Just a couple of weeks before all the madness with Covid-19 began, I was having the time of my life. Joined by our friend Tata, from Belarus we were traveling the mountainous regions of Peru. The carnival season was finishing, but… as we now look back at everything, it was inevitable that we’d come across at least some celebrations.
Accidental discovery in Colca
“Carnival celebrations here are a mixture of Catholicism and indigenous beliefs. They have some distinct characteristics. ”
Our first mountainous destination came after another trip to Lima and a drive down the coast. Colca Canyon. Colca is famous around Peru and the world for condor-watching. But that’s only a tiny part of what the canyon actually has to offer.
Colca is home to unique cultures and people who have inhabited the region continuously for hundreds of years. Carnival celebrations here are a mixture of Catholicism and indigenous beliefs. They have some distinct characteristics.
The first celebration, we came across was by chance. A lesser used road to enter the canyon took longer than expected and we needed to rest for the night. It was around 5pm. We were in the village of Huambo. The celebrations were in full swing.
Everyone seemed moderately intoxicated, dancing in a circle around decorated trees planted in the village plaza. Kids were shooting each other with foam. Fun times. The mentioned trees are referred to as Yunza trees. You see them around Peru towards the end of the carnival.
The tree and the dances are part of a tradition called cortamonte, tumbamonte. Its’ roots go all the way back to the Nazca civilization(100BC-800AD). More on this tradition later on.
Almost all of the women were dressed in traditional costumes specific to the region. Interestingly, elements of the costumes are often worn during everyday life too. Ancient traditions and fashion are alive and well in this region.
The weather in the mountains at this time of the year is… wet. It rains, then it drizzles. Then it’s sunny for a bit, then it drizzles again. This doesn’t stop the villagers from celebrating. The carnival is a huge yearly event. Judging by the fact that everyone was still out dancing in the rain, it seems that it’s nothing new.
“The patron is the first to take a couple of swings at the tree with an axe. He then chooses the next person. That person chooses the next one and so on. ”
The villagers are dancing around the Yunza tree. In the modern days, this is how the cortamonte/tumbamonte tradition works: Towards the end of the carnival, a patron buys a tree. The patron is responsible for decorating it (usually with with garlands and balloons) and attaches presents to its' branches. The tree is then planted, usually in a plaza like here.
The patron is the first to take a couple of swings at the tree with an axe. He then chooses the next person. That person chooses the next one and so on. There’s dancing, drinking, and a general sense of community atmosphere. Many people play part in chopping down the tree. Before it’s about to fall, the patron is the one to take the last swings. Once it falls - everyone runs to get the presents.
The way to Chivay
We continued making our way through the canyon, stopping in parts, to appreciate its beauty. The beauty of Colca definitely isn’t overrated.
It’s amazing that a place so green exists not all that far from the coastline desert. The diversity and the variety of landscapes in Peru still blows my mind.
Seeing a condor soar over the canyon in the morning is pure magic. It was relatively low season when we passed through, so the viewing platform wasn’t too crowded.
I remember a local woman with children watching and saying “How beautiful is our Peru, children!”
A stop in an ancient church in a village on the way to Chivay. Mia wanted to light a candle. Without understanding the meaning behind it, she just liked lighting it and watching it burn.
Chivay is the biggest town in Colca canyon. Usually it’s the entry point for everyone coming from the side of Arequipa. Since we entered from the other side, for us it was the final stop.
When we arrived, I saw a couple of decorated Yunza trees planted around the plaza. This could only mean one thing - the celebrations were still to take place. I was right. Soon the streets were filled with villagers parading around the plaza and towards some of the neighbourhoods where individual celebrations take place.
A dance party walking through one of the streets of Chivay.
The dance groups are divided into neighbourhoods. The participants are a mix of the very young and the elderly.
One of the more famous traditions of the region is the Wititi dance. It’s been declared part of UNESCO World Heritage.
UNESCO describes the dance as follows “The Wititi dance of the Colca Valley is a traditional folk dance associated with the beginning of adult life. It takes the form of a courtship ritual and is typically performed by young people during religious festivities celebrated throughout the rainy season. It is danced in troupes with rows of male and female couples performing a variety of steps to the beat of a band.”
The dance is also known for men dressing as women. There are a couple of versions behind the reason why. One was to confuse their enemies, in particular - the Spanish conquistadores. The other – so that they can seduce the girls without arousing suspicion.
These days most of the young dancers come from outside of the small villages of Colca Canyon. Sometimes they do have their roots in the region, but live in the a larger city, like Arequipa. I was told that in Chivay the dancing groups would be judged by members of the town-hall, with the best group receiving a prize.
Above is a young man tying garlands around the Yunza tree. Back to the Yunza tree tradition… There’s a sexual symbolism in it. The tree represents the man, the earth in which it’s planet - the woman. The falling of the tree symbolises a sacrifice to mother earth – pacha mama. The presents on the branches symbolise abundance.
Young women waiting below the Yunza tree. Interestingly… the tree cutting tradition has been outlawed in some regions because… there have been cases where the tree fell and injured people. Not surprising, considering that by the time the tree falls most participants are very intoxicated.
It was raining all the time! Mia was so impressed by the dancing that she tried to emulate the dances with the umbrella.
Young man dancing with a bottle of whiskey. Despite plenty of drinking, it seemed that the evening was pretty calm.
I was told that the dancing during these occasions continues into the night, until early morning.
Even around 10-11pm children were still having fun, going wild, shooting each other with foam.
I left a little after 11pm and the party was still in full swing. The next morning people were still in their costumes, making their way home or getting on a bus to Arequipa.
Exploring more of the canyon
The day after the celebrations we got up late. It was too late to drive to the next location, so we went to the nearby village of Sibayo. Sibayo is a beautiful historic village with traditional buildings, ruins and a colonial church.
There were lamas in the church grounds. And what child doesn’t like lamas? Mia chased them around, hoping to feed the lamas some grass.
Ruins of old houses in Sibayo.
My girls walking across a wooden bridge that crosses a nearby river.
From chivay to…
From Chivay the plan was to journey towards Puno, to explore the lake Titicaca region. The road once again took us through some spectacular scenery (I’ll have more of that in another photo diary).
This stretch of the road stands out in particular. A mountain pass at around 4,800 meters above seal-level.
While I was gasping for air I was surprised to see Mia running around like it was nothing. Didn’t want to stay still for even a moment.
Many of us take to altitude differently. I’m ok for most part, but spending more than an hour at over 4,000 meters usually gives me a headache and, you definitely run out of breath much, much quicker than usual. Tanya seems to be similar to me. Mia… doesn’t care.
After all the twists and turns to get up to the mountains, it’s really strange to drive on totally straight roads at such a high altitude. Essentially these are highways at over 4,000 meters above sea-level.
A dusty road towards Puno
A few hours of driving led us to an intersection. From there we could choose to take the main road to Puno, through the traffic congested city of Juliaca or, a dusty rural road, which was also shortcut. I always prefer the rural road. And, I’m glad I took it this time. Soon we found ourselves in a village with… more carnival celebrations.
It was afternoon and the party was starting to heat up. Since the village was pretty remote and likely never saw foreigners attend their celebrations, I was worried that we’d get weird looks. I thought that maybe the people wouldn’t accept a stranger with a camera. I was wrong. Tata and I came out of the car (Tanya stayed with Mia, who was sleeping) and we were quickly invited to drink beer, dance and take all the photos we wanted.
In this village they even hired performers for music, dancing and, comedy. The songs were about love and the jokes were mostly vulgar. Sexuality and the ability or inability to perform all night were the dominant topics.
A woman taking a few swings at the Yunza tree.
A village woman dancing around the Yunza tree. Note the decorative balloons, you can see them well here and they’re something that decorates the tree most of the time.
None of the celebrations we attended were complete without beer. The woman looked at me, smiled and continued to count her money. Her son on the other hand, got shy and ran way as soon as he noticed me taking photos.
I went back to the dancers. This girl seemed like a little “diamond in the rough” amidst all the half-drunk adults.
I tried to photograph her every time she came near. She had a certain kind of tranquility and maturity about her. Unlike many children her age she wasn’t at all shy. Just kept going about her thing. Dancing, following along with the adults and, drinking her soft drink.
“This was a very quick peek into exactly the kind of celebration that I dreamed of seeing. Small-scale, intimate and very genuine. ”
Considering that not a whole lot of people pass through this village, it was surprising how open the people were to us. How willing they were to share this occasion, which was obviously very important to them.
This was a very quick peek into exactly the kind of celebration that I dreamed of seeing. Small-scale, intimate and very genuine.
After about an hour of photographing, a few sips of beer and even having a go at chopping the tree, we said our “Thank you, good bye, have a great celebration” and, we continued.
The carnival is everywhere
When we finally arrived in Puno fairly late in the evening there were even more celebrations. They were very different to all of the other ones we’d seen so far. The style of the costumes, the songs, the moves.
I was exhausted after a whole day of driving, but a few of the dancers told us that this was the last evening of celebrations. All the groups would come out onto the plaza. They’d dance and in the end they’d also be judged for their performances.
The plaza in Puno is a perfect setting for an event like this. Puno is a relatively big city, but around the centre it feels very intimate and the backdrop consists of beautiful colonial buildings.
Musicians and dance groups in front of the “Catedral De Puno”.
These siblings were part of one of the dancrgoups. They kept moving in a less predictable way to the adults. I looked like a fool trying to chase them and take photos numerous times. I noticed that a woman behind me was laughing every time I made my attempts. Finally, she called them by their names. She was their mum and was finding it entertaining that I was so interested in making a photo.
When it became clear that everything was coming to an end, I followed a group of musicians and dancers one last time. What an introduction to Puno! First, the celebrations in a village and now this…
What an introduction to the mountains for my friend Tata. Looking at various cultural calendars, I thought we’d missed all the celebrations. But, it’s like we accidentally ended up chasing the carnival. Or maybe it was chasing us…
Off to explore lake Titicaca next!
