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Published: June 28th 2007
Thursday 21/06 was the party of the sun or the Inti Raymi. There was a ceremony on the wholy mountain Puñay in the Chunchi region. Before the cock had crowed I was already out of bed. First there was traditional dance by the boys of Chunchi in hairy chaps and colourful clothes, after that we started the long journey up the Puñay mountain. It was a 3 hour climb in rainy weather and drenched soil. The ceremony was in the honour of the Ecuadorian Minister of tourism and the rest of the local bureaucracy. The whole trip we were accompanied by three armed policemen. The first hour or so, I had a astma attack and the rest of the trip my back played up. (the day after I went to the docter and I have two fissured vertebra, but I´m strong and I survive, even after a pill intoxication of a week). The sights were incredible beautiful, but the fog prevented us from seeing a lot. In the middle of our climb up the yachay or shaman met us halfway and then the circus could begin. The ceremony was a huge display of armed policemen, fighting press and turism students and the wholy caracter was nowhere to be found. The Kichwa were mainly not invited and the ritual had a christian tone to it. I was the only gringa and luckely a local man came to my rescue for the trip back, making a way for me in the mud. I was one of the first (out of 200) down and it was funny to see al the muddy monsters come puffing down the hill. God nows I did some puffing myself. Downstairs we got to enjoy some local pure alcohol, which gave me an immediate headacke. It is really nasty stuff. After everyone came through, I was deadbeat and could only think of a hot shower....
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marije
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goed om te lezen dat er weer antropologisch verantwoorde tochtjes gemaakt worden, was je daar voor je werk? Hoe is het nu met je rug? Veel plezier en succes!! groetjes, Marije