Six men stood very still, a rope wrapped ‘round their waists supporting the 25 foot pole they had just lowered in a deep hole filled with fresh cement.

I was thinking my own thoughts, hiking in their neighborhood in Peru’s Sacred Valley to reach the salt mines, when I came upon them.

Not sure who was more startled because my route isn’t exactly a well-traveled tourist road.

These are Quechua people, descended from families in the Andes who were here before the Inca. They hold dear the principle of reciprocity, continually giving to one another, always helping each other. They call it ayni and they really mean it.

That’s why the men of the community were pulling together to erect these poles, and the women were cooking hearty soup to feed them when the rope was loosened.

Electricity could come their way for the first time ever if they put the poles in place.

Could be those neighbors have a clearer world view in their tiny community outside very rural Rumichaka, Peru than pundits, politicians and philosophers in many a great metropolis. Or so I had the opportunity to muse because I had figured out a way to visit Peru to see the famous places, and get myself behind the scenes too.

Big difference seeing the sights or really, truly meeting the people. Getting to know folks matters when they live in the town next door, and it really counts when home is another hemisphere.

I’d been to Peru once before and liked it just fine, but I longed to learn the ideas behind the gentle smiles on so many faces, and to develop energies like the women toting babies or bundles on their backs tied in colorful weavings.

Mountains and churches, survivors of conquest, compelling views through rows of trapezoid-shaped windows, ancient stones stacked so tightly on other stones not a feather could slip in, potatoes of many colors and textures and grains so complex a small serving satisfies.

These are strengths of Peru, and in August I got an up-close touch. Even took 13 friends so I know this works for a group. Here’s how.

Stay a whole week in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, a region in Peru that also gives easy access to the bustling beautiful city Cusco and to the fabled Machu Picchu. Allow a few days in each.

That week in the Sacred Valley blended day trips to historic sacred sites with community time to stroll the neighborhoods, meet the people and reflect on the wonder of this world gazing at Southern hemisphere constellations at night and sitting in gardens by day.

Peru is not a place to rush through, better to absorb and reflect.

The gardens of Willka T’ika Guesthouse – which means sacred flower in the Quechua language – are abundant and arranged carefully to claim private time. Friends are easy to find at this guesthouse, in the dining room, cozy library, music room, yoga studio or in front of the living room fireplace, but when I wanted to be alone, that was easy in the gardens.

Travel doesn’t often allow that luxury, but this way of experiencing Peru offers up distinctive experiences every day.

Carol Cumes is the guiding force, passionate about sharing the spirituality she has discovered since first visiting Peru in 1984. Born in South Africa, she lived in America for 20 years, built a personal home and then a guesthouse in this Sacred Valley and now shares her time in all three countries.

My friends and I found her at home in Willka T’ika during our stay so we strolled the gardens and greenhouse with her, shared meals abundant with fresh fruits, grains and vegetables from her gardens and those nearby and absorbed for ourselves some of her love for the Quechua people.

Admiration for the ancient ways of the Andean people who preceded the Inca and survived the Spanish invasion is easier to develop when you live among the people instead of changing hotels every night or two.

Cumes calls her coordinated tour a “magical journey.” With seamless guidance from the moment we left the Cusco airport until heading back there 10 days later, my friends and I witnessed ancient traditions in practice today and accepted invitations to participate in many of them, or contented ourselves to watch from a distance.

We met local people whose daily walk reflects centuries of family ways of cooking and weaving, farming and healing.

I don’t know if all that is magic, but it certainly was personal. We have names to go with faces, church services and healing ceremonies to recall and school supplies and warm clothes to send to children whose mountain classrooms we visited.

That’s a filter for me to better understand the speculation wrapped around Machu Picchu, and the other historic sacred sites to visit here—places with musical names including Saksaywaman and Ollantaytampu.

Another benefit of staying awhile instead of rushing through on a motor coach tour is that pronouncing these names-of-many-syllables gets a little easier with time.

“Can you feel it?” That’s the important question and concept in these places but it’s impossible to grasp hurrying through any of them. Feel what?

Historians, scientists, scholars, mystics, astronomers and average every-day people report sensing energies or spirituality, cosmic forces or artistic inspiration at Machu Picchu and other sites.

On our Magical Journey approach we took the time every day in these places to slow down and participate in an ancient tradition of welcome or blessing or appreciation. Urubamba resident Gabriella Meneses, a serious student of sacred traditions in Peru,

opened doors for us to do these things, or to meet the healers or local spiritual leaders who could.

She’s the Willka T’ika professional tour guide who reflects Carol Cumes’ love and respect for the people of Peru. Couple being in these places with Gaby’s daily teaching, superb English, translation of Quechua and Spanish-speaking local people and profound wonderment about just what Inca knowledge might have once existed --- and this vacation sets new standards for ways to experience the world.

Sounds a little heavy when I’ve been telling the tales, but great fun and unlimited delight really filled our days. Superb strenuous hikes, ample massage and healing therapies, fabulous food, lovely accommodations, abundant hot tea steeped with fresh herbs, plenty of filtered water (no drinking from the faucet here) and a lot of early to bed and early to rise.

That’s the habit of the Quechua people as they tend their crops and care for one another in the spirit of ayni, and that’s a style that suits pleasure and exploration in Peru.



Many places to experience



Each of the destinations within a magical journey to Peru is worth a story. Among them are:

Cusco, the Inca capital called the navel of the world because it was the center of that 1100 – 1400 empire, is a beautiful place. The Spanish arrived in 1532 and built their idea of fine construction on top of Inca buildings, where the original people and their descendents figured out how to maintain their own understanding of how the world works.

Saksaywaman, an immense place of stones so large and so tightly placed that all theories of how the Inca placed them seem plausible. Also a place of open spaces and inner caves, symbolism and light, school groups and tourists.

Ollantaytampu, an Inca fortress in the Sacred Valley, fine to climb for a wider view of the land and for cardiac pumping, plus a friendly look into a little community where guinea pigs roam in the kitchens and people learn to blend their lifestyle of centuries with the arrival of tourism.

Aguas Calientes, the little town at the base of Machu Picchu, which is the starting point for a bus ride (or steep hike) to the ruins.





For more information:

Complete packaged tours, or just a few nights

Willka T’ika Guesthouse

Magical Journey Authentic Sacred Travel

888-737-8070 (Pacific Standard Time)

www.willkatika.com

info@willkatika.com

www.travelperu.com



A good read:

“Journey to Machu Picchu: Spiritual Wisdom from the Andes” by Carol Cumes