Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [236]
The natural thermal baths of Cconoc (admission S3) are a 3km walk downhill from a turnoff 10km east of minor transport hub Corahuasi, 1½ hours east of Abancay. They have a restaurant, a bar and a basic hotel (r per person S15). A taxi from Corahuasi costs S50 with waiting time.
The Inca site of Saihuite (admission S20), 45km east of Abancay, has a sizable, intricately carved boulder called the Stone of Saihuite, which is similar to the famous sculpted rock at Q’enqo, near Cuzco, though it’s smaller and more elaborate. The carvings of animals are particularly intricate. Ask to be let off at the turnoff to the ruins, from where it is a 1km walk downhill.
Cachora, 15km from the highway from the same turnoff as Saihuite, is the most common starting point for the hike to Choquequirau (Click here). There are a few guesthouses, a campground and local guides and mules for hire.
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ABANCAY
083 / pop 13,800 / elev 2378m
This sleepy rural town is the capital of the department of Apurímac, one of the least-explored regions in the Peruvian Andes. Travelers may opt to use it as a rest stop on the long, tiring bus journey between Cuzco and Ayacucho.
Orientation & Information
Jirón Arequipa and its continuation, Av las Arenas, are the main commercial and entertainment streets, respectively. Av Díaz Bárcenas is one block uphill from Jirón Arequipa. BCP (Arequipa 218-222) changes US dollars and has an ATM. The post office and a couple of casas de cambio are within a stone’s throw of the bank. Several cybercafes are clustered on Unión just below Arequipa. The bus terminal is a S3 taxi ride from the center.
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APU AUSANGATE
Important geographical features such as rivers and mountains are apus (sacred deities) for the Andean people, and are possessed of kamaq (vital force). At 6384m, Ausangate is the Cuzco department’s highest mountain and the most important apu in the area – the subject of countless legends. It is considered the pakarina (mythical place of sacred origin) of llamas and alpacas, and controls the health and fertility of these animals. Its freezing heights are also where condemned souls are doomed to wander as punishment for their sins.
Ausangate is the site of the traditional festival of Q’oyoriti (Star of the Snow), held in late May or early June between the Christian feasts of the Ascension and Corpus Christi. Despite its overtly Catholic aspect – it’s officially all about the icy image of Christ that appeared here in 1783 – the festival remains primarily and obviously a celebration and appeasement of the apu, consisting of four or more days of literally nonstop music and dance. Incredibly elaborate costumes and dances – featuring, at the more extreme end, llama fetuses and mutual whipping – repetitive brass-band music, fireworks, and much throwing of holy water all contribute to a dizzy, delirious spectacle. Highly unusual: no alcohol is allowed. Offenders are whipped by anonymous men dressed as ukukus (mountain spirits) with white masks that hide their features, who maintain law and order.
It’s a belief fervently held by many cuzqueños (inhabitants of Cuzco) that if you attend Q’oyoriti three times, you’ll get your heart’s desire. The traditional way to go about this is to buy an alacita (miniature scale model) of your desire. Houses, cars, trucks, petrol stations, university degrees, driver’s licenses, money: the usual human desires are on offer for a few soles at stalls lining the pilgrimage pathway. You then line up in the church to have it blessed by a priest. Repeat three years in a row and see what happens.