Heart of the Sun
Peru/Bolivia Travelogue - Sample Trip
Even on a rainy day, the ruins of Machu Picchu are a continually unfolding mystery. One visit, when the clouds parted, the mystical peak of Yananti revealed itself. Yananti represents the compliment of differences, the Andean version of yin and yang. One of the truly enchanting things about Machu Picchu and many of the ruins on the Inca trail, is the way the clouds hang low hugging the surrounding mountains or shrouding parts of the ruins completely.
No trip to Peru is complete without a visit to Machu Picchu, but we begin our journeys in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, a wide swath of green valley where much of the food for the region is produced - the breadbasket of the Cusco area. At one end of the valley is Pisac, a ruin high in the mountains guarding that end of the valley. It feels, to me, to hold a more male energy. We journey then to Ollantaytambo at the other end of the valley - one of the most feminine places on Earth. Here we might chance to see Yananti for the first time as we sit at the temple of the wind.
Our next day is spent in ceremony with the Q'ero shamans at Chincero where we work at an enormous rock that the Incas carved in mysterious ways. In this photo, we see a past group sitting in circle with the Q'eros (click on Meet the Q'eros at the end of this travelogue to learn more about these shamans). Our time with them will begin with ceremony, an event that goes on for hours since it is quite a social experience and may include work in the rocks. After the ceremony, we move to another site for a picnic lunch and the giving of our gifts to the Q'eros. As a group, a certain amount of your cost is allotted to the Q'eros to help with their community, the children and other needs. In addition we can bring little gifts for them as detailed in the travel booklet.
In these ceremonies, the women shamans prepare an offering, a despacho, for the Ñusta, the feminine spirit of the mountain. The men will prepare despachos for Pachamama and often for the Apu (the masculine spirit of the mountains) as well. We can usually count on seeing Doña Julianna (left) and, now deceased, Doña Dominga (next to her) would always appear at these gatherings. Accompanying them might be Melchora and some of the younger women and girls. Every once in awhile, we have a baby with us. The despachos are prepared with incredible care and we are all asked to put our intent into them through the coca leaves we are given to bless. All of our intent and theirs goes into shifting our reality during these ceremonies. Our lives can change immeasurably in the wink of an eye with the Q'eros. It is all energetic. They do not teach, they move energy.
At some point during the ceremony, the men will begin to play their flutes - the sound of a discordant flock of birds. When the women begin their chanting songs, we enter a transcendent experience. I, at least, am carried far away by their music. It seems to touch deep chords of truth within me and open me more to the Divine. I have never heard anything else like it. There will usually be more men than women in the group simply because more of the men are willing and able to travel the 5 day-walk to Cusco. In fact, my first 3 or 4 trips to Peru, we never even saw the women. They began to join us around 3 years ago - obviously the time was right for their emergence into our world. The Inquisition has been a long haul in Peru.
The next day, we take a train to Machu Picchu from Ollantaytambo and spend two days in the City of Light. Here is a view of the city from one of the many portals in the city. I have found that we have our limitations to what we can physically take in at Machu Picchu in one visit. After many, I am still discovering parts of the city I had never seen. After we arrive, we check in at the hotel and get up to the ruins on a bus. After seemingly infinite passages on the switchback road, we arrive at the ruins and spend the rest of the day roaming around. I like to let everyone be tourists that first day.
Early the next morning, from our lodging along the Urubamba River in Aguas Caliente at the base of the mountain, we bus once again to the ruins. We have 3 precious hours before the trains arrive with more tourists (the inevitable crowds at this popular citadel of the world). We climb up to the funerary rock at the top of the ruins and begin a memorable walking meditation through the city, touching the High Altars that abound there. We end at a temple altar where the Codes of Light were passed within the Sisterhood of the Sun. Optional hiking on Wayna Picchu or up to the Inca Trail and the Sun Gate are possible. We leave Machu Picchu on the afternoon train, arriving around 6PM for an evening in Cusco. The life of the city doesn't getting going until around that time and the markets are open until late at night.
After spending a full day exploring Cusco, getting our laundry done and resting, we are taken to the airport to fly to La Paz, the capitol of Bolivia. The flight is one-hour and our plane passes very close to Mount Ausangate and usually right over Titicaca Lake before landing in La Paz.
We spend our first day in Bolivia touring sites in La Paz. La Paz is a huge city contained within a great bowl in the landscape. Their sacred mountain, Ilimani, guards the city and much of the landscape of the surrounding altiplano. At 13,000 feet, La Paz is one of the highest cities in the world and Titicaca Lake is the highest lake. The next morning we travel to Tiwanaku. Isolated, on the high planes of Bolivia, Tiwanaku presents a mystery to those who speculate about the origins of the people of the region and the splendid ruins existing there. Amongst the ruins are a huge pyramid, a sunken temple where E.T.- like heads emerge from the walls (see my travelogue icon for one of them). In the center of this temple stands a statue of Wiracocha, similar to the one at the left, and his guardian - at least that is the speculation.
Adjacent to this temple is the Kalasasaya, a temple compound with the famous Sun Gate and statues of Wiracocha and other gods. Speculation has it that this region was once on the shores of Titicaca Lake since there is evidence of a port there, but that it was raised up during Earth changes to its present position some distance from the Lake. Whatever the truth of it is, it is a place you do not want to miss in Bolivia and the museum is really quite remarkable. We simply allow the land to activate us while in meditation as we do at every sacred site we visit.
We journey on to Titicaca Lake and take a launch out to Sun Island where we will stay overnight at a simple hotel. On the way we see Moon Island off to our right with the Royal Range of the Andes behind it (this photo). Because the altiplano (high planes of Bolivia) provides an unobstructed landscape, it seems to me that the panoramas or more breathtaking than anywhere I have visited. You can see why they named them the Royal Range -they are completely majestic and pure white with snow. We will work on Sun Island with a Yatiri shaman for the first time in April 2002. It was on Sun Island that Aramu Muru established the priesthood and where Wiracocha brought the teachings of the Akhus (star beings). From there, we will ride our launch for a magical afternoon on Moon Island. Moon Island claims the best stone beach in the area. It is hard to peel participants from the beach to ceremony in the Temple of the Priestesses but that experience is equally Divine. We will end our time on the Bolivian part of the lake at the beach in ceremonial healings.
The next morning, we take a bus north into Peru along the lake and stop at the Inter-dimensional Portal of Aramu Muru. We will trek through the farmland - to the amusement of the locals - and work with the energies of the portal. I have experienced a connection with the true Disc of the Sun at this portal. If nothing else, it is one very interesting rock. We visit another temple on the way to our hotel near Puno, then, after refreshing ourselves, bus into Puno for an evening in the market and dinner. Puno is the biggest Peruvian city on Titicaca Lake and the port from which we visit the island on this north end of Titicaca Lake.
The following morning, we take a launch into the world of the Uros people, the floating islands in Titicaca Lake. We will visit this land of reeds, meet the people, like this elder woman who was selling her wares, and witness a totally different way of life from those we have seen before on our trip. Imagine living on an island that was in motion - like a giant raft. Their culture revolves around fishing and all things of the water, including the laying down of new layers of reeds to sustain their landscape. We found that the school children made incredibly colorful and imaginative pictures of their life. We may get a chance to ride in a reed boat.
After returning to Puno, we will bus out to Sillustani for sunset. Sillustani is another mysterious ruin situated in an isolated place which is richly surreal. Its claim to fame are the giant Chulpas, houses of the dead (or as some prefer to think, initiatory chambers), which dot the landscape and pose many an interesting question. We will bundle up for a meditation overlooking a magical lake at the top of the world (unless rain prevents). The experience of being in such a place at the hour of power has a profound affect on each of us. We have a quiet supper and retire early.
The next morning we are on the road by 7AM, traveling by bus back to Cusco. Along the way, we have opportunities to stop at some amazing temples as well as the continental divide. If you are watchful, you can actually see the place where the waters part to go their separate ways. We arrive back in Cusco to have a celebration dinner to close our trip. Next morning we fly home via Lima.
This is a full trip for even the most experienced traveler but, as most are apt to say, "why would you go all that way and not see everything you could. There is time to rest and integrate it all at home". We consider this an easy journey compared to our expeditions which involve hiking and camping out of doors. On the Peru/Bolivia trip, we are in hotels every night, in comfortable buses and are not usually pressed for time. We are sure you will have an exciting and activating journey if you should decide to accompany us.
I hope you have enjoyed this capsized journey to the Andes. I had hundreds of photographs of my own to chose from and some tough decisions were made. I have been this route many times and feel very connected to the land and people. We will reverse the flow in Bolivia and some of the days in Peru but this is basically it. We will travel with three male shamans, hopefully Don Pasqual being the Elder, Modesto the shaman in training, and Valerio, the apprentice and grandson of Don Pasqual. In Cusco at the closing, we will likely be joined by a greater contingency from Cochamocco at which time they will over their weavings for sale.
If you feel drawn to be with us in March and April 2010, please let us know. The requirements for this journey are not as stringent as the treks, but you will be at high altitude so we suggest getting some aerobic capacity in your heart-lung system and some strength in your legs for climbing steps - there is no level ground in Peru!
Blessings and Light,
Jessie
Click here to
meet some of the Q'eros.
Books & Audio
Sacred JourneysHealing Sessions
Our PresentersArticles
Terms
Heart of the Sun
Box 495, Mount Shasta, CA 96067 USA
Phone: 530-926-1496
Fax: 530-926-1497
Web site: http://www.heartofthesun.com
E-mail: info@heartofthesun.com
Thanks for visiting...
Page design: Kim Solga Artworks
Copyright © 2001 by Jessie E. Ayani. All rights reserved.