Thursday, January 26, 2017

Digging Deep into the Culture of the Inca and their Modern Day Descendants the Chechuans

One of the great things about having a great guide is that they listen to you, know where to take you, and know whom to contact to get you into see what you want to see.
 Our guide Hernan is that kind of guy. Here he is showing us the map to the Inca ruins and terraces at Pesac. To digress for a moment, our goals were to dig deep into the various Inca sites in the Sacred Valley and to better understand their culture by studying them. You'll see why, by the end of this post, why we think he has really accomplished that.







We started the day at Pesac.






Pesac is known as an Inca village and for its' terraced mountainside.  Here's what's left of the village more than halfway up the mountain:
And these are the terraces. At this point we're about 2500 feet above the valley floor. From here our guide has a bit of a surprise for us. All he tells us is that we are going to a llama ceremony. So we get back in his car and start driving up another mountain. By the time we arrive, we're glad we've been taking our altitude medicine. The altitude is almost 14000 feet.

 It turns out Hernan and his friend were both porters on the 4 day trek on the Inca trail. (Turns out that some people are crazy enough to hike there on the authentic trail instead of taking the train like we did)
His friend is a Quecuan, the people who are the direct descendants of the Incas. He and his family have been living up in the mountains since the time of the Incas. They are part of a collective that owns 500 acres in the mountain. They grow about 30 varieties of potatoes here.






Here is the family:

 They are incredibly gracious and welcoming. We are given to understand that this tradition dates back to Inca times. Our visit started off in their dining room; first with ceremonial outfits then with tea and potatoes.
 
 


While we were having tea our host explained their way of life. Incredibly, they still farm their 500 mountainside acres by hand. Remember that this work is shared by the community of families that make up this collective. 

Here is his plow which he's made in the Inca tradition complete with llama leather straps and Eucalyptus handle.

 I asked why they didn't use a tractor and the answer was that the fields were just too steep to make it practical.

 Note that the dining room has a dirt floor too.

These people have a very simply life. They all wore sandals made from car tires. They make their medicines from plants on the mountains and yet they have few cancer or heart problems; most live well into their eighties.

But what hit home the hardest was how happy they were. This was the most moving event of the trip and a HUGE wake-up call for me.






Here's the obligatory group picture:
 
Right after this picture it was time for the Llama Ceremony. And a cold wind and rain started. We trudged up several muddy hill trails to a high corral. We were told that our outfits were woven so tight that they were waterproof and I would have to say they were right.
  

Then all the llamas are herded into the corral.
Clearly one is the "Alpha-Dog" llama. He's the one with the brass bells around this neck.
Next we are all given coca leaves and asked to blow on them to offer them to both the llamas and the heavens. After that we chew on them.
 First of potion of coca leaves and corn beer are mixedNow it's time to bring the ceremony right to the llamas
    
 The llama's mouth is pried open And he gets to chug a potion of coca and corn beer
    
 His ears are pierced (he's calmed down by the corn beer at this point) Then the ceremonial ear-rings and tassels are inserted
 Then finally we all sprinkle the potion on the rest of the herd.
 Obviously, this is not a show for tourists. We just happened to catch itBut we are thrilled with are guide for arranging it 
We buy a few woolen things from them and say our good byes.
On the way home we pass through a town that's famous for Cuy. That's Peruvian for Gerbil. As you can see, they sell them on a stick. 

2 comments:

Linda said...

Oh my. That ceremony was amazing!!!! I cannot wait to see all your pictures!

Anonymous said...

Wow! What an amazing experience!!! Love those pictures!
M and B