiesta del Sol (Sun Celebration) was the most important festivity of the ancient Peru. If there is an event you can’t miss during your visit to Peru, this for sure is it. Spectacular and millenary, the celebration of the God Sun -the highest god of the Incas-, aimed at stopping it from further moving away from the Earth, but also for sunlight to keep supporting life in the planet.

During the Inca Empire, the festival was attended by the main Cusco authorities and the highest representatives from the four nations of the Tahuantinsuyo (the Inca land). All attendants were impeccably dressed, the military carrying their finest weapons. Soon after the Spanish had conquered the empire, the Catholic Church forbid what they considered a pagan-ritual. And it was not until the XX century that the festivity was recovered by a group of artists and intellectuals from Cusco. They started to represent it as a play, which evolved year after year thanks to continuous historical research.

Nowadays the ritual is very similar to the original. It takes place in the esplanade of Sacsayhuaman, and is recited in Quechua with an almost simultaneous Spanish translation. The extensive research has also allowed a faithful recreation of the original clothing and accessories (though obviously gold isn’t used anymore). The rehearsals for the event take up to several weeks. The Inti Raymi is organized by Emufec, the municipality company responsible for the traditional Cusco festivities.

Tickets can be found at the EMUFEC offices (Calle Santa Catalina Ancha 333, Phone 084-244504) or in any travel agency. Prices for an outstanding viewpoint range from $50 to $70. Many locals, though, watch the celebration from the hills that surround the esplanade.

Add comment May 28th, 2007

Sunrise over Machu Picchu

Nice fast-forward video of a sunrise over Machu Picchu (duration 40 seconds). The background music though is a little bit creepy.

Add comment May 25th, 2007

Vote for Machu Picchu!

Six weeks left for the election of the New 7 Wonders

Photo by Rubyk, displayed under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Add comment May 25th, 2007

Sacred Valley of the Incas

A journey through the Sacred Valley: llamas, alpacas, mountains, terrace-farming platforms, Inca ruins, rock walls, blue skies, etc.

Add comment May 22nd, 2007

Peru’s Astrid & Gastón Restaurant Opens in Europe

A branch of Lima’s renowned Astrid & Gastón restaurant was inaugurated yesterday (May 21st) in Madrid, and most probably became the first high-cuisine Peruvian restaurant in Europe. Gastón Acurio, Peru’s most celebrated chef and founder of a restaurant conglomerate (together with his German wife Astrid Gutsche), intends to open several branches of his top-of-the-line Astrid & Gastón in Europe during the coming years.

According to Acurio, the election of Spain’s capital as first location for the restaurant was obvious: “Madrid is the natural gateway to Europe for any Latin American proposal”.

As in every other location, Madrid’s Astrid & Gastón’s cuisine will maintain its trademark subtle re-lecture of Peruvian culinary tradition, making an intense use of typical Peruvian spices, ajíes (chili-peppers), herbs, and other ingredients.

Add comment May 22nd, 2007

Anthony Bourdain about Peruvian Cuisine

As part of his No Reservations TV show, New York’s chef Anthony Bourdain travels to Peru to discover Peruvian cuisine. This first part (out of the 5 found on YouTube) focus on Lima’s ceviches and seafood. Guided by Peru’s great chef Gastón Acurio, Bourdain visits the famous yet humble cevichería Sonia.

Add comment May 17th, 2007

Lost Magellanic penguin swims 5.000 kilometres to Peru

According to a curious news article appeared on several media, a Magellanic penguin strayed thousands of miles and swam all the way to Peru’s Paracas national reserve. These penguins are native of the Strait of Magellan area, which means the penguin apparently made the 5.000 kilometres journey all by itself.

Wilder Canales, head of the Paracas reserve, said the disoriented bird "got lost in the sea due to the different ocean currents".

Add comment May 15th, 2007

Weaving ceremony at the Suspended Bridge of Queshuachaca

Every year prior to the second Sunday of June, almost one thousand locals in the Canas province (140km southeast of Cusco city) spend 3 days weaving the Queshuachaca bridge (a suspended bridge overhanging the Apurímac river).

The weavers use only braided ichu straw and chachacomo, and follow 5-century old techniques, originally developed by the Incas. The task is finished on the fourth day, and celebrated with songs and dances

Add comment May 12th, 2007

Corpus Christi 2007

A Catholic celebration instituted in 1547 to commemorate the Holy Eucharist, Corpus Christi (body of Christ, in Latin) is one of the most concurred religious feasts in Cusco. The colourful parade takes place the eighth Sunday after Easter (this year, on June 7th), when the effigies of the saints and virgins are borrowed from Cusco’s churches for the occasion.

Traditionally, effigies coming from nine parishes participate in the procession. Eight of these are of “Indian” origin (parishes created in Cusco since the 16th century), and correspond to the Inca quarters of Chakilchaka, Qolqanpata, Qarmenqa, Toqokachi, Sañu, and Wama; the last one, of “Spanish” origin is known as Matriz, Triunfo o Sagrario.

The procession goes round the city until its final stop at the Plaza de Armas, where locals gather to celebrate the festivity and taste the traditional dishes prepared at the many food stalls. The festivity starts early in morning, but it’s from 6pm onwards that the best takes place.

Photo source: EMUFEC, Cusco’s Municipal Office for Festivities. By the way, the rainbow flag before the effigy isn’t a gay flag, but the flag of the Tawantinsuyo (Quechua name of the Inca empire).

Add comment May 5th, 2007