Each year on days leading up to the full moon before Corpus Christi, the remote Sinakara Valley on the north face of Ausungate transforms from a desolate, icy no-mans-land to the final destination of a rigorous pilgrimage and the site of a festival known as Qoyllur Riti. As many as 50,000 people take part in the world-renowned pilgrimage, hiking many miles to reach this valley located at almost 15,000 feet above sea level and gathering on the mountain slopes to take part in the celebrations. This year the festival’s main events will take place on May 27th. Qoyllur Riti, like many other Andean festivals, is a syncretism of Catholicism and traditional Andean beliefs. The Church's official stance is that the history of the celebration dates back to 1780 when an image of of a small mestizo boy eventually revealed himself to be Jesus Christ to a young Andean child in the area. However, the Andean people who preserve this tradition had been doing so for many years before the invasion of the Spanish and Catholicism, so for the local decendents of the indigenous population, the festival was oringinally a celebration of the stars. To this day, Qoyllur Riti combines and celebrates both the Catholic and Indigenous aspects. The festival takes place during a time period when the Pleiades constellation disappears and reappears in the Southern Hemisphere, signaling the transition to the upcoming harvest. As is the case with many celebrations throughout the Andean region, images of Christ,crosses and other Christian symbols and beliefs mix with pre-columbian traditions, music, dance, and clothing to create these unique, amazing celebrations. Families of pilgrims from all over Peru make the trek to this sacred ground to pray for good health, a new car, a son, or whatever it is they would like to come
Each year on days leading up to the full moon before Corpus Christi, the remote Sinakara Valley on the north face of Ausungate transforms from a desolate, icy no-mans-land to the final destination of a rigorous pilgrimage and the site of a festival known as Qoyllur Riti. As many as…
Lima Art tour with Sculptor Patricia Olguin Long have women struggled to discover and understand their relationships with their faith, distinguishing their roles, their responsibilities, and their rights as members of their respective religious communities. Peruvian artist, Patricia Olguín, has experienced this very search for identity, and in her most recent sculptural series “ Son tus rosas un camino, y las mías son tu lecho,” Olguín represents her perception of Christianity, the role of women in this religion in both the past and present, as well as how she identifies with her religion as an individual. Last week, Aracari met with Patricia at a gallery for an informative tour of this deeply symbolic series. Patricia Olguin's art work Patricia has had works on display throughout the world including South Korea, Uruguay, and North America as well as in various galleries in Peru’s capital; perhaps her biggest supporter is the quaint La Galería in San Isidro, where her most recent collection of pieces are on display. Construction of the series began in 2008 when Patricia acquired a new studio in the bohemian district of Barranco, and in 2011, the series came to full completion. Working with a variety of media including resin, silver leaf, transferred images, and several types of wood, Patricia allows the materials to speak for each piece and to complement the sculpted forms. Perhaps the most prominently displayed piece in the collection was Olguín’s Camino de Rosas, or Path of Roses, an 8-foot-tall reinterpretation of a cross. The dense body of the sculpture consists of juxtaposed pieces of mahogany that interlock, with each polar face strategically formed and painted to reflect the masculine and feminine components, as Olguín perceives them. Each part of this grand statue is intentional; with subtle differences like the textures of the pieces of
Lima Art tour with Sculptor Patricia Olguin Long have women struggled to discover and understand their relationships with their faith, distinguishing their roles, their responsibilities, and their rights as members of their respective religious communities. Peruvian artist, Patricia Olguín, has experienced this very search for identity, and in her most…
El Mercado Hotel Cusco Opens El Mercado Tunqui is the newest offering from the same team who brought us the lodge to lodge Salkantay trek, is set to open in Cusco in just a few weeks. Considering our experience of the four lovely lodges on the Salkantay route, which we completed in May 2011 and which many of our guests love, we are very much intrigued by what El Mercado has to offer. Read more on El Mercado. El Mercado's Loaction Located only several blocks from the Plaza de Armas, this hotel occupies what was previously a marketplace, inspiring the name and theme of the new property. “A market is an expression of a town’s culture and traditions, a space where these may be appreciated, fostered and protected,” representatives from El Mercado state as the source of their inspiration. “Visiting a market is an effective way of obtaining a deep and lasting impression of a city, a place where its pulse may be felt.” The hope is to create this type of atmosphere and ambiance in their new hotel, aside from offering a comfortable base in Cusco for those who are embarking on the lodge trek. Facilities & Amenities Each of the 27 rooms, 5 Junior Suites, and 2 Suites are equipped with all of the amenities one would expect from a four-star hotel, including coffee makers, heaters, luxury bath amenities, and high-speed WiFi. The 7 suites, however, also have bathtubs and chimneys, a luxurious invitation for guests to curl up and relax after completing the Salkantay route, or even just after walking around the city. Within the 3-story building there also exists several dining and lounge options in a variety of settings. Enjoy dinner and entertainment in the covered courtyard, wake up to a delightful breakfast and savor a
El Mercado Hotel Cusco Opens El Mercado Tunqui is the newest offering from the same team who brought us the lodge to lodge Salkantay trek, is set to open in Cusco in just a few weeks. Considering our experience of the four lovely lodges on the Salkantay route, which we…
Charity Climb to the Summit of Huascaran If you read our blog article on Living Heart last week and felt moved to help the NGO, then you'll be very impressed to hear what Englishman Luke Blezard is doing to support the charity. Peru's Highest Mountain The 27-year-old has spent the last three years living and working in Lima, Luke will be attempting to summit the highest mountain in Peru and the earth’s tropics, no less, in an astonishing attempt to raise a five-figure sum to support Living Heart's various projects. Mount Huascaran in Huaraz "It was in May 2012 when I first went to Huaraz with my father and his partner that the idea was born," Luke explained to us when we caught up with him in Lima. "The very first moment I saw Mt. Huascaran I knew right there and then that I had to climb it. Why? That’s simple. I have always enjoyed a challenge and have always been of a curious nature, so climbing the highest mountain in Peru to see what the view would be like seemed like a perfect project!" "However, this wasn’t enough, I wanted to do something more. I wanted to do something for Peru as well as for myself. Having thought about the many memories and opportunities that Peru has given me, I wanted to leave something for others and this was what prompted me to start an international charity campaign. Besides supporting a local Andean community my goal is to create hope and inspiration in the children that live there so that they will believe that with hard work and commitment they too can succeed in realizing their dreams and achieving whatever they put their minds to." "Choosing a charity to raise money for can often be a slow, time consuming
Charity Climb to the Summit of Huascaran If you read our blog article on Living Heart last week and felt moved to help the NGO, then you’ll be very impressed to hear what Englishman Luke Blezard is doing to support the charity. Peru’s Highest Mountain The 27-year-old has spent the…
Aracari prides itself in unveiling the most authentic aspects of Peruvian culture and it has always been important for us to establish close links with organisations that support local communities in the regions that our guests travel to as part of our responsible travel ethos. We want to shine a spotlight on Living Heart NGO knowing that our guests look to give back too, and to help raise awareness around some of the issues facing Andean communities. Living Heart NGO in Peru We came to know of Sonia Newhouse and her charity Living Heart in 2010 through a friend in the Urubamba Valley. After various trips to meet her, we were humbled, inspired and thoroughly impressed by the work she was doing. Above all, we felt reassured that Sonia and Living Heart were having a genuine impact upon the communities where they work. From their core work of providing nutritional food for younger children, establishing greenhouses in schools to make vegetable cultivation sustainable and, providing much needed vitamins, to working with small-scale water purification and elimination of risk from water-borne parasites, and even organizing volunteer art teachers and theatre classes for children, they utilise every penny of the money that they receive to have the most lasting impact in improving people's lives. Living Heart have not only given us a sense of the scale of impoverishment in the Andes, but they have also made it very clear to us how much needs to be done. As of May 2013, there is a very serious situation in all of the communities that are supported with a Nutrition Program. Their greenhouse initiative has allowed them to plant enough food to eventually provide a mass of wonderful vegetables for the school and community, yet as they wait for the new sprouts to grow,
Aracari prides itself in unveiling the most authentic aspects of Peruvian culture and it has always been important for us to establish close links with organisations that support local communities in the regions that our guests travel to as part of our responsible travel ethos. We want to shine a…
Restaurant Magazine's annual San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants were announced a few days ago, and we were very excited (though not surprised) to see two Lima establishments make the list. Lima now has as many restaurants on the list as London! The highly-regarded rankings are an annual snapshot of the opinions and experiences of over 800 international restaurant industry experts, and spots on the list are highly-coveted. With two restaurants on the list, Peru continues to receive recognition as one of the world's leading culinary destinations and inspires new Peruvian restaurants across the globe - giving the country and all of its culinary fans reason to celebrate both here and abroad. The first featured Lima restaurant was none other than Gastón Acurio’s namesake restaurant, Astrid y Gastón, making its third straight appearance on the San Pelligrino Top 50 restaurants annual list. Jumping 21 places from last year’s list to number 14 in the world, Astrid y Gastón also received the Highest Climber award, given to the restaurant with the most improved ranking from the previous year. Gastón has been unstoppable as of late, his restaurant empire continues to expand domestically as well as internationally. He recently announced plans for opening a culinary institute here in Lima, and his original, signature eatery continues to receive worldwide recognition and acclaim. Offering inventive variations of traditional cuisine, Astrid y Gastón takes Peruvian haute cuisine to another level, and epitomizes the philosophy behind Gaston’s ever-expanding fine-dining empire. The other Lima representative was Virgilio Martinez’s Central, breaking into the Top 50 for the first time this year. Since its opening in 2009, this high-end Lima eatery has earned the reputation of being a world-class restaurant and certainly one of the best in the city, as was reported by the Business Times in Singapore. With molecular gastronomic influences, creative
Restaurant Magazine’s annual San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants were announced a few days ago, and we were very excited (though not surprised) to see two Lima establishments make the list. Lima now has as many restaurants on the list as London! The highly-regarded rankings are an annual snapshot of…
